How to watch the World Athletics Championships 2023 online for free

Bypass geo-restrictions to watch all the action from Budapest for free.
 By 
Joseph Green
 on 
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Athletics track
Credit: Pexels

TL;DR: The World Athletics Championships are taking place in Budapest from Aug. 19 to Aug. 27. Fans from around the world can follow every event of the Championships on BBC iPlayer.


The World Athletics Championships is one of the most prestigious international sporting events on the calendar, bringing together the world’s best track and field athletes to compete on the international stage. We're expecting some thrilling action, with records potentially set to tumble.

If you want to watch the 2023 World Athletics Championships for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What are the World Athletics Championships?

The World Athletics Championships are a biennial athletics competition organised by World Athletics. The world’s greatest athletes come together to compete in 49 athletics events based both in the stadium and on the road, with 24 events for men, 24 events for women, and one mixed relay event.

When are the World Athletics Championships in 2023?

The 2023 World Athletics Championships is the 19th edition of this prestigious competition. Events are scheduled to be held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 27 at the National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary.

Find the full schedule for the World Athletics Championships on their official website.

How to watch the World Athletics Championships for free

The great news for fans is that all the action from every event in Budapest is available on BBC iPlayer.

This popular streaming service is the best place to follow live coverage of every event of this year’s Championships. The problem? BBC iPlayer is only available if you're connecting from the UK. Unless you're using a VPN. With a VPN, you can bypass geo-restrictions to stream the World Athletics Championships for free from anywhere in the world.

You'll be blocked if you attempt to visit BBC iPlayer from outside the UK, but all is not lost. VPNs can hide your real IP address and connect to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can access sites like BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world. This process might sound complicated, but it's actually really straightforward:

  1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

  2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

  4. Sign up to BBC iPlayer

  5. Watch the World Athletics Championships from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most VPNs do offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By using these offers, you can watch the World Athletics Championships on BBC iPlayer for free. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you plenty of time to watch the World Athletics Championships without actually spending anything.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

There are plenty of VPNs that can reliably unblock BBC iPlayer from outside the UK, but ExpressVPN is the best. ExpressVPN is the top choice when it comes to streaming, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 94 countries including the UK

  • Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

  • Strict no-logging policy

  • Fast connection speeds

  • Up to five simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. You can use the money-back guarantee to watch the World Athletics Championships for free from anywhere in the world.

Watch the World Athletics Championships for free with ExpressVPN.

Topics Streaming Sports

Photo of Joseph Green
Joseph Green
Global Shopping Editor

Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.

Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable's sister site, AskMen.

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