The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has rebranded itself as World Athletics and revealed a new logo to reflect its name change.
The governing body said that the change is in line with its restructuring and governance reform agenda in recent years to represent a “modern, more creative and positive face” for athletics.
The IAAF Council added that the new brand makes the sport more accessible to a broader audience and allows the body to clearly communicate its mission as the “leader of athletics”.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe said: “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 bringing the athletes into focus, the heroes of our sport.”
The new logo features the ‘W’ of ‘world’, which is meant to represent the symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory. The logo also incorporates the ‘A’ of ‘athletics’, which seeks to represent an athlete’s focus as they prepare for the road; and an arc over the ‘W’ and ‘A’ to represent the athletics community coming together.
In addition, the logo includes a sweep of a track that appears in an upward trajectory, which is designed to represent an athletes desire to continually push beyond limits. The IAAF said the patterns capture the energy of athletics’ four group disciplines: running, jumping, throwing and walking.
The IAAF’s rebrand process began in January 2018. An internal team selected a shortlist of brands, which then underwent a consultation process through which member federations, partners, athletes and broadcasters
provided feedback before the final version was presented to the IAAF Council.
The IAAF will begin the rollout of its new brand identity in October following the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, and following Congress approval of the legal change of the federation’s name.
By: Sport Industry Group
