Half marathon and marathon will become the official senior road distances for race walking events. The decision was approved by the World Athletics Council, which also set the inaugural world record standards for the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The standards approved area men\u2019s half marathon race walk: 1:21:30; women\u2019s half marathon race walk: 1:30:30; men\u2019s marathon race walk: 2:56:30 and women\u2019s marathon race walk: 3:17:00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\u00a0inaugural standards must be surpassed to set\u00a0a world\u00a0record and performances will be recognised\u00a0from 1 January 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The council also decided to allow athletes who turn 16 in that calendar year to compete at World Athletics Series events for all events and disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe reflected on a successful year for the organisation and reinforced how 2026 offered an unprecedented opportunity to build lasting geopolitical and geo-economic relationships for the world\u2019s most universal sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur recent World Athletics Awards celebrated the very best in our sport and provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been another outstanding year,\u201d said Coe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAttendance figures across all three World Athletics Series events were strong, reflecting our focus on full stadia through a targeted marketing strategy. For our two championships in China, the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing had a sell-out crowd of 12,000 and the World Relays in Guangzhou attracted 37,000 fans. In Tokyo we saw full evening sessions and impressive morning sessions with a total crowd of 619,288, making it the third-highest attendance for a World Championships after Beijing 2015 and London 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur media reach outside of broadcast in 2025 was 38 billion, our social media followers grew by 3 million, from 14 million to 17 million, and we signed up more than 1 million new fans to reach a total of 2.15 million addressable fans, literally at our fingertips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the field of play, a record 84* countries achieved a finalist or top eight placing at the World Championships in Tokyo. This shows how far we have come in 30 years \u2013 just 47* countries achieved the same feat in Tokyo in 1991. No other sport has this reach. I never tire of saying that and I never tire of finding the proof points to show it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next year features a calendar of six World Athletics Series events as well as the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest and Run X World Treadmill Championship, Area Championships, a Commonwealth Games, and Youth Olympic Games. Preparations will also continue for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing the following year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNext year we have an unprecedented opportunity to build lasting geopolitical and geoeconomic relationships, with world championship events in Europe, Africa, USA and South America, and the ongoing work we are doing to raise our sport\u2019s profile in China. Don\u2019t underestimate this opportunity,\u201d added Coe to his Council colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are doing more than just holding an athletics event in these countries. The relationships we form, the respect we show, will stand us in better stead in the coming years as geopolitical rivalries reshape global markets. And our Member Federations, the lifeblood of our organisation, sit at the epicentre of what will be a challenging few years ahead. We all need to understand this and seize the opportunity to build strong alliances and networks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Half marathon and marathon will become the official senior road distances for race walking events. The decision was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[50,298],"class_list":["post-6769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-athletics","tag-race-walking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t