Beijing to host 2027 World Athletics Championships after Italy withdraws bid
China hosting indoor worlds in '25; Olympic champion Johnson starting new league
The 2027 track and field world championships have been awarded to Beijing.
The World Athletics Council reached the decision Wednesday to bring the meet back to China after the country hosted the event in 2015. The decision comes on the heels of the Italian track federation announcing earlier in the day that it withdrew its candidacy to stage the 2027 worlds in Rome after the government refused to guarantee the $92 million needed to host the event.
China is also hosting the world indoor championships next year in Nanjing. The country hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
"This poses a massive opportunity to grow our sport and fan base in one of the biggest commercial markets in the world," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a statement.
The 2025 world championships will be held in Tokyo. Last summer, track's big event was staged in Budapest, Hungary, and the summer before in Eugene, Oregon.
"With the announcement of China as our next host," Coe said, "our last four World Athletics Championships have now been awarded to the world's four largest economies; the USA [Oregon], the EU [Budapest], Japan [Tokyo] and China [Beijing]."
Johnson teaming with Winners Alliance
Olympic champion Michael Johnson is starting a new track league he hopes will help athletes earn more exposure and money in a sport that struggles for attention in between Olympic cycles.
He said he is teaming up with the Winners Alliance, a group best known as a for-profit arm of the five-year-old Professional Tennis Players Association, to "build a professional truly fan-focused league that will unlock commercial value for the best track and field athletes in the world."
Johnson, who now does commentary for the BBC in Britain, hopes to launch the league next year. He has long been critical of the way the sport is run, and has suggested a commercial venture like the one he's starting might be best situated to promote track.
World Athletics, the international organization that governs the sport, is in charge of the Diamond League and most major international meets.
"I love this sport and owe everything I have to this sport," Johnson said in an interview with Sportico. "It's been a shame for me to watch it over the last couple decades since I retired not be able to continue to provide the same amazing moments to people, outside of just the Olympics."
