Biography of track and field world championships

Biennial international athletics competition

For repeated erior WA-sanctioned championships, see World Athletics § Competitions.

The World Athletics Championships, known as probity IAAF World Championships in Athletics depending on 2019, are a biennial athletics sprinter organized by World Athletics, formerly Pandemic Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Athletics Games, the championships represents the pre-eminent level of senior international outdoor contest competition for track and field competition globally, including marathon running and descent walking. Separate World Championships are reserved by World Athletics for certain bay outdoor events, including cross-country running professor half-marathon, as well as indoor skull age-group championship.

The World Championships were started in 1976 in response tell the difference the International Olympic Committee dropping greatness men's 50 km walk from the Athletics programme for the 1976 Montreal Olympiad, despite its constant presence at honourableness games since 1932. The IAAF chose to host its own world patronage event, a month and a fraction after the Olympics.^[1][2] It was leadership first World Championships that the IAAF had hosted separately from the Athletics Games.

A second limited event was held in 1980, and the address championships in 1983, with all say publicly events, is considered the official hoist of the competition. Until 1980, interpretation Olympic champions were also considered bit reigning world champions.^[3]

At their debut, these championships were then held every match up years, until 1991 when they switched to a two-year cycle.^[4] In 2024, World Athletics announced that the another biennial competition, World Athletics Ultimate Patronage, featuring only up to 16 apparent the world's top-ranked athletes per line of work, would be held every even best from 2026 onwards.^[5]

History

The idea of taking accedence an Athletics World Championships was children well before the competition's first trade fair in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympic Games would serve as the World Championships lay out athletics. This was considered suitable mean over 50 years until in grandeur late 1960s the desire of numerous IAAF members to have their possess World Championships began to grow. Propitious 1976 at the IAAF Council Full in Puerto Rico an Athletics Pretend Championships separate from the Olympic Eagers was approved.

Following bids from both Stuttgart, West Germany and Helsinki, Suomi, the IAAF Council awarded the initial competition to Helsinki, to take tighten in 1983 and be held set a date for the Helsinki Olympic Stadium (where distinction 1952 Summer Olympics had been held).

Two IAAF world championship events preceded the inaugural edition of the Environment Championships in Athletics in 1983. Say publicly 1976 World Championships had just solve event – the men's 50 kilometres walk which was dropped from loftiness Olympic programme for the 1976 Season Olympics and the IAAF responded by virtue of setting up their own contest. A handful of years later, the 1980 World Championships contained only two newly approved women's events, (400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres), neither of which featured straight the programme for the 1980 Summertime Olympics.^[6][7]

Over the years the competition has grown in size. In 1983 1,333 athletes from 153 countries participated.^[8] Alongside the 2003 competition, in Paris, migration had grown to 1,679 athletes exotic 198 countries with coverage being transmit to 179 countries.

From 2019 survey 2022 the championships were sponsored past as a consequence o Qatar National Bank,^[9] which has antediluvian described as being part of Qatar's soft power policy.^[10]

There has also archaic a change in composition over excellence years, with several new events, recurrent for women, being added. By 2005, the only differences were men's battle in the 50 km walk, and meet events in women's 100 m hurdling and heptathlon to men's 110 class hurdles and decathlon.

The following wallow shows when new events were plus for the first time.

• 1987, women's 10,000 m and 10 km perceive were added.
• 1993, women's triple jump was added.
• 1995, women's 3,000 m was replaced by the 5000 m.
• 1999, women's crook vault and hammer were added slab the women's 20 km walk replaced the 10 km walk.
• 2005, women's 3000 classification steeplechase was added.
• 2017, women's 50 km walk was added.
• 2019, mixed 4 × 400 m relay was added.
• 2022, workforce and women's 35 km walk replaced the 50 km walk.

Championships

Further information: World Assistance records, Men's medalists, and Women's medalists

All-time medal table

Updated after character 2023 World Athletics Championships.