The world’s athletics elite will be heading back to the United States. This time, however, it will be outside the stadium. Meeting in Budapest prior to the opening of the 2023 World Outdoor Championships (August 19 to 27), the World Athletics Board has awarded the city of San Diego, California, the organization of the 2025 World Road Running Championships. Three years after Eugene 2022, American athletics will thus have a second major event on the international calendar. The Board also awarded the 2026 event. It will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The first edition of the World Road Running Championships, featuring the one-mile, 5km and half-marathon distances, will be held on October 1 in Riga, Latvia. The event will then become an annual event from 2025 onwards. Another decision taken in Budapest, also in favor of the USA, is that the World Junior Championships (U20) will be held in Eugene, Oregon, in 2026. These same Under-20 World Championships were confirmed in Lima, Peru, for the 2024 edition. World Athletics had withdrawn the organization from the Peruvian Athletics Federation last April, due to political instability in the country, social unrest and natural disasters in the spring. But the governing body explained in a press release: “The situation has stabilized in Lima and, with the support of the Peruvian government, the Peruvian Federation has confirmed that it is now in a position to host the event from August 26 to 31, 2024, as previously planned.“
