IAAF Golden League – The New Vision of Athletics
20 March 1998 -Marrakech- Morocco - The IAAF Golden League was officially
launched this morning in the beautiful city of Marrakech, on the eve of the 26th
IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
The IAAF Golden League, The New Vision of Athletics , is an exciting step forward for the World Athletics Movement.
The IAAF has brought together the most important one-day athletic meetings - OSLO, ROME, MONACO, ZURICH, BRUSSELS and BERLIN to create the IAAF Golden League which will precede the IAAF Grand Prix/Golden League Final in Moscow. This new format will build on the traditions and excitement of the individual meetings but create a highly visible, unified platform for the greatest athletes in the world.
The format of the Golden League is designed to have the greatest impact on public opinion by focusing attention on athletics as a TV spectacular in a concentrated period of time between July 9 and September 5. With some other sports trying to monopolise the viewing public by offering regular fixed slots on TV, the IAAF has tried to create something even more exciting to capture the imagination of the sports’ fan.
At each of the Golden League Meetings there are 12 Golden League Events - 7 for men (100m, 400m, 1500m, either 3000m 5000 or 10 000, 400m hurdles, Triple Jump and Pole Vault) and 5 for women (100m, 400m, 1500m, 100m hurdles and Javelin). A $1 million prize is available to share among those athletes who win Golden League events at each Golden League Meeting and at the Grand Prix Final.
The IAAF will guarantee the appearance of a number of top athletes at each Golden League Meeting to ensure a consistently high standard of competition. It is also the aim of the IAAF and the Meeting Organisers to foster the spirit of competition by focusing on prize money rather than appearance money as a method of rewarding performance.
