IAAF Golden League

The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The 2009 Golden League was the last under the Golden League format and it was replaced by a new annual series known as the IAAF Diamond League.[1]

The series was formed to increase the profile of the leading athletics competitions and it was part of the World Athletics Tour. Athletes (in selected events) who win their event at all six meetings take a share of a USD$ 1 million jackpot. In addition, events at Golden League meetings scored more Grand Prix points than other Grand Prix meetings.

Over its twelve years of competition, it was sponsored by TDK, Ericsson, and finally ÅF.[2]

History

Hurdles at the Bislett Games, one of the meets comprising the Golden League since 1998.

The Golden League developed from the group of prestigious athletics meetings which became known as the Golden Four in the 1990s, comprising Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.

The first Golden League season was held in 1998, consisting of the meetings of Oslo, Rome, Monaco, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.

In 1999 a seventh event, Meeting Gaz de France, at St-Denis, Paris was added.

In 2000 and 2001, the US$ 1 million was reduced to 50 kg of gold bars and athletes only had to win at 5 out of 7 meetings to qualify for the jackpot.

In 2003, the 50 kg of gold bars was reverted to USD 1 million and Monaco was dropped from the league after it was awarded the IAAF World Athletics Final.

In 2004, the Bislett Games were moved from Oslo to Bergen due to the redevelopment of the Bislett stadion.

For the 2006 Golden League, the total prize pool remained at USD 1 million, but the award structure had been changed:

  • Athletes who won any five of the six events would share in a purse of USD 250,000.
  • The remaining USD 750,000 would be divided among athletes who won all six meetings.

In 2007, the Jackpot of USD 1 million were only to be shared amongst those athletes who won at all six meetings. In case no athlete had managed to win all six meetings, USD 500,000 would have been shared amongst those who won at five of the six meetings.

In 2008 IAAF signed a two-year agreement with the Swedish company ÅF for title sponsorship, thus renaming IAAF Golden League to ÅF Golden League.

Various rules changed through the years of competition. The list of events which qualify for the jackpot was different each year, but there were usually six men's events and six (four for 2008) women's. For the year 2008, the disciplines were:

  • Men: 100 m, 400 m, 1500 m, 400 m Hurdles, Long Jump, Javelin Throw.
  • Women: 200 m, 800 m, 100 m Hurdles, High Jump.

For 2009, the disciplines were:

  • Men: 100 m, 400 m, 3000/5000 m, 110 m Hurdles, Javelin Throw.
  • Women: 100 m, 400 m, 100 m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault.

Jackpot winners

Year Winners Event(s) Prize
1998
Details		 Morocco Hicham El Guerrouj (1) 1500 m/mile $333,333
Ethiopia Haile Gebreselassie 5000 m/10000 m
United States Marion Jones 100 m
1999
Details		 Denmark Wilson Kipketer 800 m $500,000
Romania Gabriela Szabo 3000 m/5000 m
2000
Details		 Morocco Hicham El Guerrouj (2) 1500 m/mile 12.5 kg gold bar
United States Maurice Greene