The athletics track at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium is set to be retained ©Getty Images

The athletics track at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium is reportedly set to be retained after the Japanese Government reversed its plan to remove it, handing a boost to the country's bid for the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Citing an unnamed source, Kyodo News reported the track at the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be kept to ensure the venue remains profitable.

The Japanese Government decided in 2017 to get rid of the track to make it a better football and rugby stadium.

But the Government has now opted to keep it following remodelling costs and concerns over profitability.

Kyodo reported earlier this month that Tokyo was interested in hosting the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

The Japanese Government in 2017 had decided to remove the athletics track to make the stadium a better football and rugby venue ©Getty Images
The Japanese Government in 2017 had decided to remove the athletics track to make the stadium a better football and rugby venue ©Getty Images

Last year, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe told the Japan Association of Athletics Federations it would like the capital to host the Championships in four years time and hinted at the city holding international competitions in the future.

Japan last held the World Championships in 2007 in Osaka, with Tokyo previously holding the event in 1991.

World Athletics is expected to choose the venue for the 2025 World Championships in March.

The Olympic Stadium, the initial design of which had to be scrapped because of spiralling costs, held the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as athletics, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.