World Athletics Photograph of the Year 2026

Professional Photographer Award — Terms and Conditions

World Athletics is running a competition to choose and present an award for the best professional athletics photograph taken during the calendar year 2026 (the “Competition”) as part of the 2026 World Athletics Awards. The Competition is subject to these terms and conditions.

1. Eligibility. Any professional photographer officially accredited to photograph an athletics event in 2026 may enter. The photograph must have been taken at an athletics competition sanctioned by World Athletics or an Area Association and be in the World Athletics Global Calendar of events. Only one entry per photographer is permitted.
2. How to enter. Photographers must create an account with and submit one photograph through the Picter platform at https://site.picter.com/2026-wa-photo-of-the-year-award. The entry must include the photographer’s name, nationality and email address; a caption; the date the photograph was taken; the image’s technical information; and a short photographer biography of no more than 50 words. The submitted image file must be no larger than 5 MB. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm Monaco time on Friday 30 October 2026. World Athletics is not responsible for entries that are incomplete, damaged or not received because of a technical fault.
3. Verification. World Athletics may request the original image, adjacent frames and other reasonable evidence to verify the photograph’s authenticity and eligibility.
4. Rights in the photograph. By entering, the photographer confirms that they have the rights and permissions needed to submit the photograph and grant the licence set out in these terms and conditions and also use on the Picter platform. Photographers are responsible for and must check whether any assignment, exclusive licence or third-party rights restrict their ability to do so.
5. Use by World Athletics. By entering the Competition the photographer grants World Athletics a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive and irrevocable licence to reproduce, publish, display and otherwise use the entered photograph, in existing and future media, to promote the sport of athletics, athletics events, the Competition and the World Athletics Awards. World Athletics will credit the photographer.
6. Use of Picter. World Athletics is using the Picter platform (see here) to receive, store, administer, display and judge entries. By creating an account and submitting the photograph to World Athletics’ open contest on the Picter platform the photographer provides the photograph and grants World Athletics the right to use the photograph for the purposes set out in these terms and conditions. By signing up and creating an account the photographer agrees Picter’s terms of use and privacy policy during registration and submission: https://submit.picter.com/signup
7. Judging and fan vote. A panel of 5 experts chosen by World Athletics will judge eligible photographs and select three finalists. The finalists will be announced by World Athletics on 9 November 2026. A fan vote on World Athletics’ Instagram account will run from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November 2026. World Athletics will take the fan vote into account alongside the panel’s assessment. The winner will be decided using the following weighting: the panel’s vote will count for 75% of the final result, and the social media vote will count for 25%. Finalists may only announce their selection publicly after World Athletics has issued its official announcement of the finalists for the purposes of the fan vote.
8. Winner and prize. The winner will be announced on 28 November 2026. The World Athletics Awards will be held in Monaco on 29 November 2026. The winner will receive the title of World Athletics Photograph of the Year 2026. There is no associated cash prize or equivalent.
9. Personal information. Entry information will be processed to administer and judge the Competition, communicate with entrants and announce the finalists and winner. The personal information provided on the Picter platform is governed by Picter’s privacy policy. Any opt into marketing communications will be requested separately and is not conditional on entry to the Competition.
10. General terms. By entering, the photographer agrees to these terms and the applicable World Athletics General Competition Terms.