STRATEGYFORGROWTH
2020–2023© World Athletics 2020. All rights reserved

— OUR VISIONTO USETHE POWER &ACCESSIBILITYOF ATHLETICSAND OUR
ATHLETESTO CREATEA HEALTHIERAND FITTERWORLD— CONTENTS

4INTRODUCTION

6EXECUTIVE SUMMARY8OUR VISION & MISSION10OUR STAKEHOLDERS

12

OUR STRATEGIC GOALS & KPIs

14

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS& ADVANTAGE

16OUR APPROACH

30	METRICS, RESEARCH,
MONITORING & REPORTING32

OUR VALUES34

OUR TIMETABLE

38

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS

39

CONCLUSION

— INTRODUCTION

World Athletics faces an unprecedented

leisure activities for all ages and abilities.

opportunity for growth. Four years ofThis strategic plan recognises thatbedding down a strong governanceresponsibility and embraces the broadest

foundation and creating a more transparent

possible definition of our sport:

and accessible sport, willing to create• Track and field

dialogue and tackle tough decisions has• Road runninggone a very long way in establishing• Cross country

World Athletics’ credibility and trust.

• Race walking

The recent decision by the IOC to• Mountain and trail running

postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games and stage them in 2021, andthe subsequent decision to reschedule
our own World Athletics Championships
Oregon 2021 to 2022, provides the
sport with five consecutive (2021-2025)

ON
YOUR
MARKS.

This plan will guide our activities
and the focus of the World
Athletics Headquarters for the
next four years (January 2020
– December 2023).

years of world class athletics anchoring

We are, however, aware that it is being

every northern hemisphere summer. Whilst

launched at a time when the world isAthletics is already a hugely popular sport

gripped with the Covid-19 pandemic which

globally, we believe that everything we dois challenging every part of normal life. We

now should capitalise on this extraordinary

do not underestimate the pressures theopportunity to grow the sport to the next

fight to beat the virus is bringing on all ourlevel of popularity and involvement.

stakeholders – our Member Federations
and their athletes, coaches and officials,

World Athletics is often thought of largely

our Area Associations, elected officers,

in terms of elite track and field. However,

our Partners, the cities, governments and

we are the global governing body for thevenues we work with, the media, our fanswhole sport, across all its forms and acrossand all those who help deliver athletics

the entire planet – from competitive andevery day.

5

— EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our overarching vision and the purpose ofoperational capacity, skill and resource);

element of our strategic plan to achieve

this strategic plan is to grow the whole ofknowledge, experience and connections

greater reach and the growth we are

our sport. We know that in the short term

across cultures and social groups and aaiming for.

this will initially be restricted by the social

product with history and tradition whose

distancing guidelines the world is understars have become household names. We

We have established a new set of values

but on the other hand, the vital importanceare the number one Olympic sport but also

by which we will operate. These recogniseof daily exercise in maintaining fitness andthe most universally participated in sport,

the extraordinary work and achievements

health during this time has resulted in manywith equal numbers of men and women ofof the past 4 years in the governancepeople taking up walking and running andall ages using our sport to maintain fitnessof our sport but also provide us with anplaying simple games involving running,and vitality. We need to capitalise on thisopportunity to accelerate our thinking andjumping and throwing with their families. In

by realising our assets and realigning our

the way we deliver and operate to achieve

many ways, there has never been a better

Member Federations to where their skills

our growth objectives over the nexttime for us to recognise and build on whatand expertise can deliver real benefits to

4 years.

our sport can offer, in its purest form.

them and to our sport.

GROW
We have unique and enviable global

attributes as a sport – talented anddriven athletes on every continent;
an operational presence in 214 countries(although it should be recognised that ourMember Federations span a wide scale ofThis Strategic Plan will be the metronome
We have partnerships with some of theof the daily activities of the WA HQ staff,

world’s leading and most respected

and its implementation across the globe,organisations, commercial corporations

with and through our Stakeholders, will

and broadcasters. Developing thesebe encapsulated in the 10-year World

partnerships through greater activation

Plan (due to be signed off at the 2021

and investing in new partnerships which

Congress) to ensure the whole sport isoffer real value to the sport is a keyaligned to a common goal.

THE WHOLE
OF OUR SPORT7

— OUR VISIONTO USE THE
POWER ANDACCESSIBILITYOF ATHLETICSAND OUR
ATHLETESTO CREATEA HEALTHIERAND FITTER
WORLD

— O
I SISSI SO INO N—OUURR MMGROW
Grow the sport of athletics and make it
relevant in people’s lives and in the livesof their communities.

