CBC Sports has renewed its exclusive broadcast rights for the IAAF World Track and Field Championships for another year.

This year’s championship will take place from Aug. 4 to 13 in London, England, and will be televised on CBC as part of its Road to the Olympic Games series of programming. TV broadcasts will take place on the weekends during afternoons and primetime. Coverage will also include digital streaming for the first time this year, with daily live streaming on CBC Sports’ website and app.

The pubcaster has previously held the rights to the championships. It broadcast the first world championship, which took place in 1983 in Helsinki, and has been the rights holder for the majority of the championships since then. The games take place every two years, with this year’s being the 15th edition of the games.

In 2015, the championship pulled in an average audience of 215,000 viewers (2+) over the four broadcasts from the year.

A total of 48 athletes from Canada will partake in the event, including last year’s Olympic superstar sprinter, Andre De Grasse. Jamaican track and field superstar Usain Bolt will also be present, competing in the final World Championships of his career.

In addition to the year extension on its IAAF partnership, CBC Sports has announced a four-year media rights partnership with Athletics Canada that will give the network exclusive rights to events such as the National Championships, NACAC Regional Championships and the 2020 Olympic Team Trials.

In 2015, CBC Sports pivoted to focus on amateur sports including the Olympics, as well as high-popularity amateur sports like alpine skiing and figure skating in the winter, and athletics and gymnastics in the summer. Other recent deals include a four-year exclusive broadcast deal with the the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), and an agreement with Swimming Canada to broadcast the Canadian Championships, Canadian Junior Championships, National Team Trials, Olympic Trials and CAN-AM Para-Swimming Championships through 2020.

Photo by Kolleen Gladden, courtesy of Unsplash