Broadcaster will cover major domestic events starting with the UK Athletics Indoor Champs this weekend

UK Athletics has confirmed BBC as the broadcast partner for this year’s major events series.

The coverage starts this weekend with the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham. As an aside, BBC is also covering the World Cross Country Championships in Australia on the red button from 4.20am on Saturday morning with highlights on BBC2 at 1pm.

BBC Sport will bring the key UKA events to fans via a combination of network television and digital coverage on various platforms including BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the red button.

The events are:

• UK Athletics Indoor Championships Birmingham: February 18-19
• World Indoor Tour Final Birmingham: February 25
• UK Athletics Championships: July 8-9
• London Diamond League: July 23

Both UK Athletics Championships’ (indoor and outdoor) and the World Indoor Tour Final Birmingham will be available on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website/app and Broadcast Red Button, while the London Diamond League will be shown on BBC TV plus BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website/app.

Last year’s coverage drove significant numbers to TV and digital, with a peak audience of 1.6 million on BBC1 for the Diamond League event in Birmingham, showing the sport continues to capture the imagination of the TV and digital audience on the most popular broadcaster in the UK.

CEO Jack Buckner said: “We are delighted to once again be partnering with the BBC for our 2023 Major events series.

“Our sport is given an excellent platform by BBC Sport, delivering athletics to the widest possible audience. We’re looking forward to working with the team at the BBC to bring entertaining and world-class athletics performances into people’s homes throughout the year.

“The unparalleled audience reach of the BBC’s TV and digital platforms provides maximum exposure for our athletes and allows more fans to follow their journeys throughout this stellar year for athletics events.”

The London Marathon in April and Great North Run in September will also be broadcast by BBC.