INSPIRE
Create globally appealing and accessible
competitions, events, and activities so our talented
athletes can entertain and inspire the world.

LEAD
Be the best example of a well-governed sports
federation taking brave leadership decisions andvaluing partnerships that deliver athletics aroundthe world.

9

— O U R S TA K E H O L D E R S

IN CREATING THISSTRATEGIC PLAN
WE HAVE IDENTIFIEDSIX PRIORITY
STAKEHOLDERS.

ATHLETES

and fitter lifestyles. We need to mobilise

who are our number one asset and, as

this group, inspire them to participate,such, need to be supported, promoted,

motivate them to watch and bring themprotected by clear rules and behaviour,

together on platforms and in forums

inspired to compete, rewarded andwhere they feel they belong and choose

supported with the platforms and tools

to connect to our sport.

to engage directly with partners and fans.
Creating more competition and earning

OUR PEOPLE

opportunities for our athletes is a priority

whether in Area Associations, Member

in our desire to make a career in athletics

Federations, our HQ or the millions ofan attractive professional choice.

people who enable our sport to take place

MEMBER FEDERATIONSMEDIA

there may be significant diversity across

who amplify our events, our athletes,

FANS

support them, develop them and inspire

our MFs but every one of them has theour campaigns and the way we run our

who participate in our sport, who watch

more people into our sport through moreability to deliver growth in our sport, either

sport. Critical friends at worst and avid

our sport, who follow our athletes and who

accessible and clear pathways, processes

at elite level or community level, so wechampions of the sport at best, they needmotivate their families, their communities

and equality practices.

need to make them the best they can be

to have access to all of us, in good times

and their governments to support healthy

at whichever focus they are best suited to.

and bad, to help tell our stories as well as

day in, day out. We need to celebrate them,

we can.

PARTNERS
without whom we would not be able torealise our vision so we must find ways tohelp them align with our vision, support
our strategy and activate accordingly
whether they provide funds, supply
us with services, broadcast our sport,organise events at any level or partnerwith us in campaigns.

11

1 2 34— O U R S T R AT E G I C G O A L S & K P I s

MORE PARTICIPATIONMORE FANSMORE PARTNERSHIPS

We will invest in our athletes and the

MORE PEOPLE(to deliver our sport)

We will attract more fans to attend andWe will create more partnerships

development of our competitions by

We will celebrate, support and develop thewatch our athletes compete at national,

with commercial and non-commercialdelivering more events where athletes canpeople who deliver our sport throughout

regional and global competitions andorganisations that generate financial

earn income and create more opportunities

the world, at every level, providing clear

develop platforms and initiatives that are

and activation value and opportunities

for people to participate in athletics

access and pathways for all.

flexible and reflect the world we live into our sport, our athletes, our MF’s andacross all levels, in as many countries as• We will double the number of new recruits whotoday to engage with and inspire our fans.

communities around the world.

we can and in all age groups.

support the delivery of our sport, whether as• We will grow our broadcast reach and• We will double our current number of commercial• We will create a critical mass of world classcoaches and officials or in Member Federation,

engagement by at least 10% through closer

event or club roles.

collaboration on how our sport is delivered• We will double our non-commercial partners andathletics competitions and events in all ourpartners.

continents with clear levels of prize money by• We will develop best in class teaching materials

and presented, including greater investment inmeaningful NGOs relationships, particularly in theinvesting in Area and National championships,

and courses, promoted through education

innovation and technology that will bring ourareas of health and wellbeing and environmental

the Continental Tour and continue to drive

institutions around the world and a new WA

athletes closer to our fans.

sustainability.

improvements in the Diamond League.

e-learning platform.

• We aim to deliver full stadiums at our outdoor• We will add value to our existing partnerships• We will reform our event hosting protocols• We will develop programmes to deliver key

World Championships by working more closely(sponsors, event organisers, LOCs) so we in turnand requirements to align with city agendas

skills to Member Federations, through Area

with our LOCs, our broadcasters and our athletes.

can reap greater value.

so we can attract more bidders and leave

Associations and other channels, so they can• We will double our digital following over the next

lasting legacies wherever our events

attract and deliver the growth we are looking

four years by focusing on creative content thatare held.

for (eg: Coaches and technical official forums,

engages as well as attracts; developing strong

Leadership seminars, Communication workshops,

partnerships with social media platforms so we canCommercial workshops,).

work together to drive growth; loosen, where we• We will focus on mass engagement opportunities,
especially in running, by delivering a seriesof campaigns every year that our Member• As well as moving forward with our governancecan, access to broadcast content and effectively

Federations want to be part of and our partners

reforms, we will also drive our gender leadershipcontrolling specific platforms (eg: YouTube) toand broadcasters will want to support.

programmes to ensure that we meet our 50%

drive traffic.

