World Athletics launches Relay Around the World challenge

Ahead of this year’s Kids’ Athletics Day on 7th May, World Athletics has launched its new Relay Around the World Challenge - aiming to engage 500,000 children across all nations.

Inspired by the upcoming World Athletics Relays in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, the challenge - designed to inspire the athletes of tomorrow and get children everywhere moving - is the biggest, most inclusive Kids’ Athletics participation activity yet.

Launched earlier this week in Monaco to coincide with the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Prince Albert II of Monaco handed over the first baton to kick off the global relay.

The relay will continue over the course of the next month building momentum towards Kids’ Athletics Day and culminating with a final relay challenge event at the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25.

Speaking at the launch event, World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe stated “we are thrilled to launch the Relay Around the World Challenge today with the aim of creating the world’s largest kids’ relay in celebration of Kids’ Athletics Day. At World Athletics, we aim to use the power and accessibility of athletics to build a fitter and healthier world, and that starts in childhood.

“Every child who takes part in this challenge brings us closer to our goals of inspiring confidence, building healthy habits, and sparking a lifelong love of movement. Everyone is welcome, so get moving and help us make history.”

As part of the campaign, World Athletics is also launching the Relay Around the World Challenge web app which will act as the central hub, allowing athletics federations, clubs, schools, and individuals to register their relays and track collective progress.

Earlier this week, Olympic champion and World Athlete of the Year 2024 Letsile Tebogo was announced as an ambassador for Kids’ Athletics and will play an integral part in the Relay Around the World Challenge which he helped to kick off with an activation with more than 1000 local schoolchildren in his home country, Botswana.

How to get involved
Participants will be able to sign into the web app as an organisation or an individual. The app will contain all the information needed to activate and report on the Relay Around the World Challenge, a live tracker where everyone can follow real-time data and a photo gallery. Schools, clubs, community groups and individuals can hold as many relays as they like in the time frame between 6th April 2025 and 7th May 2025, and are encouraged to record each one in the designated space on the app.

Baton competition
Along official equipment supplier Mondo, World Athletics is are offering the chance for children from around the world to design an exclusive Kids’ Athletics relay baton. It is a chance for children to show off their creativity to the world as the winning design will be made as a genuine, competition-grade Mondo baton.

Images: The Relay Around the World Challenge gets it launch in Monaco (top and middle) and World Athlete of the Year 2024 Letsile Tebogo (below). Credit: Christel Saneh for World Athletics.