World Athletics Championships Explained

World Athletics Championships
Status:	Active
Genre:	World Championships Athletics
Date:	Varying
Frequency:	Biennial
Country:	Varying
Prev:	2023
Next:	2025
Organised:	World Athletics

The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Alongside Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championships.

The World Championships were started in 1976 in response to the International Olympic Committee dropping the men's 50 km walk from the Olympic programme for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, despite its constant presence at the games since 1932. The IAAF chose to host its own world championship event instead, a month and a half after the Olympics.^{[1] [2]} It was the first World Championships that the IAAF had hosted separately from the Olympic Games (traditionally the main championship for the sport).

A second limited event was held in 1980, and the inaugural championships in 1983, with all the events, is considered the official start of the competition. Until 1980, the Olympic champions were also considered as reigning world champions.

At their debut, these championships were then held every four years, until 1991 when they switched to a two-year cycle.^[3] In 2024, World Athletics announced that the new biennial competition – World Athletics Ultimate Championship (featuring only up to 16 of the world's top-ranked athletes per discipline) – would be held every even year from 2026 onwards (i.e. in the years between World Athletics Outdoor Championships).^[4]

History

The idea of having an Athletics World Championships was around well before the competition's 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 had been held).

Two IAAF world championship events preceded the inaugural edition of the World Championships in Athletics in 1983. The 1976 World Championships had just one event – the men's 50 kilometres walk which was dropped from the Olympic programme for the 1976 Summer Olympics and the IAAF responded by setting up their own contest. Four years later, the 1980 World Championships contained only two newly approved women's events, (400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres), neither of which featured on the programme for the 1980 Summer Olympics.^{[5] [6]}

Over the years the competition has grown in size. In 1983 1,333 athletes from 153 countries participated.^[7] By the 2003 competition, in Paris, it had grown to 1,679 athletes from 198 countries with coverage being transmitted to 179 countries.

From 2019 to 2022 the championships were sponsored by Qatar National Bank,^[8] which has been described as being part of Qatar's soft power policy.^[9]

There has also been a change in composition over the years, with several new events, all for women, being added. By 2005, the only differences were men's competition in the 50 km walk, and equivalent events in women's 100 m hurdles and heptathlon to men's 110 m hurdles and decathlon.

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 3,000 m was replaced by the 5000 m.
• 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.
• 2017, women's 50 km walk was added.
• 2019, mixed 4 × 400 m relay was added.
• 2022, men's and women's 35 km walk replaced the 50 km walk.

Championships

Edition	Year	City	Country	Date	Venue	Capacity	Events	Nations	Athletes	Top of the medal table
–	1976	Malmö	Sweden	18 Sep	Malmö Stadion	30,000	1	20	42
–	1980	Sittard	Netherlands	14 – 16 Aug	De Baandert	22,000	2	22	42
1st	1983	Helsinki	Finland	7 – 14 Aug	Olympiastadion	50,000	41	153	1,333
2nd	1987	Rome	Italy	28 Aug – 6 Sep	Stadio Olimpico	60,000	43	156	1,419
3rd	1991	Tokyo	Japan	23 Aug – 1 Sep	National Stadium	48,000	43	162	1,491	United States
4th	1993	Stuttgart	Germany	13 – 22 Aug	Neckarstadion	70,000	44	187	1,630	United States
5th	1995	Gothenburg	Sweden	5 – 13 Aug	Ullevi	42,000	44	190	1,755	United States
6th	1997	Athens	Greece	1 – 10 Aug	Olympiako Stadio	75,000	44	197	1,785	United States
7th	1999	Seville	Spain	20 – 29 Aug	Estadio de La Cartuja	70,000	46	200	1,750	United States
8th	2001	Edmonton	Canada	3 – 12 Aug	Commonwealth Stadium	60,000	46	189	1,602
9th	2003	Paris	France	23 – 31 Aug	Stade de France	78,000	46	198	1,679	United States
10th	2005	Helsinki	Finland	6 – 14 Aug	Olympiastadion	45,000	47	191	1,687	United States
11th	2007	Osaka	Japan	24 Aug – 2 Sep	Yanmar Stadium Nagai	45,000	47	197	1,800	United States
12th	2009	Berlin	Germany	15 – 23 Aug	Olympiastadion	74,000	47	200	1,895	United States
13th	2011	Daegu		27 Aug – 4 Sep	Daegu Stadium	65,000	47	199	1,742	United States
14th	2013	Moscow		10 – 18 Aug	Luzhniki Stadium	78,000	47	203	1,784	United States
15th	2015	Beijing	China	22 – 30 Aug	Beijing National Stadium	80,000	47	205	1,761	Kenya
16th	2017	London		4 – 13 Aug	London Stadium	60,000	48	199	1,857	United States
17th	2019	Doha	Qatar	27 Sep – 6 Oct	Khalifa International Stadium	48,000	49	206	1,775	United States
18th	2022	Eugene	United States	15 – 24 Jul	Hayward Field	25,000	49	180	1,705	United States
19th	2023	Budapest	Hungary	19 – 27 Aug	National Athletics Centre	36,000	49	202	2,187	United States
20th	2025	Tokyo	Japan	13 – 21 Sep	Japan National Stadium	68,000
21st	2027	Beijing	China		Beijing National Stadium	80,000

