Everything you need to know about the World Athletics Championships

Katarina Johnson-Thompson will compete in Tokyo as the defending World Champion in the Heptathlon

The World Athletics Championships are nearly here with some of the top names in sport competing for gold.

For the next nine days, some of the best athletes in the world will compete in Japan's capital, Tokyo.

The Championships are seen as one of the biggest events, after the Olympics, for track and field stars.

So, what can we expect and who are the ones to watch? Keep reading to find out.

When and where are the World Athletics Championships taking place?

Japan's National Stadium in Tokyo is getting ready for nine days of competition

The World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo from 13-21 September 2025.

The Championships will use Japan's National Stadium, rebuilt for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and 2020 Summer Paralympic Games.

This is the third time that the Championships will be held in Japan, which previously held the event in 1991 and 2007.

As Tokyo is eight hours ahead of UK time, Tokyo's morning sessions will take place overnight for viewers in the UK, while evening sessions will run from morning to early afternoon.

How many events are taking place at the World Athletics Championships?

The men's 100m is one of the most popular events at the Championships

More than 2,000 athletes from around 200 countries are expected to take part in the Championships.

There are 147 medals to be awarded across 49 events in an action-packed schedule, with a total prize pot of £6.3million on offer.

There will be field events - including the high jump, pole vault and javelin throw - road events such as the marathon, combined events such as the heptathlon and decathlon and track events including the highly anticipated men and women's 100m race.

At the last Championships in 2023, GB finished seventh in the medal table, winning two gold medals, three silver and five bronze.

Who are Great Britain's big medal hopes?

Keely Hodkinson is favourite to win gold after being crowned Olympic Champion in Paris

Keely Hodgkinson will line up as the gold medal favourite in the women's 800m, after becoming Olympic Champion in the event last summer in Paris.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson will be looking to defend her heptathlon world title which she won two years ago.

Heptathlon is a seven-event contest that happens over two days.

Athletes compete in the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin and 800m.

Can Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr go one better and scoop gold in Tokyo?

Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr will also compete as defending world champion in the men's 1500m, while in the women's 1500m event Georgia Hunter Bell and Laura Muir are among Great Britain's podium hopes.

Matthew Hudson-Smith will target gold in the men's 400m after making the podium at the past three global championships.

GB's men and women's relay teams will also aim to deliver once again after medal success at last summer's Paris Games with athletes such as Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Zharnel Hughes.

Which other global stars should I watch out for?

Noah Lyles was crowned Olympic Champion in the 100m last summer

Olympic 100m champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred are both due to star in Tokyo.

Lyles won a nailbiting Olympic final last summer by just five-thousandths of a second, as he seeks to defend three world titles.

However, it won't be easy as this year's fastest man - fellow American Kenneth Bednarek - will be among his main rivals.

Alfred became Saint Lucia's first ever medallist from her country when she won gold in Paris and she'll be hoping to continue her success on the track at the World Championships.

The women's 100m and 4x100m relay will also feature Jamaica's 10-time world champion and legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who is looking to end her career by adding to her 24 global medals.

Armand Duplantis has broken the men's pole vault world record thirteen times

Pole vault star Armand Duplantis is also due to compete in Tokyo.

Last month the Swede broke the men's world record for a THIRTEENTH time in his career - and third time this year - with a clearance of 6.29m.

Kenya's distance-running great Faith Kipyegon has won an incredible seven golds and three silvers across the past eight global championships and is the red-hot favourite to claim a fifth global 1500m gold medal in a row.

Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam will go head-to-head with Johnson-Thompson in her pursuit of a sixth global crown, after clinching her third consecutive Olympic title last year.

Are you excited for the athletics? What events or stars are you looking forward to seeing?

Let us know in the comments...