World Athletics has launched the Relay Around the World Challenge ahead of this year’s Kids’ Athletics Day – an annual celebration of children being active and participating in athletics – which will take place on 7 May 2025.
This year’s theme, Relay Around the World Challenge, is inspired by the upcoming World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China. The challenge is the biggest, most inclusive Kids’ Athletics participation activity yet – with a target of 500,000 kids participating across the world – and is designed to inspire the athletes of tomorrow and get kids everywhere moving.
World Athletics launched the Relay Around the World Challenge in Monaco on Sunday along with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco who handed off the first baton to kick off the global relay. The launch coincided with the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, whose representatives were also in attendance.
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.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “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 has also launched 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 6 April 2025 – 7 May 2025, and are encouraged to record each one in the designated space on the app.
The organisers are also encouraging participants to share their relay events with us by posting pictures and videos of the Relay Around the World Challenge on social media using the hashtags #KidsAthleticsDay #RelayAroundtheWorld.
Meet The Authors
World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF) is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, such as running, jumping and throwing.
