A look into 2026 World Athletics calendar featuring first-ever championships
Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 03.11.25. | 15:30
A new championship is set to debut in 2026
The 2026 global athletics calendar promises a packed year of competition, with athletes set to traverse continents in pursuit of medals, records, and glory.
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At the heart of it all will be the first-ever World Ultimate Championships, scheduled for Friday, 11 to Sunday, 13 September in Budapest, Hungary.
The Ultimate Championship will bring together world champions, Olympic champions, Wanda Diamond League winners, and the year’s best-performing athletes in an epic clash of titans.
It launches in Budapest in 2026, when the world’s greatest athletes will settle the debate across three intense sessions of action.
Athletes already started qualifying by virtue of becoming Olympic champions in Paris and world champions in Tokyo.
The year will kick off with the World Cross Country Championships on Saturday, 10 January in Florida, USA, before shifting indoors to the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland from March 20–22. The World Race Walking Team Championships will follow on April 12 in Brazil.
Africa will play host to several key fixtures, including the World Athletics Relays in Botswana on May 2–3, and Kenya’s signature meet, the Kip Keino Classic on Saturday, 16 May in Nairobi. The Africa Senior Athletics Championships are set for July 7–12, following national trials in June.
The prestigious Wanda Diamond League series will make 15 stops across the globe, beginning in Doha on May 8 and concluding with the Brussels Final on September 4–5. Other notable stops include Rome (June 4), Eugene (July 4), and Zurich (August 27).
Young talents will also get their moment at the World U20 Championships on August 4–5 in Eugene, while the Commonwealth Games will take place in Glasgow from July 22 to August 1.
Veterans will compete at the World Masters Championships in Korea (August 20–September 9), followed by the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen (September 19–20).
The season will wrap up in Africa with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, from October 30 to November 15. This will mark the first time the event will be held on the continent.
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