The World Athletics Championships are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics. Alongside the Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championships.
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, 37 events were contested in athletics. There were a total number of 1005 participating athletes from 80 countries.
The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987.
Veniamin Vasilievich Soldatenko was a Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the 50 km walk. He acquired Kazakhstani citizenship after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Gerhard Weidner was a West German race walker. He was born in Magdeburg. He represented his country three times at the Summer Olympics, competing in the 50 kilometres walk in 1968 and 1972, then the 20 kilometres walk at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His best finish on the international stage was a silver medal at the 1975 IAAF World Race Walking Cup.
Reima Untamo Salonen is a retired race walker from Finland, known for winning the gold medal in the men's 50 km Walk event at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Greece. A former world record holder, he represented his native country in three Summer Olympics.
Clifford 'Cliff' Wiley is a former American track and field athlete, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the men's 400 metres event at the 1981 Athletics World Cup in Rome and the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas.
The 1980 World Championships in Athletics was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, Netherlands, it featured two events: the women's 400 metres hurdles and the women's 3000 metres run. West Germany's Birgit Friedmann took the first women's world title in the 3000 m, while her East German counterpart Bärbel Broschat became the first women's 400 m hurdles world champion.
The 1976 World Championships in Athletics was the first global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted on 18 September 1976 in Malmö, Sweden, it featured just one event: a men's 50 kilometres race walk contest. The course passed through the streets of the city and the start and finish points were within Malmö Stadion.
Enrique Vera Ibáñez is a Mexican and Swedish former race walking athlete.
The 100 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 100 m title after the 100 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two or three qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes. Since 2011 a preliminary round has been held, where athletes who have not achieved the qualifying standard time compete to enter the first round proper.
The 200 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 200 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two or three qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes.
Yevgeniy Lyungin is a former Soviet racewalker who competed in the 50 kilometres race walk distance. He became his country's first winner of the event at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in 1975.
The 5000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by men since the inaugural edition in 1983 and by women since 1995. Women competed over 3000 metres from 1980 to 1993, in line with championship standards of the time. It is the shortest long-distance running event at the competition, the 10,000 metres and marathon being the other two such events on the programme. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 5000 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has a two-race heats stage that leads directly to a final between fifteen athletes.
The 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by men since the inaugural edition in 1983 and by women since the subsequent edition in 1987. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 10,000 metres at the Olympics. The competition format is a straight final with typically between twenty and thirty participants. Before 1999, the event had two qualifying heats leading to a final.
The marathon 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 global title in the discipline after the marathon at the Olympics. From 1997 to 2011 it hosted the World Marathon Cup team event. It currently forms part of the World Marathon Majors circuit, which includes the six top annual races. The competition format has separate men's and women's races, which both serve as a straight final. Participation typically numbers between sixty and eighty runners per race. The event usually starts and ends in the main stadium, with the rest of the race taking place on the surrounding roads of the host city.
Paolo Grecucci is an Italian former racewalking athlete. He was a five-time participant at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was a bronze medallist in the 50 kilometres race walk at the event in 1977.
The 400 metres hurdles at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by women since 1980 and by men since 1983.
Algeria has competed at the IAAF World Athletics Championships on eighteen occasions, sending a delegation to every event since the 1983 edition. Its competing country code is ALG. The country has won six gold medals, two silver medals and three bronze medals at the competition. All eleven of its medals come from six athletes in distance track events. Noureddine Morceli won the men's 1500 metres titles in 1991, 1993 and 1995, while his female counterpart Hassiba Boulmerka won two golds and one bronze. Azzedine Brahmi won 1991 bronze in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase. Djabir Saïd-Guerni won the men's 800 metres bronze in 1999 before winning a gold medal in that event in 2003. In 2019, Taoufik Makhloufi won the silver in the men's 1500 metres, and in the subsequent edition, Djamel Sedjati won the silver in the men's 800 meters.
The United States competed at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, from August 7 to 14, 1983. The championships were the first to feature both men and women's events and a full complement of events. The USA entered sixty-six men and thirty five women. The USA took home eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals. Ranking second in the medal table.
