This year has shown that the Athletics are strong and fast enough to handle the major slings and arrows that have been thrown their way.
Athletics in 2025 has not been without its challenges, but as I look back on the past 12 months, I am left with the strong feeling that it was a really good year overall. It certainly helped a lot to have such a successful big show, in this case the World Championships in Tokyo, and they absolutely nailed it in Japan.
The positives that came out of those nine days of competition shone brighter than the negative headlines we had to contend with, such as high-level doping bans, the terrible idea that is enhanced games, or the failure of the Grand Slam track to not only change the sport, but even just pay the athletes.
I also feel that 2025 reminded us of the depth and breadth of our sport. While we have established champions in many events, a number of new names have emerged who have taken their chances, winning medals or making headlines with their performances. Athletics never stops, and because of that, it will always generate new names, new stories and new conversations.
Innovation and doing things a little differently has also been a recurring theme this year. The Grand Slam track should have been a prime example of this, and there were some good ideas within the project, but it came well and truly short.
How damaging was its collapse? It has hurt those involved and the people who have suffered financially as a result, whether athletes or other contributors. The sport as a whole could certainly do without it, and with any innovation, especially one with such a big name attached to it, you want it to fly.
But things are moving fast, and one of the positives of the whole thing is that the athletics industry has proven strong enough to handle what doesn’t work. The Grand Slam track certainly didn’t hurt everything else, and I actually think the women-only Atlas event in New York at the end of the season helped undo some of the damage.
Michael Johnson tried to set up the Grand Slam to be a grand savior, but it wasn’t and never would be. Given that he was pitting himself against the well-established Diamond League, he was only ever going to run alongside or perhaps enhance our sport.
And now things are moving so fast that attention is already starting to turn to next year and events like the new Ultimate World Championships in Athletics, so it doesn’t take long for people’s attention to turn elsewhere.
Looking even further ahead, there has been a lot of talk recently about the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 following the release of the athletics schedule. One of the main talking points is that, unlike in years past, athletics will start right at the start of the schedule, with the opening day featuring all four rounds of the women’s 100m (morning preliminaries and first heats, evening semi-finals), while the men’s events will be split over two days.
I have absolutely no problem with that program. Some have said. “It’s not fair that men don’t do the same,” but why should men and women run on the same schedule?
I don’t think it’s detrimental to women, and I love the fact that you’re promoting the two grand finals that people all want to watch. Just because something has been done a certain way before doesn’t mean you can’t mess it up, and that’s why athletics went to the top of the Olympic schedule. Sports should be paid attention to. It’s been a long time coming and if you get the chance to show a 100m final for each gender on different days, why not do it?
Unless I missed it, I’ve yet to see any female athletes claim it’s a bad idea. I’ve seen famous Jamaican sprint coach Stephen Francis say it’s anti-women and that it’s backwards, but I don’t think it is. I have no problem with that at all and the distance means anything is possible too.
None of the main players will be involved in the prelims anyway and they will be more than capable at 11.00am or 11.10am before coming back and cracking the semis and finals. I’m sure most competitors will be happy to do the whole thing and clear on day one.
I hope there will be a healthy British presence in those final stages and I was pleased to see Dina Asher-Smith has sorted out her long training situation. After leaving Edric Floral last year, he’s back in Texas, but will be coached by Michael Ford at Baylor University.
This will be a fascinating period in his career. She’s just turned 30, but her very good friend Shelley-Anne Fraser-Pryce has pushed the limits of what a sprinter can achieve in her thirties, and I see no reason why Dina can’t keep going up and up. I honestly believe we will see the best of him again. He’s still run some good times this year, even in such a troubled time, so if he can find satisfaction in this new set-up, the results will come.
Her fellow Briton Amy Hunt has shown this year what can be done when things are in sync on and off the track and a great rivalry is brewing between the two. This is one of many subplots that will be very much worth following as we move forward. One thing is certain: 2026 will not be boring.
