On Friday, World Athletics unveiled a bold four-year strategy to expand the reach of track and field. As part of this innovative push, they announced the addition of two exciting new events: the 4x100m mixed relay and the men’s steeplechase mile.
World Athletics’ four-year business strategy, Pioneering Change outlines the key strategic priorities for the sport, with innovation to grow its global reach and the sport’s value sitting at the heart of the strategy.
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 31, 2024
There is no set date for when these two new events will be introduced. According to World Athletics, the new disciplines will be tested and consulted on before any decision is made to introduce them into mainstream championships. If they don’t test well, they will not be introduced. We could conceivably see them on the 2025 World Athletics calendar, and if they test well, at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
In March, after attending the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, we wrote an opinion piece on why the mixed 4x100m should be introduced as a World Athletics event. Two-time Canadian Olympic sprinter and world championship finalist Aaron Brown agreed, calling the 4x100m mixed relay “a chaotic and entertaining addition to track and field.”
The mixed 4x100m relay was inspired by the mixed 4x400m, which was first introduced seven years ago at the 2017 World Relays held in Nassau, Bahamas. The event gained significant attention, and was first included in the program for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. The mixed 4x400m made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and has been a staple event in the World Athletics program since.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the idea behind these new events is to create a faster-paced and more exciting product for millions of people to watch, both in the stadium and at home. “Innovation across all facets of the sport will help to future-proof athletics and elevate the breadth and talent of our athletes, helping them and the whole sport maximize its potential and value,” president Coe said in a press release. “More events that attract more fans and broadcasters mean more money for our athletes, for our federations, and more generally for our sport.”
In addition to the two new events, World Athletics plans to reconfigure the annual track and field season to conclude with a global championship event, with the goal of ending each outdoor season with flair. 2026 will be the first year without a global championship in the calendar since 2020 (the Tokyo Olympics were pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic). There will be the launch of a new global championship in non-World Championship years so fans of the sport can enjoy an annual major event.
