World Athletics & USATF

Championship Stories

Reaching a new generation of runners

World Athletics and USATF were looking to reach a new generation of runners and harness the power of the track and field community to ignite energy, excitement, and entertainment around the sport. We shifted coverage of the sport by using human-led storytelling that focused less on performance tracking and amplified the motivations and passions that drive running culture. Our multi-pronged communications approach included an athlete-focused video series and launching a collective of Gen Z creators to generate interest in the World Championships across social, digital, and earned media.

  • 10M media impressions
  • 913K video views
  • 102K social engagements
  • 1M potential reach Gen Z audiences

Going The Distance

The “Going The Distance” video series showcased an inside look at the personal lives and interests of seven athletes leading up to the World Championships in Oregon. Each athlete story included a playlist of 4-5 videos on the World Athletics YouTube channel and was made accessible to fans and media with a unique QR code sticker that athletes like Athing Mu and Aleia Hobbs wore during competition.

See Athing Mu’s Story here
See Grant Holloway’s Story here
See Cooper Teare’s Story here

See all our athlete’s stories: Ryan Crouser, Aleia Hobbs, Elle St. Pierre, Gabby Thomas

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TrackSide

To expand our passion-driven storytelling approach and drive excitement around the sport, we empowered a collective of influential Gen Z creators, runners, and athletics enthusiasts to shift perception of athletics with their unique style of coverage at championship events. Our TrackSide members produced a series of TikTok content showcasing a behind-the-scenes look into the world of track and field and inspired their teen audiences to participate in running culture.

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