IAAF Grand Prix
SportOutdoor track and field
Founded1985
Ceased2009
ContinentGlobal

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 Grand Prix expanded over its lifetime to incorporate the IAAF Golden League, the IAAF Super Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Grand Prix II. IAAF/Area Permit Meetings were also attached to the series, allowing athletes to score additional points in certain events at lower level meetings. In 2003 the series concept was renamed at the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings and the Grand Prix was reduced to a single tier of competitions within that tour. The series was again folded into the IAAF World Athletics Tour upon its creation in 2006, before being rendered defunct by the introduction of the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge in 2010.

History

Created in 1985, the IAAF Grand Prix was the first global series of outdoor invitational track and field meetings organised by the IAAF.[1] It followed on from the IAAF Golden Events (1978–82), where the IAAF helped finance meetings between the world's top athletes to encourage seasonal engagement with the sport outside of the Olympic cycle.[2] The creation of the IAAF Grand Prix circuit came two years after the first World Championships in Athletics in 1983, highlighting the sports governing body's pivot to a more direct role in organising athletics competitions.[3]

From 1985 to 1992 the series featured Grand Prix Meetings and IAAF Permit Meetings.[1] The series culminated in the IAAF Grand Prix Final, which athletes gained qualification to based on their performances at the series' meetings.[4] The competing athletes at the final earned additional points for their performances there, and the series winner of each event was the athlete with the highest score (as opposed to the Grand Prix Final event winner).[5] In 1993 the Grand Prix format was amended so that the event winner was the first place athlete at the Final competitions, rather than the seasonal points leader, and this format continued until the last Grand Prix Final in 2002.[5]

In 1993 the IAAF Council approved a new tier of IAAF Grand Prix II meetings, which Permit-level meetings could apply for after two years.[1] That same year four of the Grand Prix meetings (Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin) organised a Golden Four group of top-level European meetings within the series.[6][7][8] In response, the IAAF Grand Prix series was again expanded with the foundation of the IAAF Golden League in 1998, which split out the Golden Four meetings (plus the Herculis and Golden Gala meets) as a new top tier within the IAAF Grand Prix circuit.[9] After this point, the IAAF Grand Prix referred to multiple concepts in that it was both an annual series of track and field meetings incorporating four tiers (the IAAF Golden League, IAAF Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix II and Area Permit Meetings) as well as a term to refer to the second and third tiers of that series. In 2003, an IAAF Super Grand Prix level was added to the circuit, the IAAF Permit Meeting tier was dropped, and the Grand Prix Final was replaced with the IAAF World Athletics Final.[10]

In 2003 the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings brand superseded the IAAF Grand Prix to the umbrella series concept and Grand Prix levels I and II continued within that series.[11] In 2006, the IAAF World Athletics Tour was formed to replace the World Outdoor Meetings and at this time the IAAF Grand Prix II tier was dropped in favour of an Area Permit Meeting structure.[12] The IAAF Grand Prix was made defunct along with the World Athletics Tour in 2010, as both were replaced by the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge series.[13]

Editions

The IAAF Grand Prix calendar was subject to change during its lifetime, with the number of meetings, the constituent meetings, the categorisation of meetings, and the duration of the series all regularly changing from year to year. Athletes received points based on their performances at the meetings on the circuit, with more points being given at the more prestigious and competitive competitions. From 2006 to 2009, series points could also be scored in certain events at Area Permit Meeting qualifiers (APM-Qs), although the meetings themselves were not considered a formal part of the meeting series.

A total of seven meeting categories existed over the lifetime of the circuit:

Key:   As part of IAAF World Athletics Tour   As part of IAAF World Outdoor Meetings

