Celebrating women, creating opportunities and tackling inequality

As part of our commitment to promoting gender equity in athletics, we are proud to share the pledges made by our partners and key stakeholders. The World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga have pledged to prioritize gender equity in all aspects of their events. This includes encouraging more women to participate in the half-marathon distance through a specially designed coaching program, and providing valuable skills and experiences to our volunteers, 70% of whom are women. We believe that by having women "run" our event in every sense of the word, we can #wegrowathletics and pave the way for a more equitable future.

As we continue to strive for gender equity in athletics, we are excited to announce that several of our partners and stakeholders have made their own pledges to further advance progress in this area. By using their respective expertise, we hope to see significant strides made towards gender equity in all aspects of our field.

One notable example is the commitment made by the World Athletics community to prioritize gender equity in their events. This includes a focus on encouraging more women to participate in long-distance running events through targeted coaching programs, and ensuring that a significant number of their volunteers are women who are provided with valuable skills and experiences.

We strongly believe that these efforts will go a long way in promoting gender equity in athletics, and are proud to work alongside our partners and stakeholders towards this common goal. By amplifying women's voices and creating opportunities for them to thrive, we can create a more inclusive and equitable sporting community.

#wegrowathletics by having women “run” our event in all senses of the word. World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23 pledge to:

• Promote gender equity in all our events. While 5km and 10km distances are popular with both genders, we will put emphasis on encouraging more women to take on the half-marathon distance through a specially designed ‘My First World Championships’ coaching programme.
• Provide our volunteers – 70% of them being women – with skills and experiences that will motivate them to pursue further opportunities within running.