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
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...
for the
sport of athletics
Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing sports, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking ...
, covering
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
,
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...
,
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ...
,
race walking
Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...
,
mountain running
Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; also its courses are more ...
, and
ultra running
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...
. Included in its charge are the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of
world records
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the
World Athletics Championships
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
. The organisation's president is
Sebastian Coe of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a further four years.
World Athletics suspended the
Russian Athletics Federation
The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), previously named the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF; russian: Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики, ВФЛА), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in ...
(RusAF) from World Athletics starting in 2015, for eight years, due to doping violations, making it ineligible to host World Athletics events or send teams to international championships.
However, Russian athletes were eligible to compete pursuant to the
Authorised Neutral Athlete
Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) is a capacity under which athletes can compete at international sporting competitions without representing their nations, as is standard convention under the Olympic Charter. As of August 2022, only Russian and ...
(ANA) process.
In 2022, though, World Athletics imposed sanctions against the Member Federations of Russia and Belarus because of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and all athletes, support personnel, and officials from Russia and Belarus were excluded from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future, and Russian athletes who had received ANA status for 2022 were excluded from World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future.
World Athletics Council also applied sanctions on the
Belarus Athletic Federation
The Belarus Athletic Federation ( be, Беларускaя федэрацыя легкай атлетыкі) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Belarus.
In 2022, World Athletics imposed sanctions against the Member Federation of ...
, including banning its hosting of any international or European athletics events, representation at Congress or in decisions which require Congressional votes, involvement of its personnel in programs, and accreditation to attend any World Athletics Series events.
History
The process to found World Athletics began in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, Sweden, on 18 July 1912 soon after the completion of the
1912 Summer Olympics in that city. At that meeting, 27 representatives from 17 national federations agreed to meet at a congress in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Germany, the following year, overseen by
Sigfrid Edström
Johannes Sigfrid Edström (11 November 1870 – 18 March 1964) was a Swedish industrialist, chairman of the Sweden-America Foundation, and 4th President of the International Olympic Committee.
Early life
Edström was born in the tiny vi ...
who was to become the fledgling organisation's first president. The 1913 congress formally completed the founding of what was then known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).
It was headquartered in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
from 1912 to 1946, in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
from 1946 to 1993, and thereafter moved to its current location in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
In 1926, the IAAF created a commission to regulate all ball games which were played by hand, including
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
and
handball. Subsequently, the
International Amateur Handball Federation
The International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF) was the administrative and controlling body for handball and field handball. IAHF was responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the World Men's Hand ...
was founded in 1928, and the
International Basketball Federation
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...
was founded in 1932.
Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word ''
amateur'' in its name until its 2001 congress, at which it changed its name to the International Association of Athletics Federations. In June 2019 the organization chose to rebrand as ''World Athletics'', with a rollout beginning after the
2019 World Championships in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...
.
Following repeated requests, World Athletics became the last body within the
Association of Summer Olympic International Federations to make public its financial reports in 2020. It revealed the organisation had revenue of around US$200 million spread over a four-year Olympic cycle, with around a fifth of that revenue coming from Olympic broadcasting rights. The reports showed a deficit in each of the non-Olympic years of 2017 and 2018 of around US$20 million. It also showed heavy dependence on its partnership with Japanese marketing agency
Dentsu
Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest advertis ...
, which made up half of 2018's revenue. It also highlighted reserves of US$45 million at the end of 2018, which would allow the organisation to remain solvent in the face of delays to the
2020 Summer Olympics due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. World Athletics Day is celebrated on 7 May.
In 2022, World Athletics imposed sanctions against the Member Federations of Russia and Belarus because of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and all athletes, support personnel, and officials from Russia and Belarus were excluded from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future, and Russian athletes who had received ANA status for 2022 were excluded from World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future.
World Athletics Council also applied sanctions on the
Belarus Athletic Federation
The Belarus Athletic Federation ( be, Беларускaя федэрацыя легкай атлетыкі) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Belarus.
In 2022, World Athletics imposed sanctions against the Member Federation of ...
, including banning its hosting of any international or European athletics events, representation at Congress or in decisions which require Congressional votes, involvement of its personnel in programs, and accreditation to attend any World Athletics Series events.
