Picture Credit: Twitter
The 20th edition of the World Athletics Championships are set to be held from summer 2025 in Tokyo as the Track and Field officials have awarded the hosting rights to Japan on Thursday.
After hosting last year's Olympic games, Tokyo has won the bid to host the World Athletics Championships 2025 from Kenya, Poland, and Singapore.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe believes it would be a 'shining light' for Japan to host the championships in 2025. He said, "Within an extremely strong field of candidates to host the World Athletics Championships 2025, Tokyo offered a compelling bid. I hope this will be a shining light for Japan as they celebrate 100 years of the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) in 2025, by bringing world-class athletics back to the people in Tokyo."
Sebastian Coe did not rule out the possibility of hosting the World Athletics Championships in an African country in the future. "It is really important that we work together with Africans to make sure that their time comes, and their time comes when it's right," Coe said.
JAAF President Mitsugi Ogata said, "We are immensely proud that World Athletics has demonstrated its confidence and trust in Japan to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Together with World Athletics as one team, we will capitalise on this opportunity to showcase the best possible global event for growing our sport to a higher level."
The 18th edition of the World Athletics Championships is set to begin on Friday, July 15 in Oregon, United States. While the 2023 championships will take place in Budapest, Hungary.