Dr. Mahfoud Amara
Japan and Tokyo are once again at the center of global sport as they host the World Athletics Championships, only a few years after organising the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - an edition remembered as the most challenging in modern history. Staged under the cloud of COVID-19, those Games tested Japan’s organisational and logistical capacity, as well as its commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of athletes.
Yet in today’s climate, hosting major events has become a daunting endeavour. Costs have soared, logistical demands are immense, and fewer cities are willing to shoulder the risks. As a result, the International Olympic Committee and international federations are rethinking their approach. They are experimenting with new formats such as spreading events across multiple cities or even across borders, not simply to innovate but to ease the financial and political pressure on one host.
More strikingly, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly staged in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, a model increasingly considered the “new normal” for mega-events. At the same time, new players with deeper financial and infrastructural resources are stepping forward. Countries like India, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have expressed growing ambitions to host global competitions. Their bids reflect not only their economic capabilities but also the shifting geography of global sport, where emerging economies in Asia and the Middle East are positioning themselves as central actors in the future of mega-event hosting.
The World Championships in athletics are more than a spectacle; they are a lens through which to study sport’s global geography, history and geopolitics. Certain nations continue to dominate specific disciplines - the US, Jamaica and the Bahamas in sprinting, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco in long-distance running. At the same time, new challengers have emerged: Sweden and the United States in endurance races, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire in sprint events, and India and Pakistan in javelin throwing. These shifts reshape the competitive map, reminding us that athletics is never static but constantly evolving. Sport history also reveals deeper layers, the ethnic and cultural composition of teams such as Great Britain and France reflect the legacies of colonialism and migration.
Beyond performance, athletics is also a business. Rivalries extend to sponsorships and equipment brands, competing to provide athletes with the gear that might help them shave a fraction of a second or leap a centimeter higher. And underlying it all are the sciences of human performance - sport physiology, biomechanics, and recovery - making the Championships a living laboratory of research and innovation.
The World Championships, therefore, stand as much more than a sporting contest. They are a stage where history, economics, politics, and science converge, reminding us that sport is one of the most powerful mirrors of our global society.
Dr. Mahfoud Amara is an Associate Professor in Sport Social Sciences and Management at Qatar University.