Governance
World Athletics is headed by a
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
. The World Athletics Council has a total of 26 elected members, comprising one president, four
vice-president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
s (one senior), the presidents of the six area associations, two members of the Athletes' Commission and 13 Council members. Each member of the Council is elected for a four-year period by the World Athletics Congress, a biennial gathering of athletics officials that consists of the Council, Honorary Members, and up to three delegates from each of the national member federations. Chairpersons and member of Committees, which manage specialist portfolios, are also elected by the Congress. There are four committees: the Cross Country Committee, the Race Walking Committee, the Technical Committee, and the Women's Committee. A further three committees were launched in 2019: Development, Governance and Competitions. The governance structure is outlined in the World Athletics Constitution, which may be amended by the Congress.
The World Athletics Council appoints a
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
(CEO), who is focused on improving the coverage of the sport and the organisation's commercial interests. This role was created and merged with the General Secretary role that had existed previously. British former athlete and businessman
Jon Ridgeon
Jonathan ("Jon") Peter Ridgeon (born 14 February 1967) is an English former athlete who competed mainly in the 110 metres hurdles and the 400 metres hurdles. In the 110m hurdles, he won the silver medal at the 1987 World Championships and the g ...
was appointed to the role in December 2018.
Olivier Gers was the first person to officially hold the position in 2016, succeeding the interim CEO/General Secretary
Jean Gracia.
In order to give active athletes a voice in the governance of the sport, World Athletics created the Athletes' Commission. Athletes are elected to the commission by other athletes, typically held at the Congress attached to the World Athletics Championships. The commission chairperson and one other athlete of the opposite sex are given voting rights on the Council. The last election was held in October 2019 at the
2019 World Athletics Championships.
Following doping and corruption issues, a Code of Ethics was agreed in 2013 and an Ethics Commission was appointed in 2014. The Council appoints the chairperson from the elected members, and in turn the chairperson appoints a deputy chair. The Ethics Board's scope was limited in 2017 with the creation of the independent
Athletics Integrity Unit The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was founded by the International Association of Athletics Federations in April 2017 to combat doping in the sport of athletics. The unit functions fully independently from the IAAF. It is currently led by head B ...
, headed by Australia's
Brett Clothier
Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name.
People with the surname
* Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...
, to oversee ethical issues and complaints at arm's length.
The International Athletics Foundation is a charity closely associated with World Athletics that engages in projects and programmes to develop the sport.
Albert II, Prince of Monaco is the Honorary President and the role of IAF President is held by the World Athletics President. A World Athletics Heritage department was created in 2018 to maintain historic artefacts and display them through a physical gallery in Monaco, a virtual online gallery, and a travelling exhibition. The department also issues World Athletics Heritage Plaques to commemorate locations of historic interest to the sport.
Presidents
There have been six presidents since the establishment of World Athletics:
World Athletics Council
Athletes' Commission
;Members elected in 2019
Following
*
Renaud Lavillenie
Renaud Lavillenie ( or ; born 18 September 1986) is a French pole vaulter.
Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three Wor ...
(FRA), 627 votes
*
Valerie Adams
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams (formerly Vili; born 6 October 1984) is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF ...
(NZL), 613 votes
*
Bernard Lagat (USA), 589 votes
*
Kevin Borlée
Kevin Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.
Borlée won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in the 400m. He qualified for the finals of the 400 me ...
(BEL), 572 votes
*
Katerina Stefanidi
Katerina Stefanidi (Greek: Κατερίνα Στεφανίδη; born 4 February 1990) is a Greek pole vaulter. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a jump of 4.85 meters and has also competed at the 2012 London and the 2020 Tokyo ...
(GRE), 556 votes
*
Aisha Praught-Leer
Aisha Praught-Leer (born 14 December 1989 in Moline, Illinois) is a middle-distance runner from Illinois competing for Jamaica. She attended Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Moline High School. Praught competed in Athletics at the 2016 Summer O ...
(JAM), votes
;Existing members
*
Iñaki Gómez (CAN)
*
Kim Collins
Kim Collins (born 5 April 1976) is a former track and field sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 metres. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on five occasions, from 1996 to 2016, a ...
(SKN)
*
Adam Kszczot
Adam Piotr Kszczot (pronounced ; born 2 September 1989) is a retired Polish middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. His achievements include a gold medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships as well as silver medals at the ...
(POL)
*
Thomas Röhler (GER)
*
Ivana Španović
Ivana Vuleta (; sr-cyr, Ивана Вулета, , ; born 10 May 1990) is a Serbian long jumper, two-time World indoor champion, three times European indoor champion and reigning European champion.