All-time medal table

Updated after the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Notes is the name under which Russian athletes competed in the 2017 and 2019 Championships. Their medals were not included in the official medal table.^{[10] [11]}

All-time placing table

In the IAAF placing table the total score is obtained from assigning eight points to the first place and so on to one point for the eight placed finalists. Points are shared in situations where a tie occurs. However, the IAAF site shows all points rounded to the nearest integer.

Updated after the 2022 Championships^[12]

Rank	Country				4	5	6	7	8	Medals	Points
1		183	125+1=	103+2=	77+5=	90+3=	84+3=	74+2=	80+4=	414	4240.5
2		63	61	65+2=	78+2=	66+2=	61+2=	53+5=	45+1=	191	2347.5
3		45	54+6=	47+2=	56+2=	39+3=	43+2=	35+1=	40+1=	154	1771.5
4		62	55	44	48	40	28	47	21	161	1744
5		37	56	43+1=	34	31	29	31	24	137	1418.5
6		31	37	43	43+2=	50+1=	34+1=	31+1=	21	111	1381
7		33	34	28	26	21	18	20	20	95	998
8		22	25+1=	25	20	34+1=	21+1=	21	24+1=	73	879
9		14	18	21+2=	27	28+2=	31+1=	24+1=	32+1=	55	804.1
10		20	17+1=	21+4=	23+1=	24	22+2=	27	21+2=	63	794.8
11		23	25+2=	28	21+1=	17	12	11	17+1=	78	793
12		22	23+1=	13+1=	33	10+2=	17+1=	23	19	60	757.5
13		12	15+1=	19	15	17+2=	24+1=	32+2=	30+2=	47	642.5
14		7	17+1=	15+1	19	20	24	18	20	41	580
15		11	12+2=	16	19	21	16+1=	21+1=	9	41	561.6

Notes

• including points earned by athletes from East Germany (510 pts) and West Germany (191.5 pts) at the 1976, 1980, 1983 and 1987 Championships.
• including points earned by Authorised Neutral Athletes (103.5 pts) at the 2017 and 2019 Championships.

Multiple winners

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Men

All events

Rank	Athlete	Country	Events	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1				2007	2017	11	2	1	14
2				2005	2015	8 *	3	–	11 *
3				1983	1993	8	1	1	10
4				1991	1999	8	–	–	8
5				2011	2017	6	2	–	8
6	Noah Lyles			2019	2023	6	1	–	7
7				1983	1997	6	–	–	6
8				2005	2009	5	1	–	6
9	Kenenisa Bekele			2003	2009	5	–	1	6
				1991	2001	5	–	1	6

* including one medal in the relay event in which he participated in the heats only

Individual events

Rank	Athlete	Country	Events	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1				2007	2017	7	1	1	9
2				2011	2017	6	2	–	8
3				1983	1997	6	–	–	6
				1991	1999	6	–	–	6
5				1983	1993	5	1	1	7
6	Kenenisa Bekele			2003	2009	5	–	1	6
				1991	2001	5	–	1	6
8	Paweł Fajdek			2013	2022	5	–	–	5
9				2003	2015	4	3	–	7
10				1993	2003	4	2	1	7

Women

All events

Rank	Athlete	Country	Events	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1				2005	2022	14 **	3	3	20 **
2	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce			2007	2023	10	5 *	1	16 *
3				1991	2001	5	3	–	8
4				2003	2015	5	2	–	7
5				2009	2019	5 ***	1 *	–	6 ****
				2003	2017	5	1	–	6
				2007	2017	5 ****	1	–	6 ****
8	Shericka Jackson			2015	2023	4	4	3	11
9				1991	2003	4	3	2	9
10	Faith Kipyegon			2015	2023	4	2	–	6