• We will ensure that school-age children

gender targets by 2027 through proactive• We will create a database of one million known

around the world have the opportunity to try

initiatives that build the pipeline of talentedfans of our sport who actively choose to connect

our sport by delivering a best in class kids’and empowered female administrators, coaches

and engage with us, our athletes and our sport.

athletics programme.

and officials.

• We will create at least two campaigns a year inpartnership with cities, governments and Member
Federations to drive health and fitness agendas.

13

— C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S & A D VA N TA G E

In putting together this strategic plan, a number of workshops
were held where the leadership group and the HQ explored
three key areas of sport: our organisation, our products andour markets so we could collectively understand where ourstrengths lie in all three areas so we can build on them.
The following six statements from the strategic planning
process guided our thinking:We are the No.1 Olympic sport so

We are one of two genuinely global

we can and should lead.

and accessible sports with Member
Federations in over 200 countries and half

Our athletes, have the independent

a billion people stating they participate

voice and charisma to connect toin athletics or running (Nielsen research).

real people in every community. Our
sport is simple to understand, attracts

We have cleaned house and built

huge audiences when presented well, istrust across all our stakeholder groups

exciting and is scalable so can be held

so we are ready and set up to confidently

in parks and playgrounds as well as on

grow our sport and make brave decisions.

packed streets and sell out stadiums.

The market that World Athletics
The current pandemic has

operates in, and cares about,focused the world on healthshould be as wide as possible (ieand fitness of both individuals andfrom gold medallists through to occasional

the planet. As athletics is the basis of all

recreational runners and from children to

sports, World Athletics is well placed tomasters).

leverage both of these trends.

15

— OUR APPROACH

We will grow athletics, by doing the things we do alreadyeven better through an ongoing programme of continuous
improvement and by delivering new innovative initiatives
and programmes.
By committing to a culture of continuousof programmes such as how to prevent

development and improvement in

the spread of infectious diseases at

everything we do, our resources gomass endurance events, engaging withfurther, our behaviours are consistent,

our retired athletes to recognise thecollaborative, and trusted and ourcommunity support they provide, making

outcomes will deliver greater returns to

our historical information more easily

all stakeholders.

accessible, showcasing all our work

THE FOLLOWINGOUTLINES THE SIX
MAJOR INITIATIVESAND THE CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTPROJECTS WE SET OUT
TO DELIVER GROWTH:

through our own channels and protecting
We will innovate at every level of our

the planet through delivering our 10-year

organisation through regular reviews ofsustainability plan.

our programmes and activities that include
robust cross departmental interrogation

We will develop communication and, whereand feedback. Driving industry leadership

required, a marketing plan to support all

initiatives by applying our skills andour activities.

knowledge to the ongoing development

1. Competition innovation todeliver scale and excitement

2. Giving every child in the worldaccess to our sport

3. Building Human Capital in our Sport
4. Knowing and engaging our fans
5. Becoming a

Campaigning Organisation

6. Profitable Partnering
for Growth17

— OUR APPROACH

1. COMPETITION INNOVATION TO
DELIVER SCALE & EXCITEMENT
Our World Athletics Series is our premium asset, driving profile and income for our sport
worldwide. Ensuring they are relevant, entertaining and profitable is a priority so we are
specifically exploring the repositioning of the WAS non-stadium events in order to increase
their impact and appeal and provide a stimulus to deliver a local community legacy longafter the event has left town:

A WEEKEND CELEBRATIONOF RUNNING:
A weekend celebration of running:

INVEST IN THE BEST& CREATE SPACE FOR
THE REST:

combining world class elite events

Encouraging top-flight competition

and athletes with mass participationin every continent in the world, every

competitors. World Athletics Road

year, through the three tier Continental

Championships will bring together theTour. Bringing new investment into theWorld Half Marathon Championships, asport enabling our athletes to prepare

significant mass participation component

for major championships and increase

and other potential elements such as theearning opportunities.

