The International Rowing Federation (World Rowing) is playing the universality card for its new discipline, the beach sprint, included for the first time in the Olympic program at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Its Council has awarded the next two editions of the world championship finals, in 2025 and 2026, to two countries on two different continents. Next year, the competition will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from October 23 to 26. This will be the first edition of the World Rowing Beach Sprint finals organized on the American continent and in the southern hemisphere. In 2026, the world event will be held in China, on the beach of Qingdao, in the province of Shandong. The city hosted the sailing events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Unlike the 2025 edition in Brazil, the competition will be held in parallel with the world coastal rowing championships. China previously hosted the world beach rowing finals in Shenzen in 2019. The beach sprint will also be on the programme for the 2026 Youth Games in Dakar, less than two years before experiencing the Olympic atmosphere in Los Angeles in 2028.
