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, sometimes given in gold bars, which inspired the series name. The competition began with seven meetings and it lasted for twelve years as the IAAF's top tier of one-day meetings. Within the IAAF's global circuit, athletes received additional points for their performances at the Golden League for the IAAF Grand Prix (1998–2002), IAAF World Outdoor Meetings (2003–2005), then IAAF World Athletics Tour (2006–2009). The Golden League was replaced in 2010 by the Diamond League, which marked an expansion to fourteen seasonal meetings covering all track and field events except the hammer throw.
The IAAF World Athletics Final was an annual track and field competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was inaugurated in 2003 to replace the IAAF Grand Prix Final. The competition was part of the IAAF World Athletics Series and was the seasonal culmination of the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings series from 2003 to 2005, then the IAAF World Athletics Tour from 2006 to 2009. Due to changes in the one-day meeting system introduced by the IAAF, the World Athletics Final was discontinued after the 2009 season.
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 part of its history, the events were staged in early September in European major cities which also played host to prominent annual athletics meetings. Fukuoka City became the first non-European host in 1997. Doha followed in 2000 and Melbourne was that last non-European host before the final edition of the competition was held in Paris in 2002.
Swedish relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners. The first runner runs 100 meters, the second one 200 m, the third one 300 m and the fourth runner 400 m, so the total length of the race is one kilometer.
The 1997 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the thirteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 13 September at the Hakatanomori Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka City, Japan.
The 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the fourteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 5 September at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
The 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the fifteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 11 September at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany.
The 2000 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the sixteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 5 October at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It was the first and only time that the event was held outside of September, due in part to Qatar's hot desert climate.
The 2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the seventeenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 9 September at the Olympic Park Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It was the first and only time that the event was held in the southern hemisphere.
The 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the eighteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 14 September at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Paris became the third city to host the event for a second time, following Rome and Fontvieille.
The 1996 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the twelfth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 7 September at the Arena Civica in Milan, Italy.
The 1995 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the eleventh edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 9 September at the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco.
The 1998 IAAF Golden League was the first edition of the annual international track and field meeting series, held from 9 July to 5 September. It was contested at six European meetings: the Bislett Games, Golden Gala, Herculis, Weltklasse Zürich, Memorial Van Damme and the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF). The series tied in with the 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final, with the jackpot of US$1,000,000 being decided at that competition. The million-dollar prize represented the single largest prize pot ever in athletics at that point.
In 2014 there was no primary outdoor global athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup were the foremost global events to be held in 2014. The 2014 IAAF World Relays marked the debut of the new international competition exclusively for relay races.
The 1990 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the sixth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 7 September at the Olympic Stadium (Athens) in Athens, Greece. Leroy Burrell and Merlene Ottey were the overall points winners of the tournament. This was Ottey's second series win and made her the second woman to win the honour twice, after Paula Ivan. The number of athletics events in the programme reached eighteen for the first time, with ten for men and eight for women.
The 1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the seventh edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 20 September at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
The 1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the ninth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 10 September at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The 1994 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the tenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 3 September at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France.
In 2015, the foremost athletics event was the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. The two other major global level competitions in 2015 are the World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Relays.
The 2013 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge was the fourth edition of the annual, global series of hammer throw competitions organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The winners were Paweł Fajdek and Anita Włodarczyk, both of Poland. Both the final scores were records for the challenge.
Dennis Mitchell (USA)
Andrea Benvenuti (ITA)
Nixon Kiprotich (KEN)
Tom McKean (GBR)
Brahim Boutayeb (MAR)
Winthrop Graham (JAM)
Samuel Matete (ZAM)
Patrik Sjöberg (SWE)
Troy Kemp (BAH)
Brian Wellman (BER)
Leonid Voloshin (EUN)
Werner Günthör (SUI)
Ximena Restrepo (COL)
Violeta Beclea (ROM)
Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)
Christine Toonstra (NED)
Heike Drechsler (GER)
Trine Hattestad (NOR)
