San Diego named host city for 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships

SAN DIEGO (CNS) — San Diego Monday was selected as the host city for the World Athletics Road Running Championships in 2025, making it the first U.S. city so chosen.

“We are grateful that so many great cities around the world are interested in hosting our events and we’re delighted with the quality of the candidates we have had to choose from to host these World Athletics Series events over the next three years,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “The standard of bids is so high that we would like to encourage those who were not successful today to continue talking to us about staging future events.”

The inaugural event is scheduled for October in Riga, Latvia, and will include distances of one mile, 5 kilometers and a half marathon. The event is not scheduled for 2024, but will be held annually starting with San Diego in 2025 and Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2026.

“I’m proud San Diego is the first U.S. city to have the opportunity to host the World Athletics Road Running Championships — another success that showcases our city as a premier global destination for sports tourism,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

“My thanks goes out to the team at Sports San Diego and our local running community for all they did to bring this major event to our city, and I’m excited to welcome runners from around the world for a memorable weekend.”

The World Athletics Council also reinstated Lima, Peru, as the host of the World U20 Championships in 2024.

“We extend our congratulations to San Diego for being awarded the 2025 World Road Running Championships,” said Max Siegel, USA track and Field CEO. “This event will showcase the beauty of the city and the spirit of the athletes who will grace its roads. We look forward to witnessing a championship that captures the essence of excellence and the unity of the global running community.”