Technogym and World Athletics join forces with Seb Coe saying it's vital to combine technology and physicality.

The first-ever World Treadmill Championships will be held over 5km next year with ordinary athletes able to test themselves against elite runners at thousands of qualifying events during the first part of 2026 before a grand final at a yet-to-be-announced venue in the latter part of the year.

The competition has been named RUN X and is the result of a partnership between Technogym and World Athletics. A launch event on Monday (Oct 27) in Milan included World Athletics president Coe and world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier as they explained how “trackable and certified results” would be created through the “Technogym ecosystem” that currently includes around 50,000 Technogym clubs in more than 120 countries.

“The challenge for me has always been how to make our sport more accessible and exciting, using the technology that we have available today,” said Coe, who had flown into Italy from Los Angeles to attend.

“We have a responsibility to democratise our sport and to get people to realise that when they’re on their treadmill in RUN X they are part of the World Athletics family.”

Technogym has been an official supplier to the Olympics for nine consecutive Games. Could we one day see this event as part of the Olympic programme?

“That’s a bit above my pay grade!” Coe smiled, “but it’s important the Olympic movement is grasping the challenge around technology and, as the No.1 Olympic sport, it is really important that World Athletics grasp this opportunity.

“It’s one thing to have technology but it’s important to have 'physicality' in these projects. We are marrying these two things. We’re not just encouraging people into more sedentary lifestyles.”

With Gressier in attendance, it seems pretty certain the Frenchman will be part of the competition in 2026. A number of top 5000m runners are often seen training on treadmills, too, such as Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and British record-holder George Mills, whereas Eilish McColgan has already shown interest in the concept.

It remains to be seen whether they will take part, though. Also, it is unclear how accessible the competition will be to athletes based in areas like east Africa, where many of the world's top 5000m runners reside.

Still, Coe believes this project will be huge. “I believe history doesn’t always repeat itself but it occasionally rhymes,” he says. “Technogym was created in 1983 and we had our first World Championships that same year in Helsinki. So it’s appropriate that 42 years later we’re here introducing into the sport another world championships.

“The 1983 World Champs was a game changer and I believe the World Treadmill Champs will have a similar impact.”

The process will begin in 2026 with fitness centres affiliating themselves with the event. This will be followed by runners registering. There will be a wave of preliminary qualifiers and then regional qualifiers with the top 10 men and top 10 women going on to the world final at what organisers in Milan described as a “secret and iconic venue”.

World Athletics added: "This groundbreaking 5km competition is set to shake up the concept of running, breaking geographical barriers and making a global athletics championship accessible in sports and fitness centres worldwide."

READ MORE: Why a World Treadmill Champs is no joke

As a reward there is a $100,000 prize pool and entry to the World Road Running Championships.

More info for runners here.