Record number of countries win gold at World Athletics Championships Oregon22

The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 have provided ideal conditions for the best track and field athletes in the world to shine on a global stage, with exhilarating and record-breaking performances by both individual athletes and national teams.

More than 1700 athletes from 179 countries (plus the Athlete Refugee Team) have competed in Oregon, watched by almost 150,000 ticketed spectators, and producing three world records.

In terms of performance, this will go down as the most universal edition in the history of the global event.

The record for the number of countries winning gold medals at one championships has been broken, with 29 countries taking turns on the top step of the podium, compared with 26 in 2017.

More countries than ever before have had athletes reach the finals of events in Oregon. The list of 81 countries is up from 76 countries in Doha in 2019, with Liberia, Niger, Pakistan, Samoa, Philippines and Guatemala reaching a final for the first time in World Championships history.

Underlying the diversity and global reach of track and field, every continental area features at least two world champions, while Peru, Kazakhstan and Nigeria won their first ever gold medals, and India and Burkina Faso also had their best ever medal performances (silver).

The USA team broke the record for the most medals at a single championships, earning 33 in total, 13 of them gold.

That tally was strengthened by medal sweeps in the men’s 100m, 200m and shot put. Jamaica, meanwhile, achieved a medal sweep of its own, taking all three medals in the women’s 100m.

Peru’s Kimberly Garcia has been the top individual performer of the championships, landing double gold in the women’s race walks. Had she been entered as a separate team, she would place seventh on the medals table.

Beyond the dominant performers, there have also been many close finishes and competitive finals. Just two hundredths of a second separated the medallists in the men’s 100m. The women’s 10,000m also produced a close and thrilling finish, and the men’s shot put once again provided an exciting crescendo. Even the men’s 35km race walk went down to the wire, with just one second separating gold from silver.

"Tonight we had a spectacular ending to a ground-breaking championships - with two world records and stunning racing in a passionate sold-out stadium to add the final flourish to the first world outdoor championships held in the USA," said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. "We have had more countries win gold than ever before and more countries reach finals than ever before. This wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of our Local Organising Committee, the commitment of the state of Oregon and the local authorities, and the dedication of our Member Federations, officials and volunteers. I thank them all for making this an unforgettable world championships, but most of all I thank the athletes, who have once again put on the greatest show on earth."

Other performance milestones achieved in Oregon include:

• world records from Sydney McLaughlin in the 400m hurdles (50.68), Tobi Amusan in the 100m hurdles (12.12) and Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault (6.21m)
• 13 championship records and 30 world-leading performances
• 3 world records, 19 area records, 92 national records, 1 world U20 record
• The fastest ever marathons at a major championships
• The first time that three women have broken nine minutes for the 3000m steeplechase
• Allyson Felix extended her record medal total to 20 after gold in the women's 4x400m and bronze in the mixed 4x400m
   

Broadcast and social media

Our US broadcast partner NBC reports that this championships has already reached more viewers (13.7 million) than any previous World Athletics Championships with three days of ratings still to be reported (Friday-Sunday).

Coverage on the NBC broadcast network for the first weekend (average of 2.0 million viewers) ranked as the most-watched World Athletics Championships since Osaka 2007 and represented a 159% gain compared to NBC’s coverage of the 2019 edition. These numbers are expected to be even more impressive when the final three days of competition are reported early this week.

The World Championships has also spurred substantial growth and interaction across World Athletics’ social media platforms, attracting 400 thousand new followers, more than seven million engagements and more than 41 million video views, bringing the total following for our official social channels to more than 9.1 million across five platforms.
 

Legacy

World Athletics and parkrun have combined to help the Eugene and Springfield communities in Oregon open parkrun events, as a legacy of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

With one existing parkrun event already in Oregon, this will increase the number of opportunities for citizens and visitors of the state to be active and social in the great outdoors. The first event from this collaboration is planned to launch in the coming months, paving the way for many more across the state and beyond.

There are currently 53 parkrun locations in the United States. More than seven million people have participated in parkrun worldwide.