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Athletics
The World Series

[ History of the Series ] [ Individual Competitions ]
[ Events within the Competitions ] [ Dates and Venues 1998 ] [ Contacts ] [ Home ]

Athletics is one of the oldest organised sports. From early Olympian beginnings, the sport has evolved so that there are now many major competitions held throughout the world every year. There are a number of World Competitions that make up the World Athletic Series.

 Dates and Venues

Dates for 1998
Mar 21-22 26th IAAF World Cross Country Championships Marrakesh
Apr 18-19 IAAF World Road Relay Championships Manaus, Brazil
Jul 28-2 Aug 7th IAAF World Junior Championships Annecy, France
Nov 5 IAAF Grand Prix Final Moscow
Nov 13 IAAF World Cup in Athletics Johannesburg, S. Africa
Nov 27 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships Zurich
 

 Competitions in the Series

Events in the world series are open to all registered amateur athletes who reach the qualifying time set by the IAAF. More than 200 countries and territories are Federation Members and are therefore eligible to register their athletes for international competitions.

All athletes must abide by the recognised IAAF rules and regulations. These include regulations about appropriate clothing, footwear and behaviour as well as official rules relating to the particular event.

Olympic Games
The Games are held every four years and include many athletic events as part of their programme. The 1996 games were held in Atlanta, USA. In the year 2000 they will be held in Australia.

World Championships
These championships are held every two years. The 6th Championships in 1997 were held in Athens.

World Cross-Country Championships
The 25th IAAF World Cross Country Championships are an annual event. In 1997 they were held in Turin. The venue for 1998 is Marrakesh and in 1999 they will be held in Belfast.

World Race Walking Cup
The 18th World Race Walking Cup is an annual event. In1997 it was held in Prague.

World Indoor Championships
The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships are held every two years. In 1997 Paris was the host city.

IAAF Grand Prix Final
This is an annual event. The 13th IAAF Grand Prix Final in 1997 was held in Fukuoka, Japan. Moscow hosts the 1998 Final.

World Cup in Athletics
This takes place every four years. The 8th IAAF World Cup in Athletics is in Johannesburg in 1998.

World Junior Championships
The Junior Championships are held every two years. The 1998 Championships are in Annency, France.

World Half Marathon
The World Half Marathon is an annual event. The 6th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in 1997 at Kosice. In 1998 the venue is Zürich.

World Road Relay Championships
This is an annual event. In 1998 it is in Manaus, Brazil.

 Events

Sometimes there is only one event within a competition, such as running in the 'Marathon', but the major championships involve many events: running, hurdling, jumping, throwing and combined events. The Decathlon, a combined event for men, consists of five track and five field events. The Heptathlon for women consists of four field and three track events. Most events are for individuals but there are some team relays for men and women.

Sophisticated methods of recording times and distances are used. The IAAF must approve all world records.

Trophies and medals

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded in most events for first, second and third place respectively.

 History of the Series

The most famous athletic competition, the Olympic Games, was first held in Greece in 776BC but was abolished in 394AD. Although track and field events enjoyed some popularity in England from the Middle Ages, it was not until the 19th Century that there was a strong international revival in the sport.

1896: The Modern Olympics were introduced
1913: The IAAF (International Amateur Athletic Federation) was established as the governing body for track and field, road running, cross country and race walking competitions. It developed and implemented all the current international athletic rules and worked to promote the sport worldwide. Until 1960, it concentrated on supporting the Olympic Games, held every four years.
1961: The IAAF introduced a number of additional major competitions. These included the World Championships, the World Cup of Athletics, the World Cross-Country Championships, the World 15km Road Race for Women and the World Race Walking Cup.
1985: Three more events were introduced: the World Indoor Championships, the IAAF Grand Prix Final and the World Marathon Cup. The world athletic events are known as the World Athletic Series and have been organised by the IAAF into a four-year schedule, so that every year, there is at least one major athletic tournament.
1986 onwards: The Series has expanded to include the World Junior Championships, the World Half Marathon for Women (replacing the Women's Road Race) and the World Road Relay Championships.

 Contacts and Links

IAAF Monte Carlo, Monaco

British Athletics Federation

[ History of the Series ] [ Individual Competitions ]
[ Events within the Competitions ] [ Dates and Venues 1998 ] [ Contacts ] [ Home ]