How to watch World Athletics Championships

The World Athletics Championships is back for another year, and it’s set to be a doozy. Taking place from 4-13 August 2017, it’ll see the world’s top athletes compete to win coveted gold medals. It should be a memorable one too, as it’s set to be both Usain Bolt and Mo Farah’s last athletics championships before Bolt retires and Farah switches to road racing next season.

With such an exciting series of events ahead, the only real question is “how can I watch the World Championships?” – here, we discuss the different ways to watch the World Athletics Championships from inside and outside of the UK.

You might also like: How to watch BBC iPlayer abroad

How to watch World Athletics Championships on TV

As the event will be covered by the BBC, live coverage will be available on BBC One and BBC Two throughout the event. You’ll be able to tune in on Freeview, Sky, BT or Virgin Media from the comfort of your own home – as long as you have a TV license.

How to watch World Athletics Championships online

The BBC will be covering the entire event across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Radio 5 Live for those of us in the UK. As it’s covered by the BBC, it’ll be fairly easy to follow the World Athletics Championships online via BBC’s own iPlayer and third-party streaming services – both of which we discuss in more detail below.

Before we go any further, it’s worth noting that you have to have a TV License in order to watch live TV in the UK, regardless of whether it’s on a physical TV or streamed on a media device.

Also, we’d advise those of you that want to follow the live coverage on your smartphone to do so on Wi-Fi as it’ll eat a large chunk of your monthly data allowance if streamed over a cellular connection.

BBC iPlayer

As mentioned above, the easiest way to watch the World Athletics Championships online is to use BBC iPlayer. The service is available via the web on PC and Mac, and is also available to download in app form on a range of platforms including iOS, Android, tvOS, Android TV and the Amazon Fire TV stick.

The app, along with providing a catalogue of TV shows to watch, offers livestreams of each BBC channel. So, download BBC iPlayer on the device of your choice, take a look at the World Athletics Championships schedule below and enjoy the World Athletics Championships!

TVPlayer

For those that don’t want to use BBC iPlayer, we suggest using TVPlayer. TVPlayer offers live streams of around 75 of the most popular free-to-air TV channels in the UK (users can pay £5.99 a month to gain access to 30 additional channels) including BBC One and BBC Two.

The TVPlayer app is available to download on a number of devices including iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Xbox, Roku and Apple TV (fourth gen). If you’re planning to watch on a PC or Mac, simply head over to the TVPlayer website and select the channel you’d like to watch. It’s a free, simple-to-use service available for viewers in the UK.

If you need to watch online with a computer, find out  how to connect a laptop to your TV.

How to watch World Athletics Championships outside the UK

But what about if you’re on holiday abroad while the World Athletics Championships are going on, and want to follow the UK coverage? While it’ll be more difficult to obtain a BBC livestream from outside the UK, it’s not impossible.

The easiest way to access BBC iPlayer or TVPlayer from outside the UK is to use a VPN. Using a VPN essentially tricks websites into thinking you’re somewhere that you’re not – in this case, you’ll want to select a UK-based VPN. You should then be able to access both iPlayer and TVPlayer from abroad.

If you’re new to the world of VPNs and aren’t sure which is the best to use, take a look at our list of the best VPNs and best free VPNs. For those wanting to watch from abroad using an Android device, you’ll want to take a look at our list of the best VPNs for Android.  

We should stress that this should only be used by UK TV License holders abroad on holiday, and should not be used by those wanting to watch the championships from outside the UK.

World Athletics Championships schedule

Here’s the full World Athletics Championships schedule across BBC One and BBC Two from 4-13 August 2017. You can find a more detailed breakdown of events on the BBC Sport website.

Friday, 4 August

• 18:00-19:00, BBC Two – Opening Ceremony
• 19:00-22:00, BBC One – Day one
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day one review

Saturday, 5 August

• 09:30-14:00, BBC Two – Day two
• 18:30-22:00, BBC One – Day two
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day two review

Sunday, 6 August

• 09:30-17:00, BBC Two – Day three
• 18:30-21:00, BBC One – Day three
• 21:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day three

Monday, 7 August

• 18:00-20:30, BBC Two – Day four
• 20:30-22:00, BBC One – Day four
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day four review

Tuesday, 8 August

• 18:30-22:00, BBC Two – Day five
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day five review

Wednesday, 9 August

• 18:30-22:00, BBC Two – Day six
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day six review

Thursday, 10 August

• 18:00-20:00, BBC Two – Day seven
• 20:00-22:00, BBC One – Day seven
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day seven review

Friday, 11 August

• 09:30-13:30, BBC Two – Day eight
• 18:30-20:30, BBC Two – Day eight
• 20:30-22:00, BBC One – Day eight
• 22:00-22:30, BBC Two – Day eight review

Saturday, 12 August

• 09:30-12:00, BBC One – Day nine
• 12:00-12:30, BBC Two – Day nine
• 18:30-22:10, BBC One – Day nine

Sunday, 13 August

• 13:00-16:30, BBC Two – Day 10
• 18:30-20:00, BBC Two – Day 10
• 20:00-22:00, BBC One – Day 10