In exactly six months from today, the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 will get under way, marking the first ever edition of the event to be held in China.

The world’s most populous nation has already hosted almost every kind of World Athletics Series event, including the World Championships, the World Cross Country Championships, the World U20 Championships, the World Half Marathon Championships and the World Race Walking Team Championships.

This year, China will add two more World Athletics Series events to its collection: the World Indoor Championships and the World Athletics Relays.

Nanjing – a city of 9.3million people – had initially been set to host the 2020 World Indoor Championships, but it was postponed several times due to the Covid pandemic. Thankfully the 2025 edition will now go ahead from 21-23 March at the Nanjing Sports Training Center.

The purpose-built facility is the first ever venue in China to meet all of the conditions required to host the World Indoor Championships.

Nanjing has in recent years established itself as a sporting city, hosting a range of international, national and provincial events. The National Indoor Athletics Grand Prix, the China Athletics Street Circuit, and the Nanjing Marathon have all boosted the interest in athletics in the city.

More than 500 athletes from about 120 nations are expected to compete for medals across 26 disciplines during the three days of action.

The qualifying period for the championships opened at the start of this month and will run up until 9 March 2025. The entry standards were published at the end of July.

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