The World Championships Tokyo 25 competition apparel of three-time sprint gold medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Camryn Rogers, who retained her hammer title with an 80.51-metre championship record in the Japanese capital, head up an impressive list of donations during 2025 which yesterday, were inducted into the 3D online platform of the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA).
“I wish to thank a record number of athletes for their generosity in donating their competition clothing, shoes, equipment, and trophies to our museum in 2025,” commented World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.
“From the 1972 Olympic team uniforms gifted by marathon legends Frank Shorter and Kenji Kimihara and 800m winner Dave Wottle, right up to the 2025 bodysuit and name bib of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and the throwing glove of Camryn Rogers from last summer’s outstanding World Athletics Championships, the kindness of our athletes knows no bounds.
“Certainly, the most precious donation to the MOWA is the 2022 season illustrated training diary of Nicola Olyslagers, which was presented in Tokyo. The journal is a truly remarkable record of the thoughts and beliefs of one of the world’s top athletes, much of which was written infield during competition.
“When any athlete gifts the MOWA a medal, it is a very special moment. When two Olympic champions donate medals in the same evening, there are no words to describe the emotions. Thank you to 1984 and 1988 Olympic marathon winners Joan Benoit-Samuelson (1985 Chicago Marathon medal) and Rosa Mota (1987 Boston Marathon medal), who presented their medals to the museum in New York.
“I also wish to thank MOWA Founding Patron Michael H. Burke for his generous support, without which the MOWA donation ceremonies in Tokyo and New York would not have been possible.”
In total, a record number of 57 artefacts related to 38 athletes from 16 countries representing four continental areas, which were made during 2025, have been added to MOWA’s five online 3D galleries, available in English, French, and Spanish.
The previous best year for donations to the museum was in 2024, when 32 artefacts were donated by 23 athletes from 12 countries in four areas.
Many of the items entering the MOWA were exhibited in the 11-week long MOWA Heritage Athletics Exhibition Tokyo 25, which attracted 200,000 visitors.
Currently, all the new additions to the museum’s collection are on show at the World Athletics offices in Monaco, and many will be displayed next month in the MOWA Indoor Athletics Exhibition Kujawy Pomorze 26 in Torun, Poland.
