1985 World Masters Athletics Championships is the sixth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships (called World Veterans Games or World Masters Games at the time) that took place in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, from June 22 to 30, 1985. The main venue was

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

located within the

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspired by t ...

sports complex. Stadio Olimpico had hosted the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. Supplemental venues included

Stadio dei Marmi The Stadio dei Marmi ("Stadium of the Marbles") is one of four stadiums in the colossal sports complex the Foro Italico, initially named Foro Mussolini.Giorio, Maria Beatrice. “La Scultura Fascista Di Soggetto Sportivo Tra Bellezza e Propagan ...

, also located within the complex, Stadio Acqua Acetosa
an
Stadio della Farnesina
This edition of

masters athletics Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups (which promotes fair comp ...

Championships had a minimum age limit of 35 years for women and 40 years for men. The governing body of this series is World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA). WAVA was formed during meeting at the inaugural edition of this series at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1975, then officially founded during the second edition in 1977, then renamed as

World Masters Athletics World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became ap ...

(WMA) at the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Championships in 2001. This Championships was organized by WAVA in coordination with a Local Organising Committee (LOC) headed by Cesare Beccalli, who later was elected WAVA president on December 2, 1987 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In addition to a full range of track and field events, non-stadia events included 8K Cross Country, 10K Race Walk (women), 20K Race Walk (men), and

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. The relays were resurrected as official events after being removed in the 1983 Championships, but teams were formed by region rather than by nation. Relays will revert to national teams for

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Controversy

In 1976, the

International Amateur Athletic Federation World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF) had expelled the Amateur Athletic Union of South Africa due to the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

policy of the South African government at that time, though the WAVA constitution as written in 1977 specifically stated its independence from IAAF regarding this issue: Nevertheless, participation of South African athletes had been an issue in this series. At this Championships, about 48 South Africans competed, though they signed up through another nation, in a manner similar to the last 2 Championships in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, However, many of these athletes were listed under their native flag in the results.

Results

Past Championships results are archived at WMA. Additional archives are available from Museum of Masters Track & Field as a pdf book, as a searchable pdf, and in pdf newsletters from National Masters News. The pdf book includes a rare photograph of the blind sprinter

Fritz Assmy Fritz Assmy (11 June 1915 – 11 June 2000) was a blind Chinese-German masters athletics sprinter. He has set numerous masters world records in sprint events from 100 to 400 meters. Born in Hankou, China to Paul Assmy and Shun King Liu, he migr ...

next to his son/guide. The August newsletter shows a series of photographs of Assmy in action, guided by his son with a short wrist tether. Assmy won golds in M70 100m and 200m, and silver in 400m. He described his running technique in the June newsletter. Several masters world records were set at this Championships. World records for 1985 are from the Museum of Masters Track & Field searchable pdf unless otherwise noted.

Women

Men

References

{{World Masters Athletics Championships

World Masters Athletics Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or o ...

International athletics competitions hosted by Italy

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Masters athletics (track and field) records