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| Host city | Athens, Greece |
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| Nations | 198 |
| Athletes | 1882 |
| Dates | 1–10 August 1997 |
| Opened by | President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos |
| Main venue | Olympic Stadium |
The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between 1 and 10 August 1997. 1,882 athletes from 198 participant nations participated in this event. [1] Despite several attempts to sabotage, Athens used the successful organization of the World Championships as a triumph and key event during the final stretch of the process to choose the city who hosted 2004 Summer Olympics during the next IOC Session held the following month in Lausanne. The success of the event showed the Greeks' abilities and readiness to organize large-scale, international sporting events.
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It was the first edition to award wild cards to defending champions even if they did not qualify for their national team. This allowed four athletes from the same country to compete in an individual event in some cases. [2]