In 2013, Vuleta became the first Serbian tr ...
(SRB)
*
Benita Willis
Benita Jaye Willis (born on 6 May 1979 in Mackay, Queensland) is an Australian long-distance runner, who is a three-time national champion in the women's 5,000 metres. Her foremost achievement is a gold medal in the long race at the 2004 IAA ...
(AUS)
Chairpersons
*Athletes' Commission:
Iñaki Gómez (CAN)
*Ethics Board:
Michael Beloff
Michael Jacob Beloff, KC (born 18 April 1942) is an English barrister and arbitrator. A member of Blackstone Chambers, he practises in a number of areas including human rights, administrative law and sports law.
Career
Beloff is the son of the ...
(GBR)
*Cross Country Committee:
Carlos Cardoso (POR)
*Race Walking Committee:
Maurizio Damilano
Maurizio Damilano (born 6 April 1957 in Scarnafigi, Italy) is an Italian former race walker. He won 15 individual medals (22 also with team events), at senior level, at the International athletics competitions.
Biography
He was the 1980 Olympic ...
(ITA)
*Technical Committee:
Jorge Salcedo (POR)
*Women's Committee:
Esther Fittko (GER)
*Athletics Integrity Unit:
David Howman
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(NZL)
Area associations
World Athletics has a total of 214 member federations divided into 6 area associations.
: AAA –
Asian Athletics Association
The Asian Athletics Association is the continental governing body for the sport of athletics in Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental competitions.
The current president Qa ...
in Asia
: CAA –
Confederation of African Athletics
The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA; French: ''Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme'') is the continental association for the sport of athletics in Africa. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It organises the African Championships in ...
in Africa
: CONSUDATLE –
Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
: EAA –
European Athletic Association
The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...
in Europe
: NACAC –
in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
: OAA –
Oceania Athletics Association
The Oceania Athletics Association (OAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Oceania. The OAA head office is located in Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
History
The OAA was founded as Oceania Amateur Athletic Or ...
in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
Partner organisations
As of 1 November 2015:
*
Association of International Marathons and Distance Races
The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership w ...
(AIMS)
*
International Association of Ultrarunners
The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) is the world governing body of ultra running, race events longer than the marathon distance of 42.2 km. It regulates and sanctions the World Championships for various ultramarathon distance ...
(IAU)
*
International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
(IPC Athletics)
*
International Trail Running Association International Trail Running Association (ITRA) is the governing body for trail running. It was formed in 2013, emerging from the 1st International Trail Running Conference held in 2012. Trail running was first recognised by the International Associ ...
(ITRA)
*
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)
*
World Mountain Running Association
The World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) is the global governing body of mountain running.
For World Athletics purposes, mountain running takes place on terrain that is mainly off-road, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, ...
(WMRA)
* Elite Ltd (for incorporation of statistics from all-athletics.com into World Athletics website)
Rules and regulations
Age
To allow athletes of different ages to compete against athletes of similar ability, several age categories are maintained. The open class of competition without age limit is defined as "senior". For younger athletes, World Athletics organises events for
under-20 athletes (athletes aged 18 or 19 years on 31 December of the year of the competition) as well as
under-18 athletes (athletes aged 16 or 17 years on 31 December of the year of the competition), historically referred to as "junior" and "youth" age groups, respectively. Age-group competitions over the age of 35 are organised by
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 ...
and are divided into five-year groupings.
Doping
The organisation is a signatory to the
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
's World Anti-Doping Code and applies sanctions to athletes, coaches and other sportspeople who breach the code through doping or impeding any anti-doping actions.
Doping is still a serious issue in world
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
due to the increased use of banned substances by athletes to improve their athletic performance. To address the problem, athletes participating in sports are required to sign the
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
code and are subjected to random urine and/or blood samples testing, leading to penalties like game suspension, or lifetime ban for violating code.
Sex
International level athletics competitions are mostly divided by sex and World Athletics applies eligibility rules for the women's category. World Athletics has regulations for
intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...
and
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
athletes. The
differences of sex development
Disorders of sex development (DSDs), also known as differences in sex development, diverse sex development and variations in sex characteristics (VSC), are congenital conditions affecting the reproductive system, in which development of chromoso ...
