Bengaluru, 6 July

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 1 October, 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 PTI.

"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 1 April, 2026.

The interested countries will have to then submit the final bid application by 5 August, 2026, before the World Athletics Council announces the host cities of the 2029 and 2031 editions of world championships.

The AFI had decided to bid for a slew of high-profile events in view of India's hopes to host the 2036 Olympics.

The Federation had earlier talked about bidding for the 2029 world championships but the idea of the "strategic" bidding for 2031 edition also could be due to the reason that Asia is hosting both the 2025 and 2027 editions of the showpiece, and it could be difficult for India to get the next one.

The 2025 world championships will be held in Tokyo in September-October while the 2027 edition will be held in Beijing.

In this scenario, India has a better chance to get the 2031 edition.

Giving India the 2029 edition would mean that Asia would be hosting the showpiece three times in a row.

The nearest event India has a chance of hosting is the junior world championships in 2028 for which the AFI has submitted expression of interest when WA chief Sebastian Coe visited the country towards the end of 2024.

"We have already submitted expression of interest for the 2028 Junior World Championship," said Sumariwalla.

World Athletics will announce the hosts of both the 2028 and 2030 editions of junior world championships in December 2025.

The deadline for initial submission of bid application is 22 September, 2025.

The interested countries will have to then submit the final bid application by 7 November, 2025.

“We are also bidding for World Athletics Relays after the next two editions. The hosts for the next two editions have already been announced,” he added.

Botswana will host the 2026 edition of the World Relays while the 2028 edition will be held in the Bahamas.