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What are the World Athletics Indoor Championships?


The World Athletics Indoor Championships is the global championship event for indoor athletics. Here’s how it fits into the sport’s calendar and how the World Indoors evolved.



Held every two years, the World Athletics Indoor Championships brings together the world’s best athletes to compete for world titles across a condensed programme of track and field disciplines.


Often referred to simply as the World Indoor Championships or World Indoors, the competition is the pinnacle of the indoor season and sits alongside the World Athletics Championships as one of the sport’s major global events.


For fans discovering the sport, the indoor championships can be thought of as the winter equivalent of the outdoor world championships. While the outdoor championships feature a wider programme, the indoor event offers fast-paced competition in a compact arena environment.


The next edition will be the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26, staged in Poland.


How the indoor championships fit into the athletics calendar


Athletics has two main competitive seasons. The outdoor season, which peaks with events such as the World Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games, takes place during the northern hemisphere summer.


The indoor season runs during the early months of the year and culminates with the World Athletics Indoor Championships.


Many athletes compete on the World Athletics Indoor Tour, a series of international meetings held across Europe, North America and Asia. Performances on the tour build towards the World Indoors, where athletes compete for global titles.


For those searching online for “world championship indoor athletics” or similar terms, these phrases generally refer to the World Athletics Indoor Championships, the official global championship event for indoor competition.


A brief history of the World Athletics Indoor Championships


Indoor athletics has a long history. The first recorded indoor athletics meeting took place in London in 1863 at Ashburnham Hall, where events were staged under gas lamps.


Indoor competition quickly spread internationally. By 1906 the United States was staging national indoor championships at Madison Square Garden in New York, helping establish indoor athletics as a regular part of the global calendar.


Across Europe the sport developed through the 20th century. The European Indoor Games were launched in 1966 and later evolved into the European Indoor Championships.


By the 1980s the sport was ready for a global indoor championship. Under the leadership of World Athletics president Primo Nebiolo, the first international event – the World Indoor Games – was staged in Paris in 1985.


Its success led to the creation of the World Indoor Championships, first held in Indianapolis in 1987. The championships have been staged regularly ever since.


Growth of a global event


Participation has grown steadily over the decades. The inaugural championships in Indianapolis featured 402 athletes from 84 countries. By 2012 in Istanbul, the event had expanded to 630 athletes representing a record 171 nations.


The championships now attract athletes from every athletics region, reflecting the global reach of the sport.


Legends of the World Athletics Indoor Championships


Many of athletics’ greatest names have built their legacies at the World Indoors.


Mozambique’s Maria Mutola competed at the championships a record nine times and won seven individual gold medals.


Other champions include Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Maurice Greene, Wilson Kipketer, Hicham El Guerrouj, Gabriela Szabo, Meseret Defar, Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Sergey Bubka, Brittney Reese, Yulimar Rojas, Mondo Duplantis, Valerie Adams, Werner Günthör, Ashton Eaton and Jessica Ennis-Hill.


For many athletes, success indoors has been a springboard to success later in the year. In Olympic seasons, many world indoor champions have gone on to win medals at the Olympic Games.


Evolution of the programme


The indoor championships programme has changed over time.


Race walk events were removed after 1993, while the 200m was discontinued after 2004 due to the influence of lane draws on tight indoor tracks.


Combined events – the heptathlon for men and pentathlon for women – were introduced in 1993 and have since become key highlights of the championships.


Where the championships have been held


The World Indoor Championships have been staged across Europe, Asia and North America since the first edition in 1987.


Host cities have included Indianapolis, Budapest, Seville, Toronto, Barcelona, Paris, Maebashi, Lisbon, Moscow, Doha, Istanbul, Portland, Birmingham, Belgrade and Glasgow.


After several postponements due to the Covid pandemic, Nanjing hosted the championships in 2025.


The event now heads to Poland for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26, continuing the tradition of bringing elite indoor athletics to audiences around the world.


See also