The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland, the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic events, some of which were included as exhibition events. Much of the event was played in extremely heavy rainfall.
The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the year of the competition.
The 2001 European Athletics Junior Championships was an athletics competition for athletes under-20 which was held at the Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini in Grosseto, Italy from 19 – 22 July 2001. A total of 44 events were contested, 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. Two new events were introduced into the programme: the women's 2000 metres steeplechase and the women's 10,000 m track walk. Five new championships records were recorded over the four-day competition, in addition to the two marks set in the newly introduced events.
The icosathlon, also called the double decathlon, is an ultra multi-event of track and field competition consisting of 20 events contested over two days. There is an extra rule, that each day should contain a pause of one hour. Mostly the competition is held over two days, but one-day icosathlons also exist. The first day of the standard icosathlon includes:
The athletics at the 1997 Summer Universiade took place in the Stadio Cibali in Catania, Sicily (Italy) at the end of August 1997, shortly after the World Championships in Athens, Greece. New events were the women's hammer throw, pole vault and half marathon competition. The marathon was dropped from the programme in favour of the half distance. A total of 23 men's and 22 women's events were contested.
The 1996 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics was the seventh edition of the international athletics competition between Ibero-American nations which was held at the Estadio Alfonso Galvis Duque in Medellín, Colombia from 9–12 May.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
At the 2001 Southeast Asian Games, the athletics events were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 46 events were contested, of which 24 by male and 22 by female athletes. The track and field events were hosted at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, the marathons were held around Merdeka Square, and the racewalking events took place at Titiwangsa Lake Gardens.
The athletics competition at the Africa Military Games was held from 24–26 April 2002 at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
The 1988 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the third edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Damascus, Syria – the first time the event was staged in West Asia. A total of 41 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 18 for women. Morocco, a regional power in the sport, did not send a team. Syria entered for the first time.
The 2002 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the tenth edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Cairo, Egypt – the city hosted the tournament once before in 1986. A total of 43 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 21 for women. After an absence in 2000, regional powers Morocco, Algeria and Qatar all returned to the tournament.
The Czechoslovak Athletics Championships was an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Czechoslovakia Athletics Association, which served as the national championship for the sport in Czechoslovakia.
The 1986 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Cwmbran Stadium, Cwmbran. It was the fourth time the event was held in the Welsh town. The women's 5000 metres was dropped from the programme and replaced by a women's 10,000 metres event.
The Spanish Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA), which serves as the Spanish national championship for the sport. It is typically held as a two-day event in the Spanish summer around late June to early August. The venue of the championships is decided on an annual basis.
The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime.
The Nordic Athletics Championships was an international athletics competition between Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. It was held on three occasions, in 1961, 1963 and 1965.
The 1965 Nordic Athletics Championships was the third and final edition of the international athletics competition between Nordic countries and was held in Helsinki, Finland. It consisted of 34 individual athletics events, 22 for men and 12 for women. This covered a track and field programme plus a men's marathon race.
The South Pacific Athletics Championships were an international athletics competition between island nations of the South Pacific Ocean. The championships was contested on three occasions: it was first held in 1976, had its second edition in 1978, then its final edition in 1984. Ten nations won medals at the competition during its lifetime. The competition emerged as a single-sport championship following in the footsteps of the region's multi-sport event established in 1963: the South Pacific Games. The athletics competition declined with the emergence of the South Pacific Mini Games in 1981, which was a smaller-scale event with athletics as its core sport.
The Finnish Indoor Athletics Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Finnish Amateur Athletic Association, which serves as the Finnish national championship for the sport. First held in 1962, the competition was open to non-Finnish athletes and several foreign athletes were crowned as Finnish champions. The championship titles were restricted to Finnish nationals from 1987 onwards, with foreign competitors reduced to guest status only.
