The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside the Olympic Games, the championships represents the highest level 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 championship.

The World Championships were started in 1976 in response to the International Olympic Committee dropping the men's 50 km walk from the Olympic programme for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, despite its constant presence at the games since 1932. The IAAF chose to host its own world championship event, a month and a half after the Olympics.Matthews, Peter (2012). Historical Dictionary of Track and Field (pg. 217). Scarecrow Press (eBook). Retrieved on 8 September 2013. It was the first World Championships that the IAAF had hosted separately from the Olympic Games.

A second limited event was held in 1980, and the inaugural championships in 1983, with all the events, is considered the official start of the competition. Until 1980, the Olympic champions were also considered as reigning world champions.

At their debut, these championships were then held every four years, until 1991 when they switched to a two-year cycle. In 2024, World Athletics announced that the new biennial competition, World Athletics Ultimate Championship, featuring only up to 16 of the world's top-ranked athletes per discipline, would be held every even year from 2026 onwards.

History

The idea of having an Athletics World Championships was around well before the competition's first event in 1983. In 1913, the IAAF decided that the Olympic Games would serve as the World Championships for athletics. This was considered suitable for over 50 years until in the late 1960s the desire of many IAAF members to have their own World Championships began to grow. In 1976 at the IAAF Council Meeting in Puerto Rico an Athletics World Championships separate from the Olympic Games was approved.

Following bids from both Stuttgart, West Germany and Helsinki, Finland, the IAAF Council awarded the inaugural competition to Helsinki, to take place in 1983 and be held in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium (where the 1952 Summer Olympics had been held).

Two IAAF world championship events preceded the inaugural edition of the World Championships in Athletics in 1983. The 1976 World Championships had just one event – the men's 50 kilometres walk which was dropped from the Olympic programme for the 1976 Summer Olympics and the IAAF responded by setting up their own contest. Four years later, the 1980 World Championships contained only two newly approved women's events, (400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres), neither of which featured on the programme for the 1980 Summer Olympics.Archive of Past Events. IAAF. Retrieved on 8 September 2013.

Over the years the competition has grown in size. In 1983 1,333 athletes from 153 countries participated."First World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki a landmark for track & field." Usatf.org. Retrieved 23 July 2012. By the 2003 competition, in Paris, it had grown to 1,679 athletes from 198 countries with coverage being transmitted to 179 countries.

From 2019 to 2022 the championships were sponsored by Qatar National Bank, which has been described as being part of Qatar's soft power policy.

There has also been a change in composition over the years, with several new events, all for women, being added. By 2005, the only differences were men's competition in the 50 km walk, and equivalent events in women's 100 m hurdles and heptathlon to men's 110 m hurdles and decathlon.

Changes in the list of events were as follows:

1987: women's 10,000 m and 10 km walk added 1993: women's triple jump added 1995: women's 3,000 m replaced by 5000 m 1999: women's pole vault and hammer added; women's 20 km walk replaced 10 km walk 2005: women's 3000 m steeplechase added 2017: women's 50 km walk added 2019: mixed 4 × 400 m relay added 2022: men's and women's 35 km walk replaced 50 km walk

