Athletes Connect (© World Athletics)
Athlete development will be the focus on and off the field of play at the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 following the launch of the Athletes Connect initiative.
Building on the success of the athlete zones at the 2024 edition of the World U20 Championships in Lima and at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, Athletes Connect will offer workshops and talks from some of the sport’s legends as well as games in a space dedicated to athletes ahead of and during the competition in Oregon, from 3-10 August.
The main objective of Athletes Connect is to educate, empower and develop the new generation of track and field elite athletes as they embark on their journey towards becoming professionals of the sport.
The workshops will be presented by shot put superstar Valerie Adams, New Zealand’s two-time Olympic and eight-time world champion who won world U18 and world U20 titles at the start of her career.
As part of that, four talks will be given on two topics:
• ‘Your athlete journey’ with triple jump ace Christian Taylor, decathlon great Ashton Eaton and sprinter turned track analyst Ato Boldon. It will offer insight into balancing education and a sporting career, building a support network and entourage, and life after sport.
• ‘Your image, your power’ with commentator Rob Walker and a major social media platform. This will focus on how to capitalise on athlete star power, working with the media, and the power of social media.
The talks will be held across two days at the Student Welcome Centre Theatre at the University of Oregon – ‘Your athlete journey’ on Monday 3 August and ‘Your image, your power’ on Tuesday 4 August. There will be two sessions for each talk, one from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and another from 5:00pm to 7:00pm each day.
Athletes Connect will also incorporate an athlete zone at the University of Oregon’s Bean Hall featuring US town fair style educational games with giveaways such as tote bags with education booklets.
Multiple content areas will be available for either athlete self-capture or capture with professional content creators involving photography or video. The content will be distributed to athletes with posting and messaging guidance to help them build their online brands.
More than 1500 people visited the athlete zone during the 2024 World U20 Championships as athletes gained insight into topics such as health & science, safeguarding, social media, athlete representatives, and athletics rules and regulations.
“For many athletes, the World U20 Championships will be their first experience of global competition and it is really important that the development opportunities do not end there, on the field of play,” said Adams, now Chair of the World Athletics Athletes' Commission and a World Athletics Council Member.
“Seeing the impact of similar initiatives in Lima and Tokyo proves what a great chance this is to empower and equip athletes at the start of their hopefully long and fruitful careers. I encourage all areas to support athletes through such initiatives.”
Further information about Athletes Connect will be available to athletes on site at the WU20 Oregon 26.
World Athletics
