Do World Championships indicate success at an Olympics?
- Published
Great Britain and Northern Ireland endured their worst World Athletics Championships since 2005 after returning home from Tokyo with five medals.
GB failed to win any gold medals in Japan, and finished 21st in the overall medal table.
It comes just a year after GB achieved their best return at an Olympics for 40 years, with 10 athletics medals at Paris 2024.
But how much of a barometer is the world championships in determining future Olympic success?
GB won 10 medals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and a year later went on to achieve the same number of podium finishes at the Paris Olympics.
Similarly, GB won five medals in Doha, Qatar in 2019 and then won five athletics medals at the next Tokyo Olympics.
Get in touch
Send us your questions
Cause for concern?
Great Britain head coach Paula Dunn used the example of Germany, who failed to earn a medal in Budapest, but won four in Paris, and five in Tokyo.
"I'm taking heart that Germany won no medals in 2023 and have been successful here," she said. "You've got to hold your nerve. We're not in that position.
"I'm contented because there's areas we can improve on. I'd be more concerned if there wasn't. We know we can improve in the relays.
"That's one where we can pick up medals. I still think we've got the raw talent to do that. There is excitement."
Despite Germany bucking the trend, world championship medal tables are generally a good indicator for Olympic success.
The United States won 29 medals in Budapest, then 34 at the Paris Olympics. Kenya took home 10 medals from Hungary and won 11 at the 2024 Games.
In fact, only in 1992, 2000 and 2012 have GB earned fewer athletics medals at an Olympics than the world championship that took place the year before.
'A funny year'
Georgia Hunter Bell and Keely Hodgkinson won medals at Tokyo in 2025
World championships that are staged a year after an Olympics often produce unusual results.
Great Britain won one gold, four silvers and five bronze medals on the track in Paris, but just a year later that medal tally has halved.
Reflecting on Tokyo, Jessica Ennis-Hill said: "We talk about the year after an Olympics being a funny year, whether that's through injuries or changes.
"We expected a few more opportunities and we've come away with five medals which we've got to celebrate because they were fantastic performances.
"But we can't get away from the fact we've not taken a gold from these championships and that's tough."
Jenny Meadows, coach of 800m medallists Hunter Bell and Hodgkinson, agreed.
"Sometimes you can get lulled into that false sense of security thinking 'we're there and consistent and we can keep doing it'."
Precedent suggests there is some cause for concern.
Only at the 2004, 2008 and 2024 Olympics did GB get more medals than they did from the world championships that took place a year after the previous Olympics.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
What is Ask Me Anything?
Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.
We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.
The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.
We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.
Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.