IAAF World Championships in Athletics

The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.

History

The idea of having an Athletics World Championships was around well before the competitions first event in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympic Games would serve as the World Championships for athletics. This was considered suitable for over 50 years until in the late 1960s the desire of many IAAF members to have their own World Championships began to grow. In 1976 at the IAAF Council Meeting in Puerto Rico an Athletics World Championships separate from the Olympic Games was approved.

Following bids from both Stuttgart, West Germany and Helsinki, Finland, the IAAF Council awarded the inaugural competition to Helsinki, to take place in 1983 and be held in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium (where the 1952 Summer Olympics were held).

Over the years the competition has grown in size. In 1983 an estimated 1,300 athletes from 154 countries participated. By the 2003 competition, in Paris, it had grown to 1,907 athletes from 203 countries with coverage being transmitted to 179 different countries.

There has also been a change in the schedule over the years, with several new events, all for women, being added. By 2005 the schedule for men and women was almost equal. The only differences being the men had the extra event of the 50 km Walk, while women competed in the 100 m Hurdles and Heptathlon compared to the men in the 110m Hurdles and Decathlon respectively.

The following list shows when new events were added for the first time.

• 1987, women's 10,000 m and 10 km walk were added.
• 1993, women's triple jump was added.
• 1995, women's 5000 m was added, replacing the 3000 m race.
• 1999, women's pole vault and hammer were added and the women's 20 km walk replaced the 10 km walk.
• 2005, women's 3000 m Steeplechase was added.

Championships

Medal totals since 1983

• NOTE: Germany refers both to the former West Germany (1983-90) and the unified Federal Republic of Germany (1990-present).

Ceremonies

The opening and closing ceremonies of the 8th IAAF World Championships held in Edmonton in 2001 were broadcast live to over 200 countries. The event included the men's marathon, and featured a thousand voice choir and original music by The Second City alumni Jan Randall.

Multiple medallist

Men

There are ten athletes who have won at least six medals.^[1]

Women

There are nine athletes who have won at least six medals.^[1]

Athletes with most appearances

There are fourteen athletes that competed in at least eight editions.^[1]

Other Athletics World Championship events

Prior to the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Helsinki in 1983 there had been several single events and races in the years leading up to them which were considered World Championships in those events. These consisted of non-Olympic events for which the Olympics didn't provide the opportunity for the holding of World Championships. Below are the medal winners from these events.

1976 (Malmö, Sweden)

1980 (Sittard, Netherlands)

References

See also

• International Athletics Championships and Games
• IPC Athletics World Championships

External links

• Results of past World Championships
• Official site of the 2007 World Championships in Osaka
• Official site of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin
• Official Site of the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics - Daegu
• Track and Field Results Almanac
• Results and detailed statistics of past World Championships in Athletics