WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The World Athletics Federation organizes the World Athletics Championships, formerly known as the World Championships in Athletics, every two years (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). They serve as the premier senior international outdoor sports championships for track and field athletics worldwide, including marathon running and race walking, in addition to the Olympic Games. For several additional outdoor competitions, such as cross-country running and the half-marathon, as well as indoor competitions and age-group championships, World Athletics holds separate World Championships.
The men’s 50 km walk had been a staple of the Olympic program since 1932, but in 1976, the International Olympic Committee removed it from the Montreal Olympics schedule. This prompted the creation of the World Championships. A month and a half after the Olympics, the IAAF opted to stage its own world championship competition in its place. The IAAF hosted the World Championships as a stand-alone event for the first time (traditionally the main championship for the sport).
The tournament is regarded as having officially begun in 1983 when the first championships, which included all the events, were conducted. A second limited event was staged in 1980. The Olympic champions were also regarded as the current World champions until 1980.
HISTORY
The concept of an athletics world championships existed long before the first competition in 1983. The IAAF determined in 1913 that the Olympic Games would be the athletics World Championships. For more than 50 years, this was deemed appropriate until the late 1960s, when the desire of many IAAF members to host their own World Championships started to develop. An independent Athletics World Championships were approved in 1976 in Puerto Rico at the IAAF Council Meeting.
The IAAF Council chose Helsinki, Finland, to host the first tournament, which will take place in 1983 and will be hosted in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, after receiving bids from Stuttgart, West Germany, and Helsinki, Finland (where the 1952 Summer Olympics had been held). The first Global Championships in Athletics were held in 1983 after two IAAF world championship competitions. The men’s 50 km walk, which was originally scheduled for the 1976 Summer Olympics but was later removed, was the only event at the 1976 World Championships. The IAAF replied by organizing their own competition. Only the 400-meter hurdles and the 3000-meter races for women were newly sanctioned events at the 1980 World Championships, which took place four years after the 1980 Summer Olympics.
The level of competitiveness has increased over time. 1 333 athletes representing 153 nations competed in 1983. By the 2003 competition in Paris, there were 1,679 athletes competing from 198 nations, and 179 countries were receiving coverage. Additionally, the composition has changed throughout time as a result of the addition of numerous new events that are only for women. By 2005, the only events that were different were the 50 km walk for men and the 100 m hurdles and heptathlon for women, which were identical to the 110 m hurdles and decathlon for men.
The list that follows indicates when new events were initially introduced.
- 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.
2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The eighteenth World Athletics Championships, which took place in Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States from July 15 to 24, 2022, were the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Since the 2020 Summer Olympics had to be postponed owing to the COVID-19 epidemic, they were initially slated to take place from August 6–15, 2021.
All Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials are prohibited from competing at the championships as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to World Athletics. Participants and officials’ visa requests were delayed as a result of the strict vaccination requirements for entry into the US, and some were ultimately denied entry. Due to these problems, the final tally of 179 nations (including the Athlete Refugee Team) was the lowest since Tokyo in 1991.
At least one gold medal was earned by 29 nations, a record, throughout the competitions. Brazil earned two medals, while Peru, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria each took home their first-ever gold medals (one gold and one bronze) India, Burkina Faso, and the Philippines all earned medals, with silver and bronze respectively being their best results. The USA also took home the second-most gold medals with 13, and the most medals overall with 33, winning the new team event trophy (the latter is the record for a single edition). The show received the highest number of viewers in US television history.
Four participants won two gold medals: Abby Steiner in the 4 × 100 and 4 x 400 meter relays, Michael Norman in the 400 m and the 4 x 400 m relay, Sydney McLaughlin in the 400 m hurdles and the 4 x 400 m relay, and Kimberly Garca in the 20 and 35 kilometer walks.
13 championship records, along with three world records, were broken. Sydney McLaughlin, who finished first in the women’s 400-meter hurdles race in 50.68 seconds, Tobi Amusan, who won the women’s 100-meter hurdles semifinal in 12.12 seconds, and Armand Duplantis, who cleared 6.21 meters in the men’s pole vault final, all set new records.