The IAAF Continental Cup was an international

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 ...

competition organized by the

International Association of Athletics Federations 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 fo ...

(IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President

Primo Nebiolo Primo Nebiolo (14 July 1923 – 7 November 1999) was an Italian sports official, best known as president of the worldwide athletics federation IAAF. Primo Nebiolo was the ideator of the IAAF Continental Cup. Biography As an active athlete i ...

and was first held in 1977 as the IAAF World Cup. The event was initially held every two years, but following the establishment of 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 ...

it moved to a quadrennial basis. The 1989 edition was held the same year as the World Indoor Championships, then moved to the even-year between Summer Olympics, ensuring the sport of athletics had a global competition in all years. The original format included separate men's and women's competitions consisting of 21 events each, with team points being awarded for the finishing position of each athlete. Eight teams, five continental and three national, entered an athlete in each event: if the stadium had a ninth lane, the host nation would also be permitted to enter. The eight entrants included the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the top two nations in the preceding

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and continental teams comprising

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

, the rest of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

(

North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association The North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) is the continental confederation governing body of athletics for national governing bodies and multi-national federations within Northern America, Central America, and ...

and Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo), and the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. From 2010, the event was rebranded to the IAAF Continental Cup, with the national teams being removed, and team scoring incorporated both the sexes. Two athletes per individual event were entered by four regional teams:

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and the

), though the regions had only one team each for the relay events. After a decision at the 206th IAAF Council Meeting, held after the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, long-distance events were removed from the programme, and the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

event was modified to a mixed-gender event. A nation-based competition, the

Athletics World Cup The Athletics World Cup was a team-based international athletics competition held in 2018. It featured eight national teams based on world rankings, with each team entering one athlete per event, and points gained on the basis of finishing posit ...

, was staged in 2018 by an independent promoter. The IAAF competition was briefly rebranded as the World Athletics Continental Cup in 2019, but the event was scrapped in March 2020.

Results

IAAF World Cup

IAAF Continental Cup

Cup records

Key to tables:

Men

Women

Trophy

A silver trophy was presented to winners of the men's competition. The women's equivalent was later remodelled and used for the Continental Cup. The winners' names were engraved around the bottom and the winners would keep a hold of the trophy until the next edition. As the IAAF World Cup, World Cup trophies were presented to the athletes of the winning team. It was the sole prize awarded by the

IAAF 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 ...

for the team category. As the IAAF Continental Cup, in 2018, a new trophy was unveiled for the winners of the combined team event (men and women). All individual athletes of the winning team were presented with awards for the first time.

References

External links

World Athletics Continental Cup

IAAF World Cup and Continental Cup Statistic Handbook
* Mark Butler's top ten moments

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iaaf World Cup In Athletics International athletics competitions Defunct athletics competitions Team combination track and field competitions Continental Cup Recurring sporting events established in 1977 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2020 Quadrennial sporting events World cups