World Race Walking Team Championships,

Establish a Pro-Running Board to review,an Ekiden relay or a World 5k championship.

reform and govern our Road Running label

There is also the possibility of hosting a

programme by evolving more tailor-madeWorld Athletics Off-Road Championshipsolutions to recognise area and regionalin the intervening years which could

related needs, targeting recreational

combine the World Cross Country

runners and focusing on societal issues

Championships with other off-road– health, social and environmental

disciplines (trail, mountain running, etc.).

responsibility.

PARTICIPATION

Extend the reach of the Olympic Gamesby working with IOC and otherstakeholders to include cross country
within the athletics programme.

19

— OUR APPROACH

2. GIVING EVERY CHILD IN THE
WORLD ACCESS TO OUR SPORT
Every child in the world should be given the chance to access andexperience our sport but we know that one size does not fit all.
To be open to as many children as possible, including those with adisability, our programmes must be without restrictions of facilities,
equipment or cost.
Our Kids’ Athletics programme will have the flexibility to caterfor all school-age groups and geographic/cultural differences,
will inspire and incentivise young people to take up the sport
and will examine and address the barriers to participating andwhy young people leave our sport. This programme will be theheartbeat of every Member Federation and we will use ourWorld Athletics Series championship events and our athletes
as the catalyst and inspiration to children and campaigningvoice to governments.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT:
1. Designing and driving a global calendar

2. Robustly reviewing our competitions and3. Rigorously evaluating our rules and how

4. Designing and implementing a strongthat is attractive to our fans, encourages

reforming our event hosting protocols

they are applied and, wherever necessary,

impact assessment across all our events todelivery partnerships and provides Member

and requirements seeking objective

changing them and communicating themensure they drive real legacy in every city

Federations, Areas and athletes with eventand exhaustive feedback which in turnto our stakeholders.

and every country where we host events.

earning and performance opportunities

drives our event guidelines and our new

and drives national and regional fans.

bidding process.

21

— OUR APPROACH

3. BUILDING HUMAN
CAPITAL IN OUR SPORT
We will establish a People Plan which identifies the Training
Pathways in all areas of sport for all people: providing
clear pathways for education and training, from school touniversity and beyond:
COACH ANDOFFICIAL EDUCATIONYOUTH LEADERSHIPPROGRAMME

to review and reform the programme,

built from the upper age group of Kids’

develop clearer pathways with reward

Athletics, to ensure young people

and recognition and make getting

continue in the sport across a range of

involved simpler;

opportunities.

CAMPAIGN –RECRUIT, REWARD,
RECOGNISE, RETAIN‘WAS’ WORKFORCE LEGACY

global but locally targeted to recruit more

world-class training and upskilling

people into the sport, with a focus on

reward and recognition programmes thatthe right mindset, specialist and relevant

help deliver growth in host countries

training and recognising people for theirand cities.

developing world class workforce
experience into all WAS events withtime and expertise.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Sharing knowledge and skills with and between
our Member Federations through comprehensive induction in our operations, creating
workshops and forums through Area Associations and other channels. We will focus on
tailoring our approach to suit the strengths of different MF’s sustainability in all we do andcreating greater efficiency and cost effectiveness in our working practices.

PEOPLE23

— OUR APPROACH

4. KNOWING ANDENGAGING OUR FANSPLATFORMS TO POWER ENGAGEMENT:
Constructing best in class engagement and activation platform will enable us to transformthe fan experience around our content and services so we can grow event viewing,participation, sponsor and host city connections.

People love athletics, from the FANatics – who know every
athlete, every stat and the best angle of release for the
javelin throwers – to the ‘ARMCHAIR Advocates’ for whom
watching sport on TV is a means to unwind. Our vision is
to have one million fans signed up by 2024. We will take alaser-like approach to reach, understand and engage with
our fans by providing content they want, when they want it.

FANS

COMPELLING CONTENT ALWAYS:
is our overriding promise to our fans across four key areas:a. Athletics

Explained:

willc. Competition Info: We will continue tocreate content from the fun, bite

provide comprehensive competition

size introduction to the sport to theinformation (including ways to watch,highly technical analysis of world-classreports, results, athlete profiles,

competition.

highlights and premium behind-the-Wescene footage).
b. Be Active Acceleration: The newsection of our website, Be Active, hasd. Exclusive Offers and opportunities:

come into its own during Covid-19.