Championships

Edition Year Host city Host country Date Venue Capacity Events Nations Athletes Top of the medal table –1976Malmö 18 SepMalmö Stadion 30,00012042 –1980Sittard 14 – 16 AugDe Baandert 22,000222421st1983Helsinki 7 – 14 AugOlympiastadion 50,000411531,3332nd1987Rome 28 Aug – 6 SepStadio Olimpico 60,000431561,4193rd1991Tokyo 23 Aug – 1 SepNational Stadium 48,000431621,4914th1993Stuttgart 13 – 22 AugNeckarstadion 70,000441871,6305th1995Gothenburg 5 – 13 Aug Ullevi 42,000441901,7556th1997Athens 1 – 10 AugOlympiako Stadio 75,000441971,7857th1999Seville 20 – 29 AugEstadio de La Cartuja 70,000462001,7508th2001Edmonton 3 – 12 AugCommonwealth Stadium 60,000461891,6029th2003Paris 23 – 31 AugStade de France 78,000461981,67910th2005Helsinki 6 – 14 AugOlympiastadion 45,000471911,68711th2007Osaka 24 Aug – 2 SepYanmar Stadium Nagai 45,000471971,80012th2009Berlin 15 – 23 AugOlympiastadion 74,000472001,89513th2011Daegu 27 Aug – 4 SepDaegu Stadium 65,000471991,74214th2013Moscow 10 – 18 AugLuzhniki Stadium 78,000472031,78415th2015Beijing 22 – 30 AugBeijing National Stadium 80,000472051,76116th2017London 4 – 13 AugLondon Stadium 60,000481991,85717th2019Doha 27 Sep – 6 OctKhalifa International Stadium 48,000492061,77518th2022Eugene 15 – 24 JulHayward Field 25,000491801,70519th2023Budapest 19 – 27 Aug National Athletics Centre 36,000491951,99420th 2025Tokyo 13 – 21 SepJapan National Stadium68,000491982,20221st 2027Beijing 11 – 19 SepBeijing National Stadium80,00022nd 2029Nairobi TBDKasarani StadiumTBD23rd 2031Munich TBDOlympiastadionTBD

All-time medal table Updated after the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Source: World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 – Statistical Booklet 2023 Medal Table 2025 Medal Table Notes is the name under which Russian athletes competed in the 2017 and 2019 Championships. Their medals were not included in the official medal table.

All-time placing table In the IAAF placing table the total score is obtained from assigning eight points to the first place and so on to one point for the eight placed finalists. Points are shared in situations where a tie occurs. However, the IAAF site shows all points rounded to the nearest integer.

Updated after the 2022 Championships

RankCountry45678MedalsPoints1 183 125+1= 103+2= 77+5= 90+3= 84+3= 74+2= 80+4= 414 4240.52 63 61 65+2= 78+2= 66+2= 61+2= 53+5= 45+1= 191 2347.53 45 54+6= 47+2= 56+2= 39+3= 43+2= 35+1= 40+1= 154 1771.54 62 55 44 48 40 28 47 21 161 17445 37 56 43+1= 34 31 29 31 24 137 1418.56 Great Britain 31 37 43 43+2= 50+1= 34+1= 31+1= 21 111 13817 33 34 28 26 21 18 20 20 95 9988 22 25+1= 25 20 34+1= 21+1= 21 24+1= 73 8799 14 18 21+2= 27 28+2= 31+1= 24+1= 32+1= 55 804.110 20 17+1= 21+4= 23+1= 24 22+2= 27 21+2= 63 794.811 23 25+2= 28 21+1= 17 12 11 17+1= 78 79312 22 23+1= 13+1= 33 10+2= 17+1= 23 19 60 757.513 12 15+1= 19 15 17+2= 24+1= 32+2= 30+2= 47 642.514 7 17+1= 15+1 19 20 24 18 20 41 58015 11 12+2= 16 19 21 16+1= 21+1= 9 41 561.6 Notes including points earned by athletes from East Germany (510 pts) and West Germany (191.5 pts) at the 1976, 1980, 1983 and 1987 Championships. including points earned by Authorised Neutral Athletes (103.5 pts) at the 2017 and 2019 Championships.

Multiple winners

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Men

All events Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Usain Bolt 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2007 2017 11 2 1 14 2 LaShawn Merritt 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 2005 2015 8 * 3 – 11 * 3 Carl Lewis 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay / Long jump 1983 1993 8 1 1 10 Noah Lyles 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2019 2025 8 1 1 10 5 Michael Johnson 200 m / 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 1991 1999 8 – – 8 6 Mo Farah Great Britain 5000 m / 10,000 m 2011 2017 6 2 – 8 7 Sergey Bubka Pole vault 1983 1997 6 – – 6 8 Jeremy Wariner 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 2005 2009 5 1 – 6 9 Kenenisa Bekele 5000 m / 10,000 m 2003 2009 5 – 1 6 Lars Riedel Discus throw 1991 2001 5 – 1 6 * including one medal in the relay event in which he participated in the heats only

