World Athletics Championships
The World Athletics Championships is an IAAF biennial event that is one of the world’s largest sporting events. The World Power Games Championships began in 1976 in response to the International Olympic Committee dropping a 50 km men’s walk from the 1976 Montreal Olympics Olympic program, despite its continued presence at the Games since 1932.
1. The First World Power Games tournament
The IAAF chose to host it’s World Athletics Championships instead, a month and a half after the Olympics. It was the first World Power Games tournament hosted separately by the IAAF from the Olympics (usually the sport’s main tournament).
The second event was limited to 1980, and the 1983 tournament is the official start of the competition. At its inception, these tournaments were held every four years, until 1991, when they turned into a two-year cycle since then.
2. The History of World Athletics Championships
The idea of holding a World Athletics Championships existed long before the competition’s first event in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympics would be the World Athletics Championships. This was appropriate for more than 50 years until the late 1960s, many IAAF members’ desire for their world championships began to grow. In 1976, at a meeting of the IAAF Council in Puerto Rico, the World Athletics Championships were approved separately from the Olympic Games.
Following bids from Stuttgart, West Germany, and Helsinki (capital of Finland), the IAAF Council awarded Helsinki’s inaugural competition, held in 1983 at Helsinki Olympic Stadium (where the 1952 Summer Olympics were held).
Two IAAF World Championship events preceded the inaugural World Athletics Championships in 1983. The 1976 World Championships had only one sport – a 50-kilometer walk for men that was omitted from the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic program and the IAAF responded by defining it in their competition. Four years later, the 1980 World Championships contained two newly approved women’s sports (400 m hurdles and 3,000 m), neither of which was held in the program of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
3. World Athletics Championships Development
Over the years competition has grown in size. In 1983 an estimated 1,300 athletes from 154 countries participated. By the 2003 competition, in Paris, 19,07 athletes had grown from 203 countries with coverage being transferred to 179 different countries. There has also been a change in composition over the years, with the addition of many new events, all for women. By 2005, the only discrepancies were men’s competition in the 50km walking race, equivalent events in the women’s 100m hurdles, and heptathlon against 110m barriers for men and decathlon. The following list shows when new events were first added.
• 1987, women’s 10,000 meters and 10 km walk added.
• 1993, the women’s triple jump was added.
• 1995, women’s 3000 m replaced by 5000 m.
• 1999, added pole vault and hammer for ladies and replaced 20 km walk for ladies 10 km walk.
• 2005, the women’s 3000 meters barrier race was added.
• 2017, 50 km women’s walk added.
• 2019, mixed relay added 4 × 400 m
4. World Athletics Championships for Disabled “Paralympic”
The World Athletics Championships for People with Special Needs, known as the IPC World Athletics Championships before 2017, is an event organized by the International Paralympic Committee. Compete with athletes with physical disabilities, and in a few events compete with athletes with a developmental mental disorders. The tournament was originally held every four years, but since 2011 it has been held every two years. The first version was in Berlin, Germany, in 1994.
5. Countries participating in the 2022 World Athletics Championships
Countries participating in the 2022 World Athletics Championships, the biggest event awaited by millions of athletics fans around the world as more than 1,900 athletes from around the world face off to win gold, silver, and bronze medals for various competitions and sports. Through our website, we will learn about the list of countries participating in the World Athletics Cup as well as the most important information about the tournament and its start date this year 2022.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Athletics_Championships
- https://worldathletics.org/heritage/history
