The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federations entered a total of 1,978 athletes, the greatest number of competitors at any World Championships to date. Sarah Brightman, the world's best-selling soprano, performed her single Running at the opening ceremony.
Andrew Howe is an American-born Italian athlete who specializes in the long jump and sprinting. He won this event as well as the 200 metres at the 2004 World Junior Championships. He was successful at senior level at a young age, winning a long jump bronze at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships before becoming the European Champion later that year. In 2007 he became the European Indoor Champion and won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
Louis Tsatoumas is a Greek long jumper.
Ahmed Ibrahim Baday is a Moroccan long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres and cross-country running but now competes in road running competitions. He is currently banned for doping.
Lerone Ephraime Clarke is a Jamaican track and field sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and the 60 metres. He is the former Commonwealth Games champion in the 100 m. His personal best for that distance is 9.99 seconds, set in 2009. He has represented Jamaica three times at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and holds the Jamaican record for the indoor 150m.
Anna Carmela Incerti is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She has represented Italy in the marathon at European, World and Olympic-level. She won the bronze in the event at the 2010 European Championships, later upgraded to silver and then to gold.
Georgia Koklóni is a Greek sprinter who specializes in 60 metres and 100 metres.
Halima Hachlaf is a Moroccan runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She is the younger sister of Abdelkader Hachlaf, an international steeplechase athlete. She won silver medals in the 800 m at the Mediterranean Games and Jeux de la Francophonie in 2009. Her personal best for the distance is 1:58.27.
Martial Mbandjock is a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Albi.
Paraskevi "Voula" Papachristou is a Greek triple jumper and long jumper. She won two gold medals at the European Athletics U23 Championships and took the third place at the 2016 World indoor Championships. She was removed from the Greek team for the 2012 London Olympics by the Greek Olympic Committee after making a racist comment online. At the 2016 Summer Olympics' final in Rio de Janeiro, she took the 8th place. In 2018 she was the European Champion in Berlin with a jump of 14,60 metres.
Chakir Boujattaoui is a Moroccan is a long distance runner who specialises in cross country running, and the 5000 metres and steeplechase on the track.
Jamel Chatbi is a Moroccan-born athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase and competes for Italy.
Jessica Cérival is a French track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put.
At the 2001 Mediterranean Games, the athletics events were held in Tunis and Radès in Tunisia from 11 to 14 September 2001. Italy topped the medal table with 9 gold medals and 30 medals in total, shortly followed by France which also had 9 golds but 23 medals overall. Greece had the next greatest medal haul and the hosts Tunisia won 9 medals, two of which were gold. A total of 10 new Games records were set during the competition.
Stefano La Rosa is an Italian long distance runner. He is a five-time Italian champion.
Elena Romagnolo is an Italian steeplechaser, middle and long-distance runner. She is the national record holder in the 3000 metres steeplechase, but now competes mainly in the 5000 metres.
Wang Zhen is a Chinese race walker who specialises in the 10 kilometres and 20 kilometres race walk. He holds the senior Asian record for the 20 km with his time of 1:17:36 hours and is also the Asian, Chinese and junior world record holder over 10 km. He was the bronze medallist over 20 km at the 2012 London Olympics and the gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Campaccio is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in early January in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Organised by the Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese, the event attracts participation from Olympic and world champions in athletics, in spite of the fact that the host town has a population of just over 6000. It is typically the first major athletics event of the year in Italy, and holds IAAF Cross Country Permit status.
The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG). A total of 3,368 athletes from 23 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. Montenegro participated for the first time at the Mediterranean Games, after their independence in 2006. The program included competitions in 24 different sports, including three non-Olympic sports – bocce, karate, and water skiing – and golf, which was reinstated as an official Olympic sport in 2016 Summer Olympics. Water skiing was introduced as a demonstration sport. Two disabled sports, athletics and swimming, were also contested in the Games. Italy became the first nation to host the Mediterranean Games three times, having previously hosted them in Naples (1963) and Bari (1997).
Muktar Edris is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country races.
Georgia Kokloni (GRE)
Myriam Soumaré (FRA)
Eleni Artymata (CYP)
Sabina Veit (SLO)
Vincenza Calì (ITA)
Halima Hachlaf (MAR)
Habiba Ghribi (TUN)
Olivera Jevtić (SRB)
Kenza Dahmani (ALG)
Nevin Yanıt (TUR)
Nikolina Horvat (CRO)
Roger Puigbò Verdaguer (ESP)
