Tokyo to Host 2025 World Athletics Championships

Tokyo's Olympic Stadium will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships Ina FASSBENDER AFP
Tokyo's Olympic Stadium will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships Ina FASSBENDER AFP
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Tokyo to Host 2025 World Athletics Championships

Tokyo's Olympic Stadium will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships Ina FASSBENDER AFP
Tokyo's Olympic Stadium will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships Ina FASSBENDER AFP

The 2025 World Athletics Championships will return to Tokyo, the sport's global governing body announced Thursday.

The World Athletics Council confirmed that Tokyo would stage the championships for the second time after beating out competition from Kenya, Poland and Singapore, AFP said.

It means Tokyo's Olympic Stadium will get the chance to host a major athletics event in a packed venue, four years after staging the pandemic-delayed Olympic games in an empty arena.

"Within an extremely strong field of candidates to host the World Athletics Championships 2025, Tokyo offered a compelling bid," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a statement.

"I hope this will be a shining light for Japan as they celebrate 100 years of the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) in 2025, by bringing world-class athletics back to the people in Tokyo."

Tokyo last hosted the World Championships in 1991, in an event best remembered for American long-jumper Mike Powell's world record-breaking leap of 8.95m (29ft 4.4in) to eclipse Bob Beamon's long-standing 1968 mark.

"History has shown that we have the ability and energy to host the world's top athletes and to inspire international audiences," JAAF President Mitsugi Ogata said in a statement.

"We promise that the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo will be full of fans to become an unforgettable experience for the athletes and everyone involved," Ogata added.

The decision was announced on the eve of this year's World Championships, which start on Friday at Eugene's Hayward Field in Oregon.



Gauff Defeats Swiatek in Straight Sets to Reach Semifinals of WTA Finals in Riyadh

 US' Coco Gauff reacts after winning a point from Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles tennis match at the WTA Finals Championship in Riyadh on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
US' Coco Gauff reacts after winning a point from Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles tennis match at the WTA Finals Championship in Riyadh on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Gauff Defeats Swiatek in Straight Sets to Reach Semifinals of WTA Finals in Riyadh

 US' Coco Gauff reacts after winning a point from Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles tennis match at the WTA Finals Championship in Riyadh on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
US' Coco Gauff reacts after winning a point from Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles tennis match at the WTA Finals Championship in Riyadh on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Coco Gauff earned her second career win over Iga Swiatek on Tuesday, winning 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals.

It was Gauff’s first victory over Swiatek since the 2023 Cincinnati Open. The result snapped Swiatek's six-match win streak at the finals.

The win moved Gauff to 2-0 in the Orange Group, while Swiatek fell to 1-1. Swiatek had rallied to beat Barbora Krejcikova in three sets on Sunday in her first match in two months.

Krejcikova, the Wimbledon champion, kept her chances of advancing alive with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jessica Pegula.

The result eliminated Pegula, who lost in straight sets to Gauff in their opening match in Saudi Arabia.

Krejcikova was the last player to qualify for the year-ending tournament for the top eight players on tour. She became the lowest-ranked player to win a WTA Finals match since Magda Maleeva 22 years ago.