How to watch the World Athletics Championship 2023 online or on TV

Germany's Julian Weber throws a javelin at the World Athletics Championship 2022
(Image credit: Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Athletes, assemble: the World Athletics Championship is now underway, after beginning on Saturday, August 19, and that means you've got ten days left to enjoy some of the world's best athletes showing the peak of human achievement.

Quick links

US: Not streaming yet
UK:
Discovery Plus | BBC (and iPlayer)
AU: SBS On Demand (free)
VPN: 
ExpressVPN

It's only been a year since the last World Athletics Championship in Oregon, but that's because the 2021 games were delayed until 2022. Usually, the Championship takes place biannually.

This year, the World Athletics Championship is being hosted in Budapest, Hungary, with nine days of activities taking place in the city's National Athletics Centre. 

There are 25 different events in the Championship, between springs, long-distance runs, jumps, throws and relays, with each having men's and women's heats (except for the 400 metres relay which has a mixed section. So there's a lot of action to get stuck into.

Here's how to watch the World Athletics Championship 2023 from around the world, or at least in countries where it's available to watch.

How to watch the World Athletics Championship in the US

This far ahead of the World Athletics Championship, an official US broadcaster for the World Athletics Championship hasn't been announced, unfortunately.

In previous years NBCUniversal had the rights, so coverage aired on Peacock and NBC Sports, however it's worth noting that the last tournament was actually in the US so there was more interest.

When we find out if any US service will show the Championship, we'll update this article.

How to watch the World Athletics Championship in the UK

In the UK, the BBC has the rights to air the World Athletics Championship, though it hasn't yet announced what channels the coverage will air on or which events it'll show. 

Whatever it does show, you'll be able to use iPlayer to stream, either from the channels themselves or BBC Sports, and that'll be the preferable option for people away from their TVs. 

There's also coverage happening on Discovery Plus via Eurosport, and again we're not sure what's showing just yet, but knowing Eurosport it'll likely be quite extensive. 

You'll need to be on the £6.99-per-month Standard plan for Eurosport, so if you already pay for your licence fee it's worth checking out the BBC's website before paying for Discovery. If not, this method is far cheaper.

How to watch the World Athletics Championship in Australia

The easiest way to watch the World Athletics Championship in Australia is with SBS On Demand, mainly because it's totally free.

SBS says it will show "every session" from the event between On Demand and its channel SBS Viceland (which you can watch using On Demand), so you won't miss a thing by using these channels.

You can find SBS On Demand here.

How to watch the World Athletics Championship everywhere else

If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch X, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 

A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite shows like the X or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is one of the simplest and most affordable ways to watch what you want from anywhere you want to watch it. 

It's straightforward and easy to use, has great security, is available on loads of streaming devices and, best of all, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out 100% risk-free.

Tom Bedford
Streaming and Ecommerce Writer

Tom is the streaming and ecommerce writer at What to Watch, covering streaming services in the US and UK. His goal is to help you navigate the busy and confusing online video market, to help you find the TV, movies and sports that you're looking for without having to spend too much money.