Individual events Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Usain Bolt 100 m / 200 m 2007 2017 7 1 1 9 2 Mo Farah Great Britain 5000 m / 10,000 m 2011 2017 6 2 – 8 3 Sergey Bubka Pole vault 1983 1997 6 – – 6 Michael Johnson 200 m / 400 m 1991 1999 6 – – 6 5 Carl Lewis 100 m / 200 m / Long jump 1983 1993 5 1 1 7 6 Kenenisa Bekele 5000 m / 10,000 m 2003 2009 5 – 1 6 Noah Lyles 100 m / 200 m 2019 2025 5 – 1 6 Lars Riedel Discus throw 1991 2001 5 – 1 6 9 Paweł Fajdek Hammer throw 2013 2022 5 – – 5 10 Ezekiel Kemboi 3000 m steeplechase 2003 2015 4 3 – 7

Women

All events Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Allyson Felix 200 m / 400 m / 4 × 100 m relay / 4 × 400 m relay / 4 × 400 m mixed relay 2005 2022 14 ** 3 3 20 ** 2 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2007 2025 10 6 * 1 17 * 3 Gail Devers 100 m / 100 m hurdles / 4 × 100 m relay 1991 2001 5 3 – 8 Faith Kipyegon 1500 m / 5000 m 2015 2025 5 3 – 8 5 Sanya Richards-Ross 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 2003 2015 5 2 – 7 6 Jessica Beard 4 × 400 m relay / 4 × 400 m mixed relay 2009 2019 5 *** 1 * – 6 **** Tirunesh Dibaba 5000 m / 10,000 m 2003 2017 5 1 – 6 Natasha Hastings 4 × 400 m relay 2007 2017 5 **** 1 – 6 **** Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 400 m / 400 m hurdles / 4 × 400 m relay 2019 2025 5 1 – 6 10 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2022 2025 5 * – – 5 * * including one medal in the relay event in which she participated in the heats only ** including two medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only *** including three medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only **** including four medals in the relay events in which she participated in the heats only

Individual events Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 100 m / 200 m 2009 2023 6 1 1 8 2 Faith Kipyegon 1500 m / 5000 m 2015 2025 5 3 – 8 3 Tirunesh Dibaba 5000 m / 10,000 m 2003 2017 5 1 – 6 4 Gail Devers 100 m / 100 m hurdles 1991 2001 4 2 – 6 5 Allyson Felix 200 m / 400 m 2005 2017 4 1 2 7 6 Valerie Adams (Vili) Shot put 2005 2013 4 1 – 5 Vivian Cheruiyot 5000 m / 10,000 m 2007 2015 4 1 – 5 Liu Hong 20 km walk 2009 2019 4 1 – 5 9 Yulimar Rojas Triple jump 2017 2025 4 – 1 5 10 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Heptathlon / Long jump 1987 1993 4 – – 4 María Pérez 20 km walk / 35 km walk 2023 2025 4 – – 4 Brittney Reese Long jump 2009 2017 4 – – 4 Anita Włodarczyk Hammer throw 2009 2017 4 – – 4

Multiple medalists There are 49 athletes (21 men and 28 women) that have won at least 6 medals.

Men AthleteCountryEventsGoldSilverBronzeTotal Usain Bolt 3 11 2 1 14 LaShawn Merritt 2 8 3 0 11 Carl Lewis 4 8 1 1 10 Noah Lyles 3 8 1 1 10 Justin Gatlin 3 4 6 0 10 Michael Johnson 3 8 0 0 8 Mo Farah Great Britain & N.I. 2 6 2 0 8 Christian Coleman 2 4 3 0 7 Ezekiel Kemboi 1 4 3 0 7 Haile Gebrselassie 2 4 2 1 7 Rai Benjamin 2 3 3 1 7 Sergey Bubka / 1 6 0 0 6 Jeremy Wariner 2 5 1 0 6 Kenenisa Bekele 2 5 0 1 6 Lars Riedel 1 5 0 1 6 Hicham El Guerrouj 2 4 2 0 6 Vernon Norwood 2 4 1 1 6 Butch Reynolds 2 3 2 1 6 Bernard Lagat / 2 2 3 1 6 Andre De Grasse 3 1 2 3 6 Greg Haughton 2 0 4 2 6

Women