The topics of growth, innovation and prioritisation drove discussion at the 238th World Athletics Council Meeting in Tokyo, where World Athletics President Sebastian Coe reinforced the sport’s key strategies for growth.
Gathering in the Japanese capital ahead of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 that will take place from 13 to 21 September, the Council received updates on the next two years.
“In two years’ time we will meet again in Beijing and a number of us in this room, including me, will end our term of office at World Athletics. That gives us two years to supercharge our sport so we can hand it over to others in better shape than we inherited it,” said Coe during the Council meeting on 8-9 September.
“World Athletics is now a high-performing growth business. This isn’t a vision or a wish. It is a fact.
“Growth is exciting, but it can also be risky if you are not prepared. Fast-growth businesses are not just looking for short-term wins, they are building scalable systems and strategies to sustain that growth over time. It’s why we have a four-year business strategy and an eight-year World Plan.”
The end of 2025 will mark the halfway point for the business strategy, ‘Pioneering Change’.
Providing the foundation for growth, Coe added, are five core components: a robust financial position, a strong brand identity, a people strategy, excellent communication, and transparency.
“Our challenge isn’t a lack of ambition,” he continued. “It’s knowing where to prioritise, how to adapt, and how to make the kind of strategic decisions that lead to meaningful, sustainable growth.
“Understanding the goal is what is important – actually, critical – as our growth journey will only speed up over the next two years.”
Illustrating this strategy is the World Athletics Ultimate Championship that will launch in Budapest in 2026 and has been developed to ensure that every athletics season culminates with a major global championship with real meaning for athletes, fans, media and broadcasters.
The groundbreaking global contest will see the world’s top-ranked track and field athletes compete head-to-head to decide who is truly the best on the planet. Featuring a compact schedule of three sessions held over three days, each session will include straight finals in jumps and throws, and semifinals and finals in track events, to ensure the ultimate fan experience.
SRY testing
In an update to the Council on the new SRY testing regulations for eligibility in the female category, more than 95% of testing is now complete with the remainder of the tests (for the French and Norwegian teams and some athletes based in France) being done in Tokyo prior to the start of the competition at the World Athletics Championships.
“This has been a whole sport response to a principle that we all fundamentally believe in, which is to protect the female category,” said Coe.
“I want to thank our Member Federations for their successful collaboration, and we will gather feedback during the World Athletics Championships to determine the testing process for 2026 onwards.”
Competition updates
World rankings
A series of changes to the world ranking system were among the competition decisions approved by the World Athletics Council.
World Athletics created its global ranking system to enable athletes to score points based on a combination of result and place, depending on the level of the competition in which the result is achieved. The ranking is based on the athlete’s average score over a certain number of competitions in a defined period of time.
The process continues to evolve but following feedback – and in order to give further credibility to results achieved – the latest updates approved by the Council are the next step in making the system more balanced between the various levels of competitions.
The world ranking system working group identified short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives, and set priorities in the best interest of the sport.
Other priorities included addressing the placing scores for the top six positions in the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase events in DF, GW and GL categories, and extending the awarding of placing scores to the top 12 finishers in categories A, B and C.
All modifications to the world rankings calculations will come into force starting 1 January 2026.
Relays
The Council also approved the proposal to introduce a fixed running order of man-woman-man-woman for the 4x100m mixed relay in World Athletics Series events and to use this format starting with the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Botswana. This running order will be used at all World Athletics Series events up to and at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
This proposal followed a series of action points taken since the World Relays in Guangzhou earlier this year, including Member Federation feedback, a trial during the Diamond League meeting in Brussels, and consideration of what is deemed to be the most spectacular yet challenging format.
Other relay updates include a return to a simplified World Relays seeding model that is based on qualification time, rather than qualification time plus ranking created from the average of the best four athletes entered in the competition.
The Council approved the adaptation of the substitution rule for the 4x400m mixed relay to allow up to two substitutions at the World Relays. The rule will remain as one substitution allowed at the World Athletics Championships and Olympic Games.
Indoor 400m
In other competition decisions, a new race format for the indoor 400m is to be introduced, with a potential pilot at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships. The format will see the number of athletes per heat reduced from six to four, leaving lanes one and two empty due to their inherent disadvantage on tight indoor curves. The main goal is to increase participation, ensure fairer racing conditions, and enhance the athlete and spectator experience.
Indoor 800m
A new break point for the indoor 800m will also be introduced, to give athletes more time and space to spread out, providing a safer racing environment. They will use the same break point as the 400m athletes, located around the entrance to the home straight, some 165m after the start.
Full details of all competition updates will be published in the World Athletics Library shortly.
Qualification systems for Kujawy Pomorze, Eugene and Gaborone approved
The qualification systems and entry standards for three World Athletics Series events were also approved by the World Athletics Council:
• World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 (20-22 March 2026)
• World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 (2-3 May 2026)
• World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 (5-9 August 2026)
The qualification window for the World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, will be from 1 October 2025 to 8 March 2026, with qualification based on entry standards and top indoor performance lists.
The top eight teams in the relay events at the World Championships in Tokyo will automatically qualify for the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana. The remaining spots will be filled via top lists from 1 January 2025 to 5 April 2026, with host nation Botswana automatically entered in all events. The qualification system is designed with a reduction from 32 to 24 teams per relay event, with the semifinals and finals format to be used as in past editions.
The World Relays in Gaborone will be the main qualification event for relay events at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest and the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. The top six teams in the mixed 4x100m and mixed 4x400m in Gaborone qualify for Budapest, while the top 12 teams in every event in Gaborone qualify for Beijing.
For the World U20 Championships in Oregon, USA, the qualification system is solely based on entry standards, with a qualification period from 1 October 2025 to mid-July 2026. The event will feature the addition of the 5km race walk and the mixed 4x100m.
The qualification systems will be published on the World Athletics website shortly.
World Athletics