Competitions to win tickets, partner

We will build on this, offering premium

discounts,

lifestyle content to our signed-up fanspersonalised messages from theirfrom our athletes, our partners andfavourite athletes will all help drive fansour events.

to sign up for tailored exclusive content.

exclusive

content,

ATHLETE TRACKING:

INSIDE TRACK INSIGHTS:

Using existing technology to analyse

We already invest in CIS information

athlete performance, Athlete Tracking

and insights for broadcasters and media.

augments the experience of fans by

We will explore how we can evolve thisoffering greater insight into how and why

information into usable graphics which tellour elite performers are successful.

a story for the media and create access to
inside track insights for our signed-up fans.

25

— OUR APPROACH

5. BECOMING A CAMPAIGNINGORGANISATION
Athletics is truly global and is participated in by more
people than any other sport. We will harness thepower of our sport to bring positive change through an
influential campaigning programme connecting to globalorganisations, governments, communities and partners.
Every breath we take... we want to bring

Everyone has the right... together with ourpressure to city authorities, through ourathletes and our fans we will campaign toathletes and recreational runners all overchange the United Nations Human Rights

the world to increase air quality as a way

Charter to include sport for all children as

to deliver healthier communities.

a fundamental right.

Powering our ‘park run’ Partnership byCapitalising on ‘celebratory’ calendar days

committing every future World Athletic

to create campaigns that encourage moreChampionship host city to sign up to

people to choose athletics, working intangible programmes that get morepartnership with our Member Federations,people active through athletics as partbuilding on their relationships we alreadyof the bidding requirements.

have UNEP and WHO and other NGO’s
who share our vision and mission.

27

— OUR APPROACH

6. PROFITABLE PARTNERINGFOR GROWTH
A key part of World Athletics’ activity is the provision of
grant monies, support and services to assist the growth ofathletics across our 214 member federations and six areas.
FUNDING FEDERATIONSFOR FUTURE SUCCESS:PARTNERING PATHWAYS:
Evolve our grant funding and endorsement

The ‘one size fits all’ approach to grantso it is a catalyst for Member Federations

funding will be reviewed to enable someto develop new partnerships with local

Member Federations to pursue elite

external providers (both private andathlete development and other Member

public), which will in turn facilitate

Federations to focus on growing athletics

increased activity and impact.

in schools or in the community. In addition,
support for MFs needs to extend beyond

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT:

financial and into support services andReviewing

upskilling programmes.

development, administration andandevaluating

our

project grants to ensure our Member

MEANINGFULMEASUREMENT METRICS:

Federations are delivering relevant

Ensure our existing grants across the key

growth of our sport at community andareas of development and competition

elite levels.

work harder in achieving outstanding

Increase Athlete earning potential by

results for Member Federations and World

working with athletes and their managers

Athletics and are aligned strongly to ourto review, shape and increase earning

growth agenda around the world.

opportunities for athletes at all levels of

campaigns in their markets that drive thethe sport.

29

— METRICS, RESEARCH, MONITORING, REPORTING

We are a data rich sport, driven by statistics. But we
acknowledge that we need more information to benchmark
the growth metrics we have identified.
Research conducted in 2018/19 will

enabling adaptations to be made forprovide us with a starting point in somelocal requirements.

areas, but we have already identified thatcritical analysis of our existing data is

We will also explore how the data weneeded to provide an accurate start point.

have can be used in an informative way

We will work with recognised research

to enhance the interest and understandingorganisations as well as universities,of our sport from the widest audience.

Member Federations, broadcasters,
athletes and governments to collate data

Finally, World Athletics is committed toso that we can underpin our targets andresearch which demonstrates the known

goals with defendable statistics.

physical, mental and societal benefits ofrunning, which will support one of our

We will also gather information from all

campaigning aims of getting the world

our activities and events, where possible

moving more.

before and after they have taken place, so
we can measure change and impacts. We

On an ongoing basis our data gathering

consider it important to create a Transfer

and research will not only record ourof Knowledge hub at World Athletics’achievements and the impact of our

HQ so information can be built uponstrategic plan, but will help us identify

and shared with others, reducing thewhat we can, and should do better.

need to “reinvent the wheel” and instead31

— O U R VA L U E S

To do all of this we will enlist and reward the right values within
our organisation and our Member Federations which deliver the
behaviours we need across our sport to drive our growth vision.
The new values are:

The way we treat people, from fellow competitors, to colleagues, partners
and all those involved in our sport. Ensuring we are always open, honest,
considerate and maintain the governing principles of our sport.
Our actions speak louder than our words in our consistent anduncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles and practices
in everything we do.
Our role is not to own or dominate our sport but to provide strong, clear,consistent leadership wherever we operate and at every level.

