Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups. For international events the first age group is 35 to 39. Men as old as 105 and women in their 100s have competed in running, jumping and throwing events. Masters athletes are sometimes known as "veterans" and the European Masters Championships, for instance, is known as "Eurovets." This and other high level events including biennial World Championships cater largely to elite-level athletes, but many masters athletes are novices to athletics and enjoy the camaraderie offered by masters competition at the local, National and International level. Most National governing bodies for track and field hold annual Masters championships. Prestigious National meets such as the Penn Relays and the United States Olympic Trials put on exhibition events for top masters athletes. Masters athletics is growing Internationally with over 6000 athletes competing at recent World Championships. World; National and Regional records are maintained for each age group.
World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age.
Eileen-Philippa "Phil" Raschker is a German-born American masters athlete.
The Southern California Striders is a track and field athletics club based in Los Angeles, California. From its foundation in 1955 through the 1980s it was an elite club producing numerous national and Olympic champions. For a time in the 1970s it was called the Tobias Striders for sponsorship reasons. From the 1990s to 2006 the club was restricted to masters athletics and still produces national champions in older age classes. After 2006 it became a nonprofit open to all ages.
Kathy Bergen is an American Masters athletics track and field athlete. She is the current world record holder in the W70 100 meters and the high jump. She also holds the Indoor World records for the W65 high jump, the W70 60 meters, 200 meters and high jump. And she holds the American record for the W70 200 meters and the W65 high jump. She is the oldest woman to break the 15 second barrier in the 100 meters and to break 32 seconds in the 200 meters. She is also the first 70-year-old woman to jump 1.30 meters in the high jump at USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento in 2010.
Donald Pellmann was an American centenarian multi world-record-setting masters athlete. He held the current M90 world record in the long jump, high jump, discus throw, and indoor pole vault. Additionally, he also held the American records in the 100 metres, triple jump, shot put, and javelin throw. He lived in an assisted senior living facility in Santa Clara, California.
Ajeé Wilson is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She is the 2022 World indoor champion at the 800 meter distance, after earning silver medals in 2016 and 2018. Wilson won bronze medals at both the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. She is the second-fastest American of all time in the event with a time of 1m 55.61s, and she holds North American indoor record.
2015 World Masters Athletics Championships is the 21st in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Lyon, France from 4 to 16 August 2015. This was the last odd year of the biennial Championships; beginning in 2016, the Championships will be held in even-numbered years. The change was made to avoid conflict with the quadrennial World Masters Games, which had been held in odd-numbered years since 2005.
2016 World Masters Athletics Championships is the 22nd in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Perth, Australia from 26 October to 6 November 2016. Prior to this year, the championships in this biennial series were in odd-numbered years. Beginning in 2016, the championships were held in even-numbered years. The change was made to avoid conflict with the quadrennial World Masters Games, which had been held in odd-numbered years since 2005.
2018 World Masters Athletics Championships is the 23rd in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place along the Costa del Sol in Málaga and Torremolinos, Spain from 4 to 16 September 2018. This was the second even year of this biennial series as beginning in 2016 at Perth, Australia, the Championships moved to be held in even-numbered years to avoid conflict with the quadrennial World Masters Games, which had been held in odd-numbered years since 2005.
1991 World Masters Athletics Championships is the ninth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Turku, Finland from 18 to 28 July 1991.
2019 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the eighth in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This eighth edition took place in Toruń, Poland, from 24 to 30 March 2019.
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1968. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced in 2020 to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
The USATF Masters Indoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national indoor championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1975. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced from 2020 onwards to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
2006 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the second in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This second edition took place in Linz, Austria, from 15 to 20 March 2006.
2010 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the fourth in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This fourth edition took place in Kamloops, Canada, from 2 to 7 March 2010. This is the first WMACi to be hosted outside of Europe.
2017 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the seventh in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This seventh edition took place in Daegu, South Korea, from 19 to 25 March 2017. This was the first Indoor Championships held in an odd-numbered year, to alternate with the Outdoor Championships that switched to even-numbered years in 2016.
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