Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge is the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected to the four-year position in 2015 and re-elected in 2019 for a second four-year term, and then again in 2023 for a third four-year term.
Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".
The World Athletics Road Running Championships is a biennial international road running competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It was renamed the IAAF World Road Running Championships in 2006 and reduced in distance to a 20K run, but reverted to the half marathon distance the following year and to the original competition name the year after that. The competition was renamed to its current title in 2020 after the governing body rebranded itself moving away from the long-standing International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) moniker and expanded to include additional races.
The 2006 IAAF World Athletics Tour was the first edition of the annual global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The series featured 24 one-day meetings, consisting of the six meetings of the 2006 IAAF Golden League, six IAAF Super Grand Prix meetings, and twelve IAAF Grand Prix meetings. In addition, there were 25 Area Permit Meetings that carried point-scoring events. The series culminated in the two-day 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final, held in Stuttgart, Germany from 9–10 September.
The IAAF World Athletics Tour was an annual global circuit of one day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Formed in 2006, it comprised two separate levels of athletics meetings: the first level being the IAAF Golden League and IAAF Super Grand Prix events, and the second comprising IAAF Grand Prix events and area permit meetings. It replaced the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings series, which had only started three years earlier, and rendered the IAAF Grand Prix II series defunct.
The Cross Internacional de Atapuerca is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Atapuerca, Spain. Established in 2004, it takes place in early November and is among the first major competitions of the cross country season. In its initial years, it was usually the first permit meeting in the European Athletic Association's cross country season, and it now begins the IAAF Permit Meeting series, having replaced the Cross de Soria event in 2010.
The Great Edinburgh International Cross Country was an annual cross country running competition that took place every January in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was one of the competitions in the Great Run series of athletics events and was held alongside the Great Winter Run 5 kilometres mass participation race. The event was first held in Edinburgh in 2005 after the city was awarded the Great North Cross Country which relocated from Durham. The Great Edinburgh International Cross Country featured three professional races: the men's 8 km race, the women's 6 km race, and the 4x1km relay. It was an IAAF permit meeting, which means that performances could be used to qualify for the annual IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It was announced on the BBC coverage of the 2018 event that that year's edition would be its last. The event was replaced by the Great Stirling Cross Country in nearby Stirling.
The Antrim International Cross Country, formerly the Belfast International Cross Country, is an annual cross country running meeting which takes place every January in Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is one of the IAAF's cross country permit meetings, as well as being part of the UK Cross Challenge tour. Previous winners include Paula Radcliffe, Paul Tergat and Steve Ovett.
The Lotto Cross Cup is an annual series of international cross country running competitions in Belgium. The inaugural season was in 1982–1983. The series comprises Belgium's foremost cross country competitions, including the IAAF permit meeting in Brussels and the European Athletics sanctioned meeting in Roeselare – Belgium's only world and European level meetings.
The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in mid-December in Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the Lotto Cross Cup series of races and is classed as an IAAF permit meeting, making athletes' performances eligible for qualification into the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
The Almond Blossom Cross Country is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Albufeira, in the Algarve region of Portugal, in early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It is held in co-operation with the Associação de Atletismo do Algarve. The race gets its name from the white blossom which appears on the almond trees native to the Algarve region during the spring.
The IAAF Grand Prix was an annual, global circuit of one-day outdoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was created in 1985 as the IAAF's first seasonal track and field circuit and lasted until 2009. Athletes scored points based on their performances on the circuit and the top athletes were invited to the annual IAAF Grand Prix Final.
The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). First held in 2010, it replaced the IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Super Grand Prix series to form the second tier of international one-day meetings, after the IAAF Diamond League. Unlike the Diamond League, the IAAF World Challenge comprised stand-alone meetings, and no overall winners are crowned. The series was made defunct at the end of 2019 and was replaced by the World Athletics Continental Tour, which includes series winners for non-Diamond League events.
The IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge was an annual hammer throw series, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 2010 until the end of 2019 season. The series of hammer throw competitions for men and women were primary held at meetings with IAAF World Challenge status. The rankings were decided by combining the total of each athlete's three greatest throws at the permit events during the season. Further points could be gained by those who broke or equalled the world record mark for the event.
Ondoro Osoro is a former Kenyan long-distance runner who competed mostly in cross country and road races.
The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is typically held in February in Nairobi, the country's capital, and entrants are almost exclusively from Kenya. Entrants represent their home region or one of the high level national works teams, such as Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Police, Prisons or Universities. These teams host their own annual team championships in order to decide their selections for the national event.
The World Athletics Rankings are an individual athlete ranking system for the sport of athletics, managed by World Athletics. It is used to establish the number one athlete within an athletics event and to partially determine qualification into the World Athletics Championships and the athletics at the Summer Olympics. The rankings are published weekly by World Athletics on Wednesday. WA President Sebastian Coe said the goal of this system is so athletes and fans "have a clear understanding of the hierarchy of competitions from national through to area and up to global events, allowing them to follow a logical season-long path to the pinnacle of athletics' top two competitions".
The World Athletics Cross Country Permit Meetings were an annual series of independently-run cross country running competitions which were recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) with permit status. First held in 1999, the meetings could be used to gain qualification to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The number of legs in the series varied from around six to twelve meetings per year, with dates spanning the European winter months, from November to February, prior to the World Championships scheduled in March. The series replaced the IAAF World Cross Challenge, which was first held in 1990. The last series was held in 2020–2021, after which point it was replaced by the three-tier World Athletics Cross Country Tour.
The World Athletics Cross Country Tour is an annual series of cross country running competitions which are recognised by the World Athletics. Athletes accumulate points in the series' cross country meets during the season, which typically begins in September and finishes in March, with top three performances counting towards the standings. The inaugural season was 2021–22. The Tour replaced the IAAF Cross Country Permit series, which was first held in 1999.
Kenya 
Ethiopia 
Portugal 
Morocco 
Great Britain 
Belgium 
Ethiopia 
Ireland 
Romania 
