What will 2025 bring to the ever-changing international athletics events calendar and what are the major challenges for our elite athletes? This will be a year of change with new events like the European Road Running Championships and Michael Johnson's innovative Grand Slam Track series, with a £10 million prize fund!

Cross Country

Before the athletics season kicks off the domestic winter programme concludes with the English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill, London, and Lindsays scottishathletics Cross Country Championships at Callendar Park, Falkirk – both on 22 February. The UK Inter-Counties Championships are at Nottingham on 8 March.

Indoor Season

There are no World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meetings held in the UK this year but Keely Hodgkinson's new Keely Klassic Indoor Athletics Meeting in Birmingham's Utilita Arena on 15 February should whet the appetite for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing on 21-23 March.

European Road Running Championships

We previewed this brand new event here in runABC. On 12-13 April the masses and elite athletes will rub shoulders at the first European Road Running Championships in Leuven and Brussels, competing in a two-day festival over 10K, half marathon and marathon races.

Abbott World Marathon Majors

As we reported in runABC the Abbott World Marathon Majors plans to grow from six to nine events, starting with the addition of the TCS Sydney Marathon on 31 August. The original big six remain (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York) starting in Japan on 2 March – click here for full details.

Grand Slam Track Series

Former world 200m and 400m record holder Michael Johnson is determined to shake up the athletics world – at least the track part of track and field. His new series of four meetings starts on 4-6 April in Kingston, Jamaica and there is a mega-prize purse of £10 million designed to attract the world's best sprinters, hurdlers, middle-distance and long-distance runners. British contenders already confirmed include Josh Kerr, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Zharnel Hughes, and Darryl Neita.

Wanda Diamond League

The original Wanda Diamond League continues with its season opener at Xiamen, China on 26 April. The British round is at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium, London on 19 July.

World Athletics Championships

All eyes will be on Tokyo on 13-21 September for the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Will our successful Olympians in Team GB be able to match the 10-medal haul they won in Paris last year? In the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships we also won 10 medals, including gold for Josh Kerr at 1500m; silver for Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m and Matthew Hudson-Smith (400m), and bronze for Ben Pattison (800m) and Zharnel Hughes (100m).

It's going to be a great new year of international athletics with some cracking new events and superb British athletes to support – let's go Team GB!

Image of Sydney Marathon courtesy of Marathon Tours & Travel