IAAF Rebrands to World Athletics

The international track-and-field federation, IAAF, has announced a rebrand to World Athletics in an effort to create a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport.

In a release, the federation said the new brand and logo “makes the sport more accessible to a wider audience while giving the global governing body the opportunity to more clearly communicate its mission as the leader of the world’s most participatory sport.”

“The hope is that our new brand will help attract and engage a new generation of young people to athletics,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe. “We have now created a brand that can come to life in the digital world while reflecting the changing nature of the sport. And at the same time bring into focus the athletes, the heroes of our sport.”

“The IAAF name has been in existence for over 100 years, but it has little understanding or relevance to those outside of athletics,” said IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon. “The new identity creates a symbol that can stand alone and work with partners and events.”

The federation will begin rolling out the new look in October after the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 and following a formal process to have the federation’s legal name changed.

The new logo has three elements: The ‘W’ of World, which doubles as a symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory; the ‘A’ of Athletics, which represents athletes’ focus as they prepare for the road ahead; and an arc over both to represent the athletics community coming together. The logo also includes the sweep of a running track that appears in an upward trajectory, which is meant to be a symbol of the desire to continually push beyond limits. The patterns are designed to capture the essence of all four main aspects of the sport: running, jumping, throwing and walking.