Running News Daily

The 2027 London Marathon is set to take on huge significance for British marathon runners, serving as the trial race for both the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing and the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

For the Beijing 2027 World Championships, the first two British finishers in both the elite men’s and women’s races will be eligible for selection, provided they have achieved the required World Athletics qualifying standard either before or on the day of the London Marathon.

The qualifying marks are 2:06:00 for men and 2:23:20 for women.

That puts a premium on both position and performance in London, with athletes knowing that a strong finish could potentially secure them a place on Britain’s team for the global championships in Beijing later in 2027.

The stakes will be even higher for those targeting the LA 2028 Olympics.

The first British man and first British woman across the London Marathon finish line will be pre-selected for the 2028 Olympic marathon team, provided they achieve the Olympic qualifying standards, which are expected to be confirmed by the end of 2026.

However, pre-selection will not be the final step. Those athletes will still need to demonstrate their form through performances over different distances during the 2028 season before their Olympic places can ultimately be confirmed.

With London already one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, the 2027 edition now carries an added layer of national importance.

British marathoners will have more than a coveted London Marathon result on the line. For the leading athletes, the race could become the first major step towards Beijing 2027, while simultaneously opening the door to a potential Olympic journey ending in Los Angeles in 2028.

London 2027 is shaping up to be a defining race for Britain’s marathon ambitions — with Beijing and LA firmly on the horizon.

The battle for the future of world athletics is already taking shape, but outgoing World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has made one message unmistakably clear: athletics must remain at the heart of the Olympic Games.

Speaking ahead of the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Coe said he remains highly optimistic about the sport’s future and insisted that athletics must protect its position as the leading sport of the Olympic movement.

“There are only two truly global sports, one is football and one is athletics. We must maintain our position as the number one Olympic sport,” Coe said.

The 69-year-old Briton is approaching the final year of his presidency after first taking charge of the global governing body in 2015. He was re-elected for a third term in 2023, which, under World Athletics’ term limits, is his final mandate.

Coe will leave office in 2027, when the next World Athletics president is elected at the Elective Congress in Beijing, immediately before the 2027 World Athletics Championships. The new president will serve a four-year term covering 2027–2031.

And the succession battle is already gathering momentum.

Among the candidates declared eligible so far are prominent figures from within the sport’s leadership, including World Athletics Vice-Presidents Adille Sumariwalla of India, Raul Chapado of Spain and Ximena Restrepo of Colombia. The current list also includes Yuko Arimori of Japan, Hatem Fouda of Egypt, Ivan Garcia of Uruguay, Jean Gracia of France and Kenya’s Jackson Tuwei.

Restrepo brings a particularly distinguished competitive background to the contest. The Colombian won Olympic bronze in the women’s 400 metres at Barcelona 1992 and became the first woman elected as a World Athletics Vice-President in 2019.

For Coe, however, the final chapter of his presidency is not simply about preparing for his departure. He says his priority over the next year is to continue strengthening the sport so that his successor inherits an organisation capable of growing even further.

“I've never been more optimistic about the future of the sport,” Coe said, adding that whoever succeeds him will inherit “a very much stronger sport” than the one he took over in 2015.

His presidency has coincided with significant changes across the sport, including governance reforms, commercial development and efforts to make athletics more innovative and globally engaging. The launch of the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest this September is another example of the organisation’s attempt to create a shorter, high-stakes competition featuring many of the world’s leading athletes.

But the next president will inherit an enormous responsibility.

Athletics is the foundation of the Olympic Games, producing some of the most iconic moments in Olympic history and bringing together athletes from virtually every corner of the world. The challenge for Coe’s successor will be to preserve that unique position while making the sport more commercially powerful, more accessible to younger audiences and even more compelling in an increasingly competitive global sporting landscape.

Coe believes the opportunity is there.

As he prepares to hand over the presidency in 2027, his challenge to the next generation of World Athletics leadership is clear: protect the sport’s Olympic identity, keep pushing its boundaries and make sure athletics remains the heartbeat of the Games.

The question now is not whether Coe will leave a significant mark on athletics, but who will have the vision, influence and leadership required to carry the sport into its next era.

Who do you think should lead World Athletics after Sebastian Coe?

Fresh from a thrilling victory in the mile at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, Josh Kerr has made one thing abundantly clear—his greatest achievements may still lie ahead.

The British middle-distance star has unveiled an ambitious roadmap that could redefine his legacy, with two towering objectives at the heart of his journey: breaking Hicham El Guerrouj's legendary 1500m world record of 3:26.00, set on July 14, 1998, in Rome, and capturing the Olympic 1500m title at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Kerr enters this new chapter with confidence soaring after producing one of the most remarkable performances in middle-distance history. His sensational 3:42.66 during the groundbreaking Project 222 campaign shattered the men's mile world record, ending a 27-year reign and proving he possesses the speed, endurance, and tactical brilliance required to challenge the sport's greatest barriers.

That achievement has strengthened Kerr's belief that the oldest and most revered record in men's middle-distance running is now within reach. For more than 28 years, Hicham El Guerrouj's 3:26.00, set in Rome on July 14, 1998, has stood as the benchmark of excellence in the 1500m, surviving generations of world-class challengers and earning a reputation as one of athletics' most untouchable performances.

Rather than rushing the attempt, Kerr has laid out a carefully calculated plan designed to maximize his chances of success. His immediate priority is the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, where he hopes to reclaim the world 1500m title and reaffirm his position among the sport's elite.

Only after that championship campaign will his focus shift toward an assault on El Guerrouj's historic mark. A dedicated world-record attempt is expected later in 2027, built around months of meticulous preparation, altitude training, world-class pacing, ideal racing conditions, and flawless execution—the same ingredients that powered his record-breaking mile performance.

