China wins Member Federation Award

China has been named as winner of the Member Federation Award, as part of the World Athletics Awards 2025.

The Member Federation Award recognises a Member Federation that has distinguished itself in its accomplishments throughout the year and, as a result, positively contributed to the growth and profile of the sport. Six federations were shortlisted for this year’s award, each nominated by one of the six Area Associations, before China was selected by the World Athletics Executive Board as the winner.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to World Athletics for awarding this award to the Chinese Athletics Association,” said the winning federation. “This honour is a full recognition of our work.

“In 2025, the successful hosting of the Nanjing World Athletics Indoor Championships and the Guangzhou World Athletics Relays demonstrated to the world China's professional event-organising capabilities and boundless passion for athletics. Looking ahead, we will fully assist and support the organising committees of Beijing and Yangzhou in preparing for the World Athletics Congress and the World Athletics Championships to be held in Beijing, and the World Athletics Road Running Championships to be held in Yangzhou, in 2027. We will cherish this honour, make persistent efforts, and work with colleagues around the world to promote the development of global athletics.”

The Chinese Athletics Association demonstrated progress across five key areas in 2025: institutional innovation, event enhancement, youth development, gender equality and commercial collaboration.

Two World Athletics Series events – the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 and the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25 – were capably and efficiently held in China, and Beijing hosted the final Continental Tour Gold meeting of the season. Two Diamond League events took place in Xiamen and Shaoxing/Keqiao, while China also welcomed athletes for three Platinum Label road races and one World Race Walking Tour Gold event.

Hundreds of track & field and road events were organised by the Chinese Athletics Association, attracting more than six million participants in total.

The World Athletics Kids' Athletics Relay Around the World Challenge had its finale in Guangzhou, key measures to enhance athlete safety and rights protection were introduced, the representation of female athletes and officials steadily increased, and two national-level officiating training courses were conducted, resulting in 346 officials obtaining World Athletics Bronze Level certification.

In partnership with China Mobile, the federation enhanced numerous top-tier road races in branding, technology and communication, establishing a new model for association-corporate collaboration.

Further World Athletics Awards announcements will be made this weekend, with the World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars revealed on Sunday (30 November).

World Athletics