We are focused, passionate and dedicated to achieving our goals
and helping others do the same so we all contribute and achieve.

Inspiring opportunity to create, explore, test out and develop new ideas
to capture interest, attention and achieve new positive outcomes.

To always be the best that we can be in our
thinking and our execution at all times.

— O U R T I M E TA B L E
Our vision of growth needs to be set out

especially important as the USA is one

Our strategic plan has been embeddedin spring each year. Following the annual

in an achievable format. Our plan is toof the key geographic areas where we

within the priorities of our four

review, information will be provided touse each of our World Athletics Series

wish to concentrate our growth efforts

Commissions – Athletes, Competition,

the Member Federations, whilst ongoingcompetitions as a point of focus togetherand Eugene is a site of great history andDevelopment and Governance – and will

details will be available through the WAwith the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,

tradition for our sport. This can launch abe formally reviewed by the Executive

website, celebrating milestones as they

now in 2021, to take full advantage of thelong-term growth programme, helping ourBoard annually in autumn, with an update

are reached.

unprecedented period that follows.

sport to be front of mind when the 2028

The World Championships Oregon22 is

Olympic Games are staged in Los Angeles.

2021

2022

2023

2024

New Area/MF grant approach‘Every breath we take’ campaign‘Everyone has the right’ campaign

DEVELOPMENT PHASE
DELIVERY PHASE

FANS

People plan for our workforce

One million fan database

PARTICIPATIONPEOPLEPARTNERSHIPS

2020

Kids’ Athletics ProductAthlete tracking

Aggregated Road/Off Road Championships
Inclusion of Cross Country into Olympics
Creation of Pro-Running Board

35

OUR EVENTS
2020-2028

2020
Gdynia, POL - World Athletics
Half Marathon Championship

2021

2022
Oregon, USA - World
Athletics Championships

2024

2022

Paris, FRA- Olympic Games

Yangzhou, CHN - World
Athletics Half Marathon

TBC
2023

2028

Tokyo, JPN- Olympic Games

Minsk, BLR - World Athletics Race
Walking Team Championships

Budapest, HUN- World Athletics
Championships

2021
Nanjing, CHN - World Athletics
Indoor Championships

Los Angeles, USA- Olympic Games

2021
Chorzow, POL - World
Athletics Relays

TBC
2022
Belgrade, SRB - World
Indoor Championships

Nairobi, KEN - World Athletics
U20 Championships

2021
Bathurst, AUS - World Athletics
Cross Country Championships

37

— FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS— CONCLUSIONWorld Athletics’ normalised annual income

other commercial and broadcast partners

We should be under no illusion that the ambitious task we have set ourselves to grow ouris circa $50- $55 million per year, derived

and our Diamond League partner, Wanda.

sport is a challenging one.

• Our marketing partner, Dentsu

We continue to proactively seek new

We need to be forward-looking, creative and proactive, demonstrating excellent• Partners and broadcasters

commercial relationships and revenue

leadership and committing to creating an exciting new era in the history of our• IOCstreams in order to increase our income

sport. Growth is not only about numbers, it is also about impact, share of voice

This income, however, is not generated

base. By achieving this, it will allow us

and credibility. We must innovate, upskill and inspire.

consistently across each four-year cycle

over the next four years to do even more

but instead comes in peaks and troughs

to grow the sport, both directly and also

Successfully delivering this Strategic Plan for growth relies on each one of us within the(for example, the IOC Olympic dividend

through our Member Federations.

athletics family taking up the challenge and it can only be achieved in collaboration withfrom three main sources:

is paid every four years). Despite this, we

all of our participants, people, fans and partners.

look to even out our expenditure to match

Whilst the work goes on to generate

our annual income.

increased income for the future, theThank you and let’s make this happen!

current Strategic plan has been budgeted
80% of WA’s expenditure is directedassuming only our existing income levels

Sebastian Coe

Jon Ridgeon

towards athlete focused spend (throughgoing forward. As a result, if, and when,

World Athletics President

World Athletics CEO

our events, Member Federations and AIU

additional resources become available,

activity), with the remainder supporting

this strategic plan can flex accordingly.

the running of the Monaco-based HQ.

Matching resources with activity levels will

We are fortunate to have the financial

be a key part of the annual review that

security of long-term partnerships withWorld Athletics’ Executive Board will leadour marketing partner Dentsu, the manyat the end of each year.

World Athletics Partners

World Athletics Media Partner

World Athletics Supplier

World Athletics Media Distribution Partners