For Kerr, world records are not won by chance. They are earned through relentless preparation, perfect timing, and the courage to attack history when every detail aligns.

Beyond the pursuit of history lies one final prize that continues to fuel his ambition: Olympic gold.

Having earned bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and silver at the Paris 2024 Games, Kerr now has just one medal missing from an already glittering collection. His ultimate objective is to stand atop the Olympic podium in Los Angeles in 2028, completing a remarkable progression from bronze to silver and finally to gold.

If successful, Kerr would not only cement his place among Britain's greatest middle-distance runners but also become the first athlete to erase Hicham El Guerrouj's iconic 3:26.00 world record since it was established in Rome on July 14, 1998, before completing his Olympic medal collection with the sport's ultimate prize.

The stage is set, the blueprint is in place, and the countdown has begun. The question now is whether Josh Kerr can accomplish what generations of elite milers have failed to do—rewrite one of athletics' most enduring records and crown his career with Olympic gold in Los Angeles.

The road to the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing has officially begun — and earning a place on athletics’ biggest stage is about to become even more demanding.

World Athletics has now confirmed the qualification system and entry standards for the championships set for September 2027 in Beijing, China, introducing a major adjustment that could reshape the battle for global qualification across distance running and track events.

Under the newly announced structure, only around 40 percent of athletes will qualify automatically through direct entry standards, while the remaining 60 percent of places will be awarded via the World Athletics Rankings system. The change represents a clear shift away from the previous 50-50 balance used in recent championships.

The updated model places greater emphasis on consistency throughout the season rather than relying solely on one exceptional performance. Athletes will now need to compete regularly at high-level meetings, collect ranking points, and maintain elite performances across an extended qualification period.

For distance runners, the standards remain exceptionally demanding, highlighting the increasing depth and competitiveness of global athletics.

In the men’s marathon, athletes must run 2:06:00 or faster to secure an automatic qualification mark, while the women’s standard has been set at 2:23:20. The qualifying window for the marathon opened on November 3, 2025, and will close on Midnight May 2, 2027.

The men’s 10,000m standard has been fixed at 26:48.00, with the women required to run 30:40.00. In the 5000m, athletes must clock 12:50.00 for men and 14:36.00 for women to gain direct entry.

Middle-distance events will also demand world-class performances. The men’s 1500m standard stands at 3:30.00, while women must achieve 3:58.00. In the 800m, the entry standards are 1:43.00 for men and 1:57.50 for women.

Sprint events remain brutally competitive. Athletes targeting the men’s 100m must break 10 seconds with a qualifying standard of 9.95, while the women’s requirement has been set at 10.96. In the 200m, the standards stand at 20.07 for men and 22.45 for women.

The hurdles events also demand elite-level precision and speed, with qualifying marks of 13.18 in the men’s 110m hurdles and 12.60 in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Meanwhile, the 3000m steeplechase standards have been fixed at 8:08.00 for men and 9:06.50 for women — times that underline the growing global standard in one of athletics’ most physically demanding disciplines.

World Athletics says the revised qualification pathway is designed to create stronger, more competitive championship fields while maintaining strict control of athlete numbers across all disciplines.

Qualification windows for the 10,000m, race walks, combined events, and relays will run from February 23, 2026, through August 22, 2027. For all other track events, athletes can qualify between August 23, 2026, and August 22, 2027.

The new system is expected to intensify competition across the entire athletics calendar, with ranking points now becoming more valuable than ever before. Athletes will no longer depend solely on one breakthrough race; instead, sustained excellence across multiple competitions may prove decisive in securing a ticket to Beijing.

As preparations begin worldwide, the countdown to Beijing 2027 has already sparked anticipation for what could become one of the most fiercely contested World Championships in recent history.

Spanish Olympian and two-time world championship medalist Mohamed Katir was handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday for falsifying travel documents in support of his explanation for his three whereabouts failures in 2023.

Instead of accepting wrongdoing and taking on the two-year whereabouts ban, the 26-year-old middle-distance runner falsified travel documents (a travel itinerary, boarding pass and booking confirmation) in an attempt to mislead investigators as they probed the integrity of his explanation for a whereabouts failure that occurred on Feb. 28, 2023. The result was an even longer ban than what he was already facing.

The four-year ban will run concurrently with Katir’s ongoing whereabouts sanction, extending his ban from the sport until February 2028. This means he will be forced to miss both the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. 

According to the AIU, the world 5,000m silver medallist missed three tests between Feb. 28, 2023 and Oct. 10, 2023 (missing three doping tests in a 12-month window results in an anti-doping rule violation, or ADRV).

Katir’s whereabouts failures

On Feb. 28, 2023, a Doping Control Officer (DCO) went to the address in Murcia, Spain, indicated in the Athlete’s Whereabouts information; upon arrival, the DCO was told that Katir was in Lisbon and would not be returning until March 2. 

Katir missed another test on April 3, when a DCO showed up at his home in Murcia again. When they arrived, Katir was training in France, and had failed to update his whereabouts. Katir told the AIU he tried to update his information, but the system was not working. He was charged with his second violation when he failed to send an email providing evidence of technical issues.

His third violation occurred on Oct. 10, when a DCO went to the specified location during a 60-minute time slot between 7:20 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. When the DCO arrived, Katir was away at training, and later insisted there was a mistake in his whereabouts, and claimed he never changed the time slot from his usual 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. window.

Katir is a two-time world championship medallist in the men’s 1,500m and 5,000m events. He won silver in the 5,000m behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

AIU head Brett Clothier said the ruling underscored the seriousness of tampering: “Gone are the days in athletics when explanations offered in anti-doping cases are just accepted at face value,” he stressed. “The vast majority of our elite athletes respect the strict rules and processes of the sport and they should take heart at the action being taken to ensure a level playing field.”