India to bid for World Athletics Championships

India will mount a “strategic” bid for both the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships when the process begins later this year, hoping to get the hosting right of one of the two editions of the showpiece, national federation spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said on Sunday. World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, will announce the hosts of both the 2029 and 2031 editions in September 2026. The deadline for expression of interest by the member countries is October 1, 2025. “We are going to do strategic bidding for 2029 and 2031 (Championships). Both editions will be awarded together and whichever edition we get is fine,” Sumariwalla, a vice-president of the World Athletics and former president of Athletics Federation of India (AFI), told. There is still some time (for the process to start). We are going to submit the bids,” added Sumariwalla, who was here for the inaugural edition of the NC Classic international javelin event won by host and competitor Neeraj Chopra, the double Olympic medal-winning javelin superstar, on Saturday. The deadline for initial submission of application for the world championships is April 1, 2026.