Edition Year Start date End date Meets GL SGP GP GP2 PM Final Final date Ref.
1 1985 – – 1985 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September
2 1986 – – 1986 IAAF Grand Prix Final 10 September
3 1987 – – 1987 IAAF Grand Prix Final 11 September
4 1988 – – 1988 IAAF Grand Prix Final 13 September
5 1989 – – 1989 IAAF Grand Prix Final 1 September
6 1990 – – 1990 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September
7 1991 – – 1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final 20 September
8 1992 – – 1992 IAAF Grand Prix Final 4 September
9 1993 – – 1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final 10 September
10 1994 – – 1994 IAAF Grand Prix Final 3 September
11 1995 – – 1995 IAAF Grand Prix Final 9 September
12 1996 29 February 16 September 29 – – 17 12 10 1996 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September [14]
13 1997 20 February 16 September 28 – – 17 11 15 1997 IAAF Grand Prix Final 13 September [15][16][17]
14 1998 25 February 30 August 26 6 – 9 11 11 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final 5 September [18]
15 1999 25 February 5 September 28 7 – 10 11 ? 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final 11 September [19]
16 2000 2 March 3 September 26 7 – 9 10 13 2000 IAAF Grand Prix Final 5 October [20]
17 2001 1 March 2 September 28 7 – 10 11 12 2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final 9 September [21]
18 2002 7 March 8 September 27 7 – 9 11 10 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final 14 September [22]
19 2003 1 March 7 September 34 6 7 10 11 – 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final 13–14 September [23]
20 2004 12 February 12 September 34 6 8 9 11 – 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final 18–19 September [24]
21 2005 17 February 4 September 34 6 8 10 10 – 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final 9–10 September [25]
22 2006 9 March 3 September 24 6 6 12 – 25 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final 9–10 September [26]
23 2007 2 March 16 September 24 6 5 13 – 27 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final 22–23 September [27]
24 2008 28 September 2007 9 September 2008 25 6 5 14 – 29 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final 13–14 September [28][29]
25 2009 20 September 2008 6 September 2009 25 6 5 14 – 29 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final 12–13 September [30][31]

Meetings

# Meeting City Country 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
1 ISTAF Berlin Berlin Germany GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
2 Bislett Games Oslo Norway GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
3 Golden Gala Rome Italy GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
4 Weltklasse Zürich Zürich Switzerland GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
5 Memorial Van Damme Brussels Belgium GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
6 Meeting Areva Saint-Denis France GP GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL GL
7 Herculis Monte Carlo Monaco GL GL GL GL GL WAF WAF WAF SGP SGP SGP SGP
8 Athletissima Lausanne Switzerland GP GP GP GP GP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP
9 London Grand Prix London United Kingdom GP GP GP GP GP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP
10 DN Galan Stockholm Sweden GP GP GP GP GP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP
11 Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix Doha Qatar GP2 GP GPF GP GP - SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP SGP
12 British Grand Prix Gateshead United Kingdom GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 SGP SGP SGP GP GP GP GP
13 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria Athens Greece - GP2 GP GP GP SGP SGP SGP SGP GP GP GP
14 Golden Spike Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic - - - - - SGP SGP SGP GP GP GP GP
15 Meeting de Atletismo Madrid Madrid Spain - - - - - SGP SGP SGP GP GP GP GP
16 Prefontaine Classic Eugene United States GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
17 Osaka Grand Prix Osaka Japan GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
18 Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo Belém Brazil GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
19 Melbourne Track Classic Melbourne Australia GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP GP
20 FBK Games Hengelo Netherlands GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
21 Rieti Meeting Rieti Italy GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
22 Hanžeković Memorial Zagreb Croatia - - GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP GP GP GP GP
23 Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar Dakar Senegal - - - - - - - - GP GP GP GP
24 Adidas Grand Prix New York City United States - - - - - - - - - GP GP GP
25 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix Shanghai China - - - - - - - - - - GP GP
26 Helsinki Grand Prix Helsinki Finland GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP - GP GP - - -
27 Gran Premio Diputación Seville Spain GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP - - - -
28 Gugl Grand Prix Linz Austria GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP GP GP - - - -
29 Cena Slovenska - Slovak Gold Bratislava Slovakia GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - - - -
30 Brothers Znamensky Memorial Kazan Russia - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
31 International Meeting Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - WAF
32 Palo Alto Meeting Palo Alto United States - - - GP GP GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
33 Meeting du Conseil Général de la Martinique Fort-de-France France - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
34 Notturna di Milano Milan Italy - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
35 Memorial Primo Nebiolo Turin Italy - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
36 Meeting Lille-Métropole Villeneuve-d'Ascq France - - - - - GP GP GP - - - -
37 Josef Odložil Memorial Prague Czech Republic - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
38 KBC Night of Athletics Heusden-Zolder Belgium - - - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - -
39 Grande Premio Rio de Atletismo Rio de Janeiro Brazil - - - - - - GP2 GP2 - - - -
40 Engen Grand Prix Pretoria South Africa GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - - - - -
41 Meeting Nikaïa Nice France GP GP GP GP - - - - - - - -
42 Adidas Oregon Track Classic Portland United States - - - GP2 GP2 GP2 GP2 - - - - -
43 US Open Meet St. Louis United States GP GP - - - - - - - - - -
44 Meeting de L'Humanité St. Denis France GP2 GP2 - - - - - - - - - -
45 Weltklasse in Köln Cologne Germany - GP - - - - - - - - - -
46 Pontiac Grand Prix Invitational Raleigh United States - - GP - - - - - - - - -

