Marton Gyulai, Executive Director of Sport for the widely acclaimed World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, has been appointed Director of Competitions and Events for World Athletics.

As Executive Director of Sport for the World Athletics Championships, Gyulai was responsible for competitions, accreditation, media and broadcasting, volunteers, medical care and anti-doping, event presentation and team services.

Commenting on the appointment, World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said: “Marton’s extensive experience across a wide range of areas in athletics makes him the ideal candidate for this important role as we dial up competitive innovation over the next four years.

“Marton has led the federation, hosted one-day internationals, European juniors and championship events, as well as being a key part of the talented and innovative leadership team responsible for delivering an exciting World Cup event. Fresh from our most compelling World Athletics Championships in history, we are delighted to welcome Marton to his new role and believe he will be a real asset as we continue to increase our investment in competition, one-day events and development.

Gyulai has been a member of the European Council for Athletics since 2015, a member of the Executive Council of European Athletics since 2021, and in 2012 he was elected to the Hungarian Olympic Committee. He led the Hungarian Federation for 10 years and was the meeting director for the International Gyulai Istvan Memorial, Continental Tour Gold meeting, for more than ten years. Since 2007, Gyulai has organized a large number of successful major European and world events in athletics and other sports, bringing in high revenues, securing long-term partnerships and creating effective marketing programs.

Commenting on his appointment, Gyulai said: “The Budapest 23 team and I are proud that the Budapest 23 World Athletics Championships have set a new standard. We’ve worked hard to deliver an innovative and engaging event and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. It is this innovation and increased focus and investment in competition and events that really excites me about the new role. The growth and expansion of one-day leagues in all regions of the world, together with a major global athletics event held each year, will be key to attracting more people to athletics and more fans to attend and watch our events. We have an exciting few years ahead of us and I look forward to working with a great team to realize the ambitious vision.”

Gyulai will take up his post on October 1, 2023 and will be based in Monaco at the World Athletics headquarters.

World athletics