Nearly 600 athletes from more than 120 countries and regions came to the Nanjing Cube for three days in March, and on 23 March the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships closed. For China it was a first: the country had never before hosted the sport’s top indoor event.
Organisers say about 5,000 spectators were in the building. Half of them travelled in from outside the city. According to the organising committee, what they spent on food, lodging, travel, shopping and entertainment came to more than five times the ticket revenue.
Technology and praise
The committee also listed what it called records for the event. Electronic starting blocks and foul-detection systems judged to within 0.01 of a second. Cameras shooting in 8K ultra-high definition caught the muscle movement of the athletes, and the timing system pushed results out worldwide in real time.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was complimentary. “Nanjing has demonstrated outstanding event organization capabilities to the world,” he said. “The venue facilities, service guarantees, and urban atmosphere here are truly exemplary.”
The International Olympic Committee’s official social media accounts posted highlights through the week, and related topics drew more than 200 million reads worldwide, the organisers said.
A city on show
Nanjing is the first Chinese city to have hosted both the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games, a status organisers leaned on. During the championships the city set its history against a backdrop of “mountains, waters, cities, and forests”. A side programme, “Travel Nanjing with the Event”, took visiting athletes to the Ming City Wall in Hanfu costume and onto Qinhuai River dragon boats.
Australian high jump champion Nicola Olyslagers said: “The people of Nanjing are the most beautiful scenery!” Subway theme trains, taxi welcome slogans and volunteers’ “smiling services” got a mention too. French spectator Arthur said, “Here, historical heritage coexists with modern vitality. I will recommend Nanjing to more friends.”
The city says the event pushed along its plans for a “World Sports City”. The Youth Olympic Sports Park has been upgraded into an Asian top-tier water sports base, and the Hexi New Town district was built out with event construction. Organisers put the city’s sports industry at 1,378 billion yuan, among the largest in China.
The event theme was “Extraordinary Beyond the Stadium, the Cube Witnesses Dreams”.
Sources
Sources
- 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships – Wikipedia
- Nanjing, China Successfully Hosts World Athletics Indoor …