(DSD) regulations apply to athletes who are legally female or intersex and have certain
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
. Currently, such DSD limitations only apply to athletes competing in track running events from
400 metres to the
mile run
The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race.
The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...
, though World Athletics publicly remains open to extending this to other events based on new scientific study. A DSD athlete who is legally female or intersex will be subjected to specific rules if she has
XY male chromosomes,
testes
A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoste ...
rather than
ovaries
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. T ...
, have circulating testosterone within the typical male range (7.7 to 29.4 nmol/L), and are
androgen-sensitive so that their body makes use of that testosterone. World Athletics requires that any such athlete must reduce their blood testosterone level to 5 nmol/L or lower for a six-month period before becoming eligible for international competition. World Athletics created these rules as a way to ensure fair competition in the women's category. In October 2019, World Athletics changed the testosterone limit for transgender competitors, setting it at 5 nmol/L, from the previous 10 nmol/L, in order to bring it in line with the DSD regulations. According to regulations from October 2019, in order for a
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...
to compete in the women's category: "3.2.1 she must provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to the Medical Manager, that her gender identity is female; 3.2.2 she must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel (on the balance of probabilities), in accordance with clause 4, that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L3 continuously for a period of at least 12 months; and 3.2.3 she must keep her serum testosterone concentration below 5 nmol/L for so long as she wishes to maintain her eligibility to compete in the female category of competition."
The rules have been challenged by affected athletes in the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
(CAS), though no athlete has done so successfully. In May 2019, CAS upheld the rules on the basis that discrimination against the minority of DSD athletes was proportional as a method of preserving access to the female category to a much larger majority of women without DSDs.
Certified Athletic Facilities
World Athletics provides approval certificates to venues of athletic facilities: Class 1, Class 2 and Indoor. To receive certification, venues are required to submit measurement reports of their track and field facilities.
Class 1 venues are fully certified along with in-situ tests of the actual synthetic track surface, whilst Class 2 venues only ensures that the synthetic surface has a valid Product Certificate (from an accredited synthetic track surface manufacturer) and the facility conforms to the stringent requirements for accurate measurement contained in World Athletics Rules and Regulations.
Competitions
World Athletics organizes many major athletics competitions worldwide.
World Athletics Series
:
† Formerly IAAF World Championships in Athletics
:
‡ Known as IAAF World Road Running Championships in 2006 and 2007, with 20 km race in 2006
:
†† Formerly IAAF World Junior Championships
:
††† Formerly IAAF World Race Walking Cup
:
†††† Formerly IAAF World Cup
One-day events
World Athletics became involved in annual one-day meetings as the sport began to professionalise in the late 1970s. Between 1978 and 1982, World Athletics staged twelve
Golden Events, all for men and principally in track running, which saw World Athletics offer prizes to encourage competition. Three years later in 1985, an annual
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
circuit was created in the form of the
IAAF Grand Prix
The IAAF Grand Prix was an annual, global circuit of one-day outdoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was created in 1985 as the IAAF's first seasonal track and field circu ...
, which linked existing top-level one-day meetings with a season-ending
IAAF Grand Prix Final
The IAAF Grand Prix Final was an athletics competition featuring track and field events staged by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was first held in 1985 and replaced in 2003 by the IAAF World Athletics Final. For the most ...
for a selection of men's and women's events.
[Grand Prix]
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 20 October 2019. The
IAAF World Cross Challenge
The IAAF World Cross Challenge was an annual global series of cross country running competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes accumulated points in the series' cross country meets during the s ...
followed in 1990 and began an annual series for
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...
. The track and field circuit was expanded in 1993 with the creation of the
IAAF Grand Prix II
The IAAF Grand Prix II was an annual series of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was introduced in 1993 as an expansion of the IAAF Grand Prix series, adding a second ...
level, and the
IAAF Golden League
The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize, ...
in 1998. World Athletics began recognising annual indoor track meets via the
IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings
The IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings were an annual series of indoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1997 until the end of 2015 season. In 2016 IAAF launched the IAAF World Ind ...
series in 1997, and in 1998 decathletes and heptathletes found seasonal support with the creation of the
IAAF Combined Events Challenge
The World Athletics Combined Events Tour (formerly IAAF Combined Events Challenge and World Athletics Challenge – Combined Events) is an annual series of combined track and field events meetings, organised since 1998 by World Athletics, with hep ...
.
