World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport 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 c ...

– which includes

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, and

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 ...

events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became apparent, the organization started under the name of World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA), founded August 9, 1977, at the second World Association of Veteran Athletes Championships in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

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. In 2001 the name was officially changed to World Masters Athletics and its championship is now called the World Masters Athletics Championships . The organization sanctions worldwide events, provides the age inspired specifications for rule modifications (a supplement to the rules of the sport by its worldwide governing body,

World Athletics 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 ...

). Prior to that, the sport was organized under the auspices of more localized bodies where the first official competitions were held, like the Interessen-Gemeinschaft Älterer Langstreckenläufer (IGÄL) formed in 1968 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, British Veteran Athletic Club in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and the AAU in 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. In 1972, the United States Masters International Track Team (USMITT) scheduled a tour of Great Britain and then Germany. to coincide with the 1972

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. Those were the first deliberately scheduled international masters competitions for Track events. The World Veteran Long Distance Championships were already in existence as the older road runner was more common at that time. At its founding, WAVA's mandate was initially to cover male athletes over the age of 40 and Female athletes over the age of 35. The younger women were invited to participate as their numbers were lower and it was observed younger wives might be excluded. The WMA World Outdoor Championships included the M35 division for the first time in 2005. The scope has also expanded from initially track and field competitions (called "stadia" within the organization), to include road running,

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 ...

and

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 ...

events (called cumulatively "non-stadia", as these do not take place in a stadium). World Masters Championships were first held outdoors in 1975, and continued biennially in odd years until 2015. They then switched to even years from 2016. The biennial World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships debuted in March 2004 in Sindelfingen,

, continuing in even years until 2014, then switching to odd years from 2017. The most recent outdoor world meet was in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...

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, from September 4–16, 2018. The most recent Indoor Championships were held in

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, from March 24–30, 2019. The 2020 championship was scheduled to take place in

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 anch ...

, but was cancelled 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 ...

. The first non-Stadia events were the World Road Running Championships in

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

in 1992 and has been held in even numbered years ever since. WMA has been working to coordinate its outdoor championship schedule with the International Masters Games Association, which holds the multisport

World Masters Games The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Mas ...

every four years. Each individual country governs its own affairs with an organizational governing body that is an affiliate to WMA.

Regional Championships

In addition to world championships, regional competitions are held in several major areas around the globe. These are usually biennual competitions held in alternation with the WMA Outdoor Championships. *

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 are ...

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 ...

* North, Central American and Caribbean *

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 ...

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 sou ...

World Records

Current Masters World Records

In the 1970s World Records started being kept, with Peter Mundle acting as Chair
*

Masters shot put Progression records for shot put must be set in properly conducted, official competitions under the standing IAAF rules unless modified by World Masters Athletics. Divisions are based upon the age of the athlete, with the category giving a minimum ...

References

External links

World Masters Athletics Official Website

Masterstrack blog

Masters History

Masters Events website

Additional reading

WAVA Newsletters (1980 to 1982)

Veteris Magazine (1973 to 1979)

New Zealand Vetline Magazine
{{Masters athletics Athletics organizations Masters athletics (track and field) Sports organizations established in 1977 1977 establishments in Europe

Regional Championships

See also

World Records

References

External links

Additional reading