Beijing to host 2027 world championships

Twelve years on since their battle in Beijing, the world's fastest, highest and strongest will return to the Chinese capital after it was voted host of the 2027 World Athletics Championships.

The decision was confirmed on Thursday after track and field's international governing body selected Beijing ahead of at least three other bidders at its council meeting in Glasgow, with the action set to return to the Bird's Nest stadium. The landmark 2008 Olympic venue also staged the world championships' first visit to Beijing in 2015.

China will also host next year's World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe congratulated Beijing for its encore, highlighting the huge market potential in China as one of the main reasons for the return.

"Congratulations to Beijing on their successful bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2027, 12 years after our athletes lit up the National Stadium for the 15th edition of our global showpiece," said Coe, who oversaw a successful event nine years ago in Beijing.

"With a population of more than 1.4 billion, China is one of the biggest sports markets in the world. It was the top performer for Wanda Diamond League broadcast consumption in 2023 with a cumulative audience of 368.9 million.

"This poses a massive opportunity to grow our sport and fan base in one of the biggest commercial markets in the world."

The biennial track and field showpiece will take its next edition to Tokyo in 2025 before the Beijing return, which is expected to attract over 2,000 top sprinters, throwers, jumpers and distance runners from 200 countries and regions across a nine-day schedule.

Several of the world's elite athletes welcomed the news of Beijing's winning bid.

"I've been waiting to run there for so long," six-time world champion sprinter Noah Lyles of the United States posted on Instagram on Thursday.

The "world's fastest man" after sweeping the 100m and 200m titles at last year's worlds in Budapest, Lyles will chase gold in at least three disciplines, including the 4x100m relay, at the Paris Olympics, and will likely treat the Beijing worlds as a critical tuneup for his home Games at Los Angeles 2028.

Citing Beijing's unrivaled expertise in hosting both the Summer and Winter Olympics, Chinese organizers are confident of delivering on their promise of being a safe, diligent and high-standard host.

"Thank you to World Athletics for the recognition and trust in China and Beijing," said Wang Nan, a council member of the world governing body and vice-president of the Chinese Athletics Association.

"The CAA will work together with the Beijing organizing committee to make every effort to prepare for the championships, ensure that the event will be held to the highest standard, and strive to present a wonderful championships to make more contributions to the development of athletics across the world."

Zhao Wen, director of the Beijing Sports Bureau, hailed the championships' return as another way to sustain the Olympic legacy.

"It's yet another concrete action following the central government's instruction to maximize and reuse the legacy of the Beijing Olympics," said Zhao.

"It helps Beijing to continue operating Olympic venues sustainably and efficiently, promotes the city's international reputation and pushes the development of track and field at all levels."

Since the 2015 world championships, Chinese athletes have achieved impressive progress on the international stage, highlighted by Asia's fastest man Su Bingtian's historic appearance in the Olympic 100m final at the Tokyo Games and Wang Jianan leaping to the country's first long-jump gold medal at the worlds in Eugene, Oregon in 2022.