[ The World Cross Challenge was disbanded in 2000 and cross country reverted to a permit format via the ]IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings
The World Athletics Cross Country Permit Meetings were an annual series of independently-run cross country running competitions which were recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) with permit status. First held in ...
. The IAAF Race Walking Challenge
The World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking (formerly ''IAAF Race Walking Challenge'') is a racewalking series organised by World Athletics. Athletes accumulate points in specific race walk meetings during the season. Performances in 10 kilomet ...
was initiated in 2003 to provide a seasonal calendar for racewalking.
World Athletics reformed its track and field circuit in 2003, with the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings series grouping five tiers of annual track and field competitions: the Golden League, IAAF Super Grand Prix
The IAAF Super Grand Prix was an annual series of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Over the competition's history, a total of nine different meetings were part of the ...
, Grand Prix, Grand Prix II, and the IAAF World Athletics Final. The new final format was introduced with a new global performance ranking system for qualification and featured an increased programme of track and field events, mirroring the World Championships in Athletics
The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
programme bar the road events, combined events, relays, and the 10,000 metres. The final achieved gender parity in events in 2005, with the inclusion of a women's 3000 metres steeplechase
The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...
. The track and field circuit was rebranded as the IAAF World Athletics Tour in 2006, which removed the global rankings and the IAAF Grand Prix II (replaced with a level of meetings given permit status by continental governing bodies). With World Athletics having recognised the sport of mountain running
Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; also its courses are more ...
in 2002, the annual WMRA World Cup
The WMRA World Cup is an annual series of mountain running competitions organised by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) that runs from around May to October. Athletes are awarded points for each performance on the tour. Its predecessor w ...
meetings received official sanctioning in 2006. The IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final was created in 2007 to serve as a seasonal final for the Race Walking Challenge. World Athletics designed a sanctioning process for the road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ...
competitions in 2008, with races having to meet organisational requirements to achieve Gold or Silver status under the IAAF Road Race Label Events
World Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics (until 2019: ''IAAF'') designates as one of the "leading road races around the world." The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of ...
brand. This incorporated the World Marathon Majors
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races reco ...
(a privately run series for major marathons initiated in 2006) within the Gold Label category. Road running was the last sport governed by World Athletics to receive seasonal sanctioning.
The 2010 season saw several changes to World Athletics' one-day governance. The World Athletics Tour was made defunct and replaced with three separate series: the 14-meet Diamond League
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...
as the top level of track meetings, the IAAF World Challenge
The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). First held in 2010, it replaced the IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Super Grand Pri ...
as a second tier of track meetings, and the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge
The IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge was an annual hammer throw series, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 2010 until the end of 2019 season. The series of hammer throw competitions for men and women were pri ...
as the top level of hammer throwing contests (as hammer was not included in the Diamond League). The Road Race Label grouping was also expanded that year with the creation of a Bronze label status. The Race Walking Challenge Final was removed from the racewalking schedule after 2012, as the series focused on international championship performances. In 2016, the IAAF World Indoor Tour
The World Athletics Indoor Tour, formerly the IAAF World Indoor Tour, is an annual series of indoor track and field meetings, held since 2016. It was designed to create a Diamond League-style circuit for indoor track and field events, to raise th ...
was introduced as a replacement of the Indoor Permit Meetings series.
The track and field circuit is due for further changes in 2020, including an increase in the number of Diamond League meetings, the reduction of Diamond League events from 32 to 24, reduction of the Diamond League television running time to 90 minutes, the creation of a one-day Diamond League final, and the relaunch of the World Challenge series as the World Athletics Continental Tour
The World Athletics Continental Tour is an annual series of independent track and field athletic competitions, recognised by World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF). The Tour forms the second tier of international one-day meetings after the ...
.
