The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008.
A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting points around the Stuttgart area and the distances varied from 21 to 30 kilometres, with every race finishing in the Arena. Runners could join mid-race at specified times to allow for shorter distances and the aim was to have the runners finishing at a similar time. The road race ceremony was inspired by a similar event during the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, which was also held in the city. [1]
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.
Elvan Abeylegesse, is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over distances from 1500 metres up to the marathon, and also in cross country. She is the former world record-holder for the 5000 metres, at 14:24.68 minutes.
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles. The event is closely associated with its slightly longer cousin, the mile race, from which it derives its nickname "the metric mile".
Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events. She served a doping ban until 23 August 2015.
Amine Laâlou is a Moroccan track and field athlete, who specializes in middle-distance running. He has represented his country at the Summer Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He began his career as an 800 metres specialist and made his global debut at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. He won medals at smaller international competitions, including the 2004 Pan Arab Games and 2005 Mediterranean Games. He reached his first global final at the 2007 World Championships, taking sixth, and was a semi-finalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Susanne Pumper is an Austrian long-distance runner who holds the national records in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metres track events as well as in the 10 km road racing distance. She has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions and represented Austria at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Her best international performance was a silver medal over 3000 m at the 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She also had a fourth-place finish in that event at the 2002 edition, which was held in her home city. She tested positive at an international competition for the banned substance rh-EPO in 2008, and was banned from competition for two years for the infraction. She was later proved to have obtained EPO during 2008, at the time her ban was ongoing, which resulted in disqualification of all her times in 2010 and 2011 and an eight-year ban from competition.
Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin is a race walker from Russia who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was World champion over the 20 km distance. His World Championship was retroactively stripped in 2015 due to doping.
Gert Thys is a male long-distance runner from South Africa, who represented his native country in the marathon at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Thys is a former African record holder in the marathon, and is the current holder of the South African record with his best of 2:06:33 from the 1999 Tokyo International Marathon, which was also the course record for that race.
Asbel Kipruto Kiprop is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 1500 metres. He was awarded the 1500 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics after the original winner, Rashid Ramzi, tested positive for doping. Kiprop has won three World Championship titles in the event, in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Kiprop failed his own doping test in November 2017 and received a four-year doping ban.
Josephine Onyia Nnkiruka is a Nigerian-born Spanish track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented Spain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This article contains an overview of the year 2009 in athletics.
In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The foremost championships to be held in 2010 included: the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 European Athletics Championships, 2010 African Championships in Athletics, and Athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The men's hammer throw competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 3–5 August. There were 41 competitors from 32 nations. The event was won by Krisztián Pars of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the men's hammer throw since 1996 and fifth overall. Primož Kozmus of Slovenia, the 2008 winner, took silver. Koji Murofushi of Japan, the 2004 winner, took bronze. Kozmus and Murofoshi were the 12th and 13th men to earn multiple medals in the hammer throw.
The women's 1500 metres competition was an event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The competition was held at the Olympic Stadium from 6–10 August. The top two finishers were later found to have used prohibited drugs during this period, and subsequently disqualified. The current silver medalist, Tatyana Tomashova, had served a two-year doping ban (2008–2010) for manipulating samples and was banned after the Olympics for failing another drug test; and the 7th-place finisher Natallia Kareiva and the 9th-place finisher Yekaterina Kostetskaya were later disqualified after being found guilty of doping.
Jemima Jelagat Sumgong is a Kenyan long-distance runner specialising in marathon races.
Mohamed El-Hachimi is a Moroccan long-distance runner. El-Hachimi represented Morocco at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 10,000 metres, along with his teammate Abdellah Falil. He failed to finish the race.
The steeplechase at the Summer Olympics has been held over several distances and is the longest track event with obstacles held at the multi-sport event. The men's 3000 metres steeplechase has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1920. The women's event is the most recent addition to the programme, having been added at the 2008 Olympics. It is the most prestigious steeplechase track race at elite level.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is a City Marathon (42.2 km) held in Cape Town, South Africa, first held in its current form in 2007. Available distances include the marathon, a 10K, a 5K, and two trail runs of length 22 km and 12 km. The marathon is held on a fast and flat course, starting and finishing in Green Point, near the Cape Town Stadium.
The 1500 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 1500 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two qualifying rounds leading to a final between twelve athletes. It is one of two middle-distance running events on the programme, alongside the World Championship 800 metres.
These are the results of the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final, which took place in at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on 13–14 September.
