| 6th World Championships in Athletics | |
| Host City: | Athens, Greece |
| Nations: | 198 |
| Athletes: | 1882 |
| Dates: | 1–10 August 1997 |
| Opened By: | President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos |
| Stadium: | Olympic Stadium |
| Previous: | 1995 Gothenburg |
The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations.[1] Despite several attempts to sabotage,Athens used the successful organization of the World Championships to prove their capacity during the next IOC Session held the following month in Lausanne as a triumph and key event during the final stretch of the process to choose the city who hosted 2004 Summer Olympics. The success of the event showed the Greece abilities and readiness to organize large-scale, international sporting events.
It was the first edition to award wild cards to defending champions even if they did not qualify for their national team. This allowed four athletes from the same country to compete in an individual event in some cases.[2]
1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001
| 9.86 | 9.91 | 9.94 | |||||
| 20.04 | 20.23 | 20.26 | |||||
| 44.12 | 44.37 | 44.39 | |||||
| 1:43.38 | 1:44.00 | 1:44.25 | |||||
| 3:35.83 | 3:36.63 | 3:37.26 | |||||
| 13:07.38 | 13:09.34 | 13:11.09 | |||||
| 27:24.58 | 27:25.62 | 27:28.67 | |||||
| 2:13:16 | 2:13:21 | 2:14:16 | |||||
| 12.93 | 13.05 | 13.18 | |||||
| 47.70 | 47.86 | 47.88 | |||||
| 8:05.84 | 8:06.04 | 8:06.04 | |||||
| 1:21:43 | 1:21:53 | 1:22:01 | |||||
| 3:44:46 | 3:44:59 | 3:48:30 | |||||
Robert Esmie Glenroy Gilbert Bruny Surin Donovan Bailey Carlton Chambers | 37.86 | Osmond Ezinwa Olapade Adeniken Francis Obikwelu Davidson Ezinwa | 38.07 | Darren Braithwaite Darren Campbell Douglas Walker Julian Golding Marlon Devonish | 38.14 | ||
Iwan Thomas Roger Black Jamie Baulch Mark Richardson Mark Hylton | 2:56.65 | Michael McDonald Greg Haughton Danny McFarlane Davian Clarke Linval Laird | 2:56.75 | Tomasz Czubak Piotr Rysiukiewicz Piotr Haczek Robert Maćkowiak | 3:00.26 | ||
1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001
| 2.37 m | 2.35 m | 2.35 m | |||||
| 6.01 m / | 5.96 m | 5.91 m | |||||
| 8.42 m | 8.38 m | 8.18 m | |||||
| 17.85 m / | 17.69 m | 17.64 m | |||||
| 21.44 m | 21.24 m | 20.33 m | |||||
| 68.54 m | 66.70 m | 66.14 m | |||||
| 81.78 m | 81.46 m | 80.76 m | |||||
| 88.40 m | 86.80 m | 86.64 m | |||||
| 8837 pts // | 8730 pts | 8652 pts | |||||
1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001
| 10.83 | 10.85 | 11.03 | |||||
| 22.32 | 22.39 | 22.40 | |||||
| 49.77 | 49.79 | 49.90 | |||||
| 1:57.14 | 1:57.56 | 1:57.59 | |||||
| 4:04.24 | 4:04.63 | 4:04.70 | |||||
| 14:57.68 | 14:58.29 | 14:58.85 | |||||
| 31:32.92 | 31:39.15 | 31:41.93 | |||||
| 2:29:48 | 2:31:12 | 2:31:55 | |||||
| 42:55.49 | 43:30.20 | 43:49.24 | |||||
| 12.50 | 12.58 | 12.61 | |||||
| 52.97 | 53.09 | 53.52 | |||||
| 41.47 / | Beverly McDonald Merlene Frazer Juliet Cuthbert Beverly Grant | 42.10 | Patricia Girard-Léno Christine Arron Delphine Combe Sylviane Félix Frédérique Bangué | 42.21 | |||
| 3:20.92 | Maicel Malone-Wallace Kim Graham Kim Batten Jearl Miles Clark Michelle Collins | 3:21.03 | Inez Turner Lorraine Graham Deon Hemmings Sandie Richards Nadia Graham-Hutchinson | 3:21.30 | |||
1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001
| 1.99 m | 1.96 m | Not awarded | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.05 m / | 6.94 m | 6.91 m | |||||
| 15.20 m /) | 15.16 m | 14.67 m | |||||
| 20.71 m | 20.66 m | 19.22 m | |||||
| 66.82 m | 65.90 m | 65.14 m | |||||
| 68.78 m | 68.64 m | 67.12 m | |||||
| 6739 pts | 6654 pts | 6566 pts | |||||