Paavo Nurmi and Emil Zátopek, two Europeans in the Hall of Fame.

The IAAF Hall of Fame was established by the International Association of Athletics Federations (since 2019: World Athletics) in 2012. It is intended to honor individuals who have made valuable contributions in the sport of athletics both internationally and in their home countries that match certain criteria.^[1]

The inaugural class, composed of 24 individuals, was introduced in November 2012.

Criteria

The minimum criteria for an athlete to qualify for membership of the Hall of Fame are:

1. Athletes must have won at least two gold medals at the Summer Olympics or World Championships in Athletics,
2. Athletes must have set at least one World record,
3. Athletes must have been retired for at least 10 years at the time of election to the IAAF Hall of Fame.^[1]

These criteria may be extended in 2013 to allow athletes whose achievements had an extraordinary impact on the sport to be considered as well.^[2]

Members

These are the 48 members as of 21 November 2014.

Athlete	Nation	Speciality	Date of induction	Notes
Iolanda Balaș	Romania	High jump	13 November 2012	[3]
Abebe Bikila	Ethiopia	Long-distance running	8 March 2012	[4]
Fanny Blankers-Koen	Netherlands	Sprint	8 March 2012	[5]
Sergey Bubka	Soviet Union /  Ukraine	Pole vault	25 June 2012	[6]
Sebastian Coe	United Kingdom	Middle-distance running	25 June 2012	[7]
Betty Cuthbert	Australia	Sprint	8 March 2012	[8]
Babe Didrikson Zaharias	United States	Sprint, javelin, high jump	6 June 2012	[9]
Volodymyr Holubnychy	Soviet Union /  Ukraine	Race walk	15 October 2012	[10]
Michael Johnson	United States	Sprint	6 June 2012	[11]
Jackie Joyner-Kersee	United States	Multi events	8 March 2012	[12]
Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	400 m, 800 m	11 June 2012	[13]
Wang Junxia	China	Long-distance running	8 March 2012	[14]
Kipchoge Keino	Kenya	Long-distance running	2 July 2012	[15]
Stefka Kostadinova	Bulgaria	High jump	13 November 2012	[16]
Carl Lewis	United States	Sprint, Long Jump	8 March 2012	[17]
Edwin Moses	United States	400 m hurdles	8 March 2012	[18]
Paavo Nurmi	Finland	Long-distance running	8 March 2012	[19]
Dan O'Brien	United States	Multi events	6 June 2012	[20]
Al Oerter	United States	Discus throw	8 March 2012	[21]
Jesse Owens	United States	Sprint, Long Jump	8 March 2012	[22]
Peter Snell	New Zealand	Middle-distance running	3 September 2012	[23]
Adhemar da Silva	Brazil	Triple jump	8 March 2012	[24]
Irena Szewińska	Poland	Sprint	17 May 2012	[25]
Emil Zátopek	Czechoslovakia	Long-distance running	8 March 2012	[26]
Harrison Dillard	United States	100 m, 110 m hurdles	16 November 2013	[27]
Marjorie Jackson	Australia	Sprint	16 November 2013	[27]
Hannes Kolehmainen	Finland	Long-distance running	16 November 2013	[27]
Natalya Lisovskaya	Soviet Union /  Russia	Shot put	16 November 2013	[27]
Svetlana Masterkova	Russia	Middle-distance running	16 November 2013	[27]
Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	Middle-distance running	16 November 2013	[27]
Parry O'Brien	United States	Shot put	16 November 2013	[27]
Marie-José Pérec	France	Sprint	16 November 2013	[27]
Viktor Saneyev	Soviet Union /  Georgia	Triple jump	16 November 2013	[27]
Yuriy Sedykh	Soviet Union /  Russia	Hammer throw	16 November 2013	[27]
Daley Thompson	United Kingdom	Décathlon	16 November 2013	[27]
Grete Waitz	Norway	Marathon	16 November 2013	[27]
Valeriy Brumel	Soviet Union /  Russia	High jump	21 November 2014	[28]
Glenn Davis	United States	Sprint, 400m Hurdles	21 November 2014	[28]
Heike Drechsler	East Germany /  Germany	Long jump, Sprint	21 November 2014	[28]
Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	Middle-distance running	21 November 2014	[28]
Marita Koch	East Germany	Sprint	21 November 2014	[28]
Robert Korzeniowski	Poland	Race walk	21 November 2014	[28]
Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union /  Latvia	Javelin	21 November 2014	[28]
Bob Mathias	United States	Decathlon	21 November 2014	[28]
Wilma Rudolph	United States	Sprint	21 November 2014	[28]
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	Sprint, 80m hurdles	21 November 2014	[28]
Lasse Virén	Finland	Middle and Long-distance running	21 November 2014	[28]
Cornelius Warmerdam	United States	Pole vault	21 November 2014	[28]