Awards
The organisation hosts the annual World Athletics Awards, formerly the World Athletics Gala until 2017, at the end of each year to recognise the achievements of athletes and other people involved in the sport. Members may also be inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame
The IAAF Hall of Fame was established by the International Association of Athletics Federations (since 2019: ''World Athletics'') in 2012. It is intended to honor individuals who have made valuable contributions in the sport of athletics both inter ...
as part of the ceremony. The following awards are given:
* Male Athlete of the Year
* Female Athlete of the Year
*Male Rising Star Award
*Female Rising Star Award
*Coaching Achievement Award
*Distinguished Career Award
*Women's Award
*President's Award
*Athletics Photograph of the Year
Doping controversy
In 2015, a whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
leaked World Athletics' blood test records from major competitions. The records revealed that, between 2001 and 2012, athletes with suspicious drug test results won a third of the medals in endurance events at the Olympics and World Championships—a total of 146 medals including 55 golds—but the World Athletics caught none of them. After reviewing the results, Robin Parisotto, a scientist and leading "anti-doping" expert, said, "Never have I seen such an alarmingly abnormal set of blood values. So many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen."[ Craig Reedie, president of the ]World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
(WADA), said his organisation was "very disturbed by these new allegations ... which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide", and that its "independent commission will investigate the claims".[
Around the same time, the ]University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W ...
in Germany claimed that World Athletics suppressed publication of a 2011 report in which " ndreds of athletes", as many as a third of the world's top athletes, "admitted violating anti-doping rules".
On 1 November 2015, former World Athletics president Lamine Diack
Lamine Diack (7 June 1933 – 3 December 2021) was a Senegalese businessman, sports administrator, and athlete. He was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015. He was the subject of numerou ...
was arrested in France and is under investigation on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. Diack allegedly accepted "$1.2 million from the Russian athletics federation
The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), previously named the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF; russian: Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики, ВФЛА), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in ...
to cover up the positive doping tests of at least six Russian athletes in 2011." The IOC provisionally suspended Diack, and he resigned his position as an IOC Honorary Member. In 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
reported that with his influence, Diack was able to install two of his sons and a friend into positions that exerted influence over the IAAF. The report says that Lamine Diack "was responsible for organizing and enabling the conspiracy and corruption that took place in the IAAF." In 2018, Diack was handed an additional charge of "breach of trust" by French prosecutors. On 18 June 2020, the trial of Diack and five other people, including his son, concluded. Diack was sentenced to jail for four years, two of them suspended.
In November 2015, WADA published its report, which found "systemic failures" in the World Athletics had prevented an "effective" anti-doping programme and concluded that Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
should be banned from competing in international competitions because of its athletes' test results. The report continued that "the World Athletics allowed the conduct to occur and must accept its responsibility" and that "corruption was embedded" in the organization.
In January 2016, as a result of the doping scandal and WADA's report, the World Athletics' biggest sponsor, Adidas, announced that it was ending its sponsorship deal with the World Athletics four years early. The BBC reported that as a result World Athletics would lose $33 million (£23 million) worth of revenue. The 11-year sponsorship deal with Adidas was due to run until 2019. World-record holding sprinter Michael Johnson described the scandal as more serious than that faced by FIFA.
In February 2016, Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
announced that it was ending its World Athletics sponsorship.
In June 2016, following a meeting of the IAAF's ruling council, World Athletics upheld its ban on Russia's track and field team from entering the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
In February 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation was disqualified by decision of the World Athletics Council for 8 years for the creation of a doping system.
World Athletics has since resisted demands that Russia be re-instated, on the basis that the country repeatedly failed to satisfy all the agreed criteria. The decision was supported by Sean Ingle
Sean Ingle is a British sports journalist. He is currently the chief sports reporter and columnist for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. He was previously the newspaper's athletics correspondent and online sports editor.
Early life and ed ...
of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' who wrote in a column that World Athletics should maintain their ban on Russia through the 2016 Olympics in Rio. That meant Russian athletes could compete at all major events in the following years, including the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and the 2018 European Championships in Berlin. In September 2018, World Athletics faced a legal challenge by Russia to overturn the suspension after the reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; russian: Российское антидопинговое агентство, РУСАДА), established in January 2008, is the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspen ...
, but Hugo Lowell
Hugo Lowell (born March 30, 1999) is a British-American political investigations reporter for ''Guardian US, The Guardian''. He has broken a number of high-profile stories on the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Jan ...
of the ''i newspaper'' reported the country's status would not change. The legal case was later dropped.
See also
* List of doping cases in athletics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of eligibility transfers in athletics
This is a list of track and field athletes who have moved to compete for another country. Such moves are called transfers of allegiance by the World Athletics.
To countries in Africa
To countries in the Americas
To countries in Asia
...
* World Athletics Rankings
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Association Of Athletics Federations
Athletics organizations
Sports organizations established in 1912
1912 establishments in Sweden
Sports organisations of Monaco