Series winners

In addition to event-level winners decided after the IAAF Grand Prix Final, the male and female athletes with the highest points scores across ally events were crowned the overall IAAF Grand Prix winners. Prize money was awarded to the eight top-scoring athletes on the circuit, with first prize being US$200,000 in 1998.[1][5]

Year Men's winner Men's points Women's winner Women's points
1985  Doug Padilla (USA) 63  Mary Slaney (USA) 69
1986  Saïd Aouita (MAR) 63  Yordanka Donkova (BUL) 69
1987  Tonie Campbell (USA) 63  Merlene Ottey (JAM) 63
1988  Saïd Aouita (MAR) 63  Paula Ivan (ROM) 63
1989  Saïd Aouita (MAR) 69  Paula Ivan (ROM) 67
1990  Leroy Burrell (USA) 63  Merlene Ottey (JAM) 63
1991  Sergey Bubka (URS) 69  Heike Henkel (GER) 63
1992  Kevin Young (USA) 63  Heike Drechsler (GER) 63
1993  Sergey Bubka (UKR) 72  Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) 72
1994  Noureddine Morceli (ALG) 78  Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) 72
1995  Moses Kiptanui (KEN) 84  Maria Mutola (MOZ) 78
1996  Daniel Komen (KEN) 103  Ludmila Engquist (SWE) 93
1997  Wilson Kipketer (DEN) 114  Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) 99
1998  Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 136  Marion Jones (USA) 130
1999  Bernard Barmasai (KEN) 111  Gabriela Szabo (ROM) 108
2000  Angelo Taylor (USA) 101  Trine Hattestad (NOR) 110
2001  André Bucher (SUI) 102  Violeta Szekely (ROM) 116
2002  Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 116  Marion Jones (USA) 116

References

  1. ^ a b c d Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  2. ^ Golden Events. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  3. ^ World Championships in Athletics. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  4. ^ 1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  5. ^ a b c IAAF Grand Prix Final. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  6. ^ Abschied von der Golden League in Brüssel. Tagesspiegel (2009-09-04). Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  7. ^ Die Geschichte des DKB-ISTAF Berlin (in German). Archived 2014-04-10 at the Wayback Machine. ISTAF. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  8. ^ Grand Prix 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  9. ^ Athletics: Golden Four extended with more money and meetings. The Independent (1997-11-22). Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  10. ^ Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  11. ^ IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  12. ^ World Athletics Tour 2006. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  13. ^ Turner (2005). "IAAF - World Athletics Tour". International Sports Press Association. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  14. ^ Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  15. ^ Outdoor Permit Meetings 1997. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  16. ^ Grand Prix II 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  17. ^ Grand Prix 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  18. ^ 1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  19. ^ 1999 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  20. ^ 2000 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  21. ^ 2001 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  22. ^ Grand Prix Schedule 2002. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  23. ^ Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  24. ^ Grand Prix Schedule 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  25. ^ Grand Prix Schedule 2005. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  26. ^ World Athletics Tour 2006. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  27. ^ World Athletics Tour 2007. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  28. ^ World Athletics Tour Results 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  29. ^ Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  30. ^ World Athletics Tour Results 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  31. ^ Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.

External links

IAAF Grand Prix, IAAF World Outdoor Meetings and IAAF World Athletics Tour
International athletics competitions
Defunct athletics competitions
Categories