* including one medal in the relay event in which she participated in the heats only
** including two medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only
*** including three medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only
**** including four medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only

Individual events

Rank	Athlete	Country	Events	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce			2009	2023	6	1	1	8
2				2003	2017	5	1	–	6
3				1991	2001	4	2	–	6
	Faith Kipyegon			2015	2023	4	2	–	6
5				2005	2017	4	1	2	7
6				2005	2013	4	1	–	5
				2007	2015	4	1	–	5
	Liu Hong			2009	2019	4	1	–	5
9				1987	1993	4	–	–	4
				2009	2017	4	–	–	4
	Yulimar Rojas			2017	2023	4	–	–	4
	Anita Włodarczyk			2009	2017	4	–	–	4

Multiple medalists

There are 44 athletes (18 men and 26 women) that have won at least 6 medals.^[12]

Men

Athlete	Country	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
		3	11	2	1	14
		2	8	3	0	11
		4	8	1	1	10
		3	4	6	0	10
		3	8	0	0	8
		2	6	2	0	8
		3	6	1	0	7
		1	4	3	0	7
		2	4	2	1	7
	/	1	6	0	0	6
		2	5	1	0	6
		2	5	0	1	6
		1	5	0	1	6
		2	4	2	0	6
		2	3	3	0	6
		2	3	2	1	6
	/	2	2	3	1	6
		2	0	4	2	6

Women

Athlete	Country	Events	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
		5	14	3	3	20
		3	10	5	1	16
		3	3	4	7	14
		5	4	4	3	11
		3	3	7	1	11
		2	4	3	2	9
		3	5	3	0	8
		4	3	4	1	8
		1	2	2	4	8
		2	2	1	5	8
		2	5	2	0	7
		3	3	1	3	7
		2	2	3	2	7
		2	1	4	2	7
		2	1	3	3	7
		2	5	1	0	6
		2	5	1	0	6
		1	5	1	0	6
		2	4	2	0	6
		2	3	3	0	6
	/	3	2	2	2	6
		3	2	1	3	6
		2	1	4	1	6
		3	1	3	2	6
	/	4	1	3	2	6
		3	1	2	3	6

Athletes with most appearances

There are 71 athletes (37 men and 34 women) that have competed in at least eight editions.^[12]

App.	Name !	Country	Years contested	Events
13				50 km walk
				20 km walk / 35 km walk / 50 km walk
11				10 km walk / 20 km walk
				20 km walk / 35 km walk / 50 km walk
				Marathon
10				Discus throw
				Discus throw
				Discus throw
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				Discus throw
				200 m / 400 m / 4x100 m / 4x400 m / 4x400 m mixed
9				Javelin throw
				20 km walk / 50 km walk
				Long jump / Triple jump
				800 m
				Shot put / Discus throw
				High jump
				400 m / 400 m hurdles / 4x400 m
				20 km walk
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				Hammer throw
				400 m / 4x400 m
				Hammer throw
				20 km walk / 35 km walk / 50 km walk
				Shot put
				High jump
8		/		100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
		/		Javelin throw
		/		10 km walk / 20 km walk
		& N.I. /		Long jump
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				Discus throw
		/ IWP * / / /		High jump
		/		Discus throw
		/		Heptathlon / Long jump / 100 m hurdles
				1500 m
				Shot put
				Javelin throw
				High jump
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				Discus throw
				10 km walk / 20 km walk
				Hammer throw
				Hammer throw
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				Shot put
				Javelin throw
				Javelin throw
				Decathlon
				20 km walk / 50 km walk
				Discus throw
				400 m hurdles / 4x400 m
				1500 m / 3000 m steeplechase
				Discus throw
				High jump / 4x100 m
				Discus throw
				3000 m steeplechase
		/		100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				400 m hurdles / 4x400 m
				20 km walk / 50 km walk
				Hammer throw
				400 m / 4x400 m / 4x400 m mixed
				High jump
		/		Discus throw
				400 m / 4x400 m
				100 m / 200 m / 4x100 m
				20 km walk
				Hammer throw
				1500 m / 5000 m / 3000 m steeplechase
				High jump
				Triple jump

* At the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany, Dragutin Topić competed as an Individual World Championship Participant (IWP) as Athletic Federation of Yugoslavia was suspended by IAAF due to United Nations sanctions stemming from the Yugoslav wars.

World records

A total of 36 world records have been set or equalled at the competition: 18 by men, 15 by women, and 3 in the mixed relay.

The first world record to be set at the World Championships was by Jarmila Kratochvílová of Czechoslovakia, who ran 47.99 seconds to win the 1983 women's 400 m final.

A peak of five world records came at the 1993 Championships.

The most recent world record was in the Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay in 2023, when the US team set a time of 3:08.80. World records have become less common as the history of the event has expanded, with no world records set in the 1997, 2001, 2007 or 2013 editions.

American athletes have been the most successful with fifteen world records, followed by Jamaica and Great Britain on four each. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has broken the most world records at the competition, at four, while American Carl Lewis set three. Jonathan Edwards holds the distinction of breaking the world record twice in one championships: improving upon his own newly-set world record in the 1995 men's triple jump final. The men's 4 × 100 metres relay has yielded the most world records, with five set between 1983 and 2011.

Ben Johnson's time of 9.83 seconds at the 1987 World Championships men's 100 m final was initially considered to be a world record, but this was rescinded in 1989 after Johnson admitted to steroid use between 1981 and 1988.

Also, the 2009 Jamaican men's 4 × 100 metres relay team time of 37.31 seconds was retrospectively recognised to as the world record after the team's time of 37.10 at the 2008 Olympics was rescinded after the disqualification of Nesta Carter (who was not present in the World Championships team).

Sex	Event	Record	Athlete	Nation	Date	Year
Men		37.86			10 August	1983
Women		47.99			10 August	1983
Women		2.09 m			30 August	1987
Men		9.86			25 August	1991
Men		8.95 m			30 August	1991
Men		37.50			1 September	1991
Men		12.91		Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	20 August	1993
Men		37.40			21 August	1993
Men		2:54.29			22 August	1993
Women		52.74		Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	19 August	1993
Women		15.09 m			21 August	1993
Men		18.16 m		Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	7 August	1995
Men		18.29 m		Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	7 August	1995
Women		52.61			11 August	1995
Women		15.50 m			10 August	1995
Men		43.18			26 August	1999
Women		4.60 m			21 August	1999
Men		1:17:21			23 August	2003
Men		3:36:03			27 August	2003
Women		5.01 m			12 August	2005
Women		71.70 m			14 August	2005
Women		1:25:41			7 August	2005
Men		9.58			16 August	2009
Men		19.19			20 August	2009
Men		37.31			22 August	2009
Women		77.96 m			22 August	2009
Men		37.04			4 September	2011
Men		9,045 pts			29 August	2015
Women		4:05:56			13 August	2017
Mixed		3:12.42			28 September	2019
Mixed		3:09.34			29 September	2019
Women		52.16			4 October	2019
Women		50.68			22 July	2022
Women		12.12			24 July	2022
Men		6.21 m			24 July	2022
Mixed		3:08.80			19 August	2023

See also

• IAAF Hall of Fame
• IAAF Athlete of the Year
• International Athletics Championships and Games
• World Para Athletics Championships
• List of World Athletics Championships medalists (men)
• List of World Athletics Championships medalists (women)

External links

• Official World Athletics site for World Championships
  • • • IAAF Statistics Book – IAAF World Championships London 2017
• IAAF Statistics Book – IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019

See main article: world championships.

Notes and References

1. Matthews, Peter (2012). Historical Dictionary of Track and Field (pg. 217). Scarecrow Press (eBook). Retrieved on 8 September 2013.
2. Web site: Butler . Mark . 9 September 2013 . IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130909191743/http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf . 9 September 2013 . 19 August 2024 . IAAF/AFTS (2013) . 179.
3. Web site: Two years from now, in 2025, the next heated battle will take place in Tokyo News Tokyo 25 World Athletics Championships . 2024-01-29 . worldathletics.org.
4. Web site: World Athletics Ultimate Championship: a new global championship for the sport PRESS-RELEASES World Athletics . 2024-08-14 . worldathletics.org.
5. Web site: IAAF World Championships in Athletics . 2024-08-19 . www.gbrathletics.com.
6. http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/history Archive of Past Events
7. http://www.legacy.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUID=USATF_2005_05_06_14_27_25 "First World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki a landmark for track & field."
8. Web site: QNB and IAAF sign worldwide sponsorship agreement in Qatar PRESS-RELEASE World Athletics . 2024-08-19 . worldathletics.org.
9. Web site: A global map of Qatar’s sponsorships in sports . 2024-01-29 . www.playthegame.org . en-US.
10. Web site: IAAF World Championships London 2017 Medal Table. worldathletics.org.
11. Web site: IAAF World Championships DOHA 2019 Medal Table. worldathletics.org.
12. Web site: World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 – Statistical Booklet. worldathletics.org. 10 August 2023.