Toruń in Poland, which hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2021, will host the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2026, it has been announced ©Getty Images

Toruń has been awarded the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships by the World Athletics Council.

On the second of their scheduled three-day virtual meeting, Council members chose the Polish city to host the 21st edition of the Championships following Glasgow's staging in 2024 and Nanjing's in 2025.

Nanjing was originally due to host an edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2020, and then again in 2023, with both dates having to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations in China.

The Council also awarded the 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships to Antalya in Turkey.

"Both Turkey and Poland have established good records as hosts of international athletics events," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

Toruń will host the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2026, following the event's staging in Glasgow in 2024 and Nanjing in 2025 ©Getty Images
Toruń will host the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2026, following the event's staging in Glasgow in 2024 and Nanjing in 2025 ©Getty Images

"Turkey most recently hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul this month, despite the hardships created by the recent earthquake.

"Poland is a regular host of World Athletics Series events, having staged the World Athletics Relays in Silesia in 2021 and the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia in 2020, underlying their commitment to our sport on a global level."

This will be the second time that Turkey has hosted a World Athletics Series event, following the 2012 World Athletics Indoor Championships, held in Istanbul.

Some 500 athletes from 50 countries are expected to compete in Antalya next year in what will be a qualifying event for the Paris Olympic Games.

"The fact that a World Athletics Championships will be hosted in Antalya is very important in terms of raising awareness of athletics in Turkey, gaining new athletics fans and increasing the popularity of athletics," said Fatih Cintimar, President of the Turkish Athletics Federation.

"We hope to gain great momentum for our sport by hosting the World Race Walking Team Championships."

The 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championship has been awarded to Antalya in Turkey by the World Athletics Council ©Getty Images
The 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championship has been awarded to Antalya in Turkey by the World Athletics Council ©Getty Images

Toruń, in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region of Poland, is a well-known destination for leading international athletes as the host of the Copernicus Cup, a popular annual stop on the World Athletics Indoor Tour, where Mondo Duplantis set his first world pole vault record in 2020, as well as the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.

"We’re very proud that the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Region has been selected as the host of the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships," said Piotr Calbecki, Marshall of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Region, which will co-host the championships with Torun.

"This will be the highlight of our long-term co-operation with the local authorities of Torun, Bydgoszcz and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Athletics Association.

"For us, the World Indoor Championships will be the cherry on top.

"The 2026 World Indoor Championships, held in Arena Torun, will be an excellent opportunity to promote our region on an unprecedented scale."

Henryk Olszewski, President of the Polish Athletic Association, added: "I am pleased that Poland has been awarded another great athletics event.

“I am convinced that the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Region will be an exemplary host, and in 2026 in Arena Torun, they will organise the best World Athletics Indoor Championships in history."

The Council also received updates on other upcoming World Athletics Series events.

The Local Organising Committee for the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 reported that their preparations were on track for the August event.