World Athletics scraps 2025 Road Running Championships

On Friday, World Athletics abandoned its search for a new host city for the 2025 World Road Running Championships, opting to scrap the competition entirely.

In a press release, the World Athletics council stated it had “decided not to award the championships to an alternative host this year due to lack of essential planning and preparation time required to cater for both elite and mass participation race elements.”

Originally scheduled to take place in San Diego from Sept. 26-28–just one week after the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo–the event was put in limbo in March when World Athletics announced it would seek a new host and delay the event to late November. The organization reportedly held discussions with “a number of alternative hosts, some with great potential,” but did finalize any decisions.

With the tentative race dates just seven months away, continuing the search for a new host city while also co-ordinating and funding the entire event was deemed unrealistic.

World Athletics pulls the plug on 2025 Road Running Championships host

This year’s event would have  marked only the second edition of the biennial international road running competition, which debuted in Riga, Latvia in 2023. The races include the road mile, 5K and half-marathon distances.

In their statement, World Athletics said its focus would shift to the 2026 World Road Running Championships, scheduled Sept. 19-20 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Athletics Canada had not yet announced the team of athletes for these championships.