IAAF to rebrand with new name and logo

World athletics body International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has announced major rebranding on its name and logo.

In the body’s 217th council meeting held yesterday, IAAF is set to adopt a new name ‘World Athletics’ while at the same time the federation has designed a new logo.

The new brand identity will begin its roll out in October after the World Championships slated for Doha, Qatar.

According to the Council,  the changes makes the sport more accessible to a wider audience while giving the world governing body the opportunity to  clearly communicate its mission as the leader of the world’s most participatory sport.

“The hope is that our new brand will help attract and engage a new generation of young people to athletics,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe. “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 bring into focus the athletes, the heroes of our sport.”

“The IAAF name has been in existence for over 100 years, but it has little understanding or relevance to those outside of athletics,” said IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon. “The new identity creates a symbol that can stand alone and work with partners and events.”

The logo design is comprised of three main elements: the ‘W’ of World, which is also a symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory; the ‘A’ of Athletics, which also represents an athlete’s focus as they prepare for the road ahead; and an arc over both to represent the entire athletics community coming together.

Moreover, the logo also includes the sweep of a running track which appears in an upward trajectory, symbolising the desire to continually push beyond limits. The patterns capture the energy present in all four of athletics’ group disciplines: running, jumping, throwing and walking.

The rebrand process began in January 2018 when the IAAF invited five global brand and marketing agencies to respond to the brief outlining the rebrand concept.

From those, an internal team selected a short list, which then underwent a consultation process where Member Federations, partners, athletes and broadcasters provided feedback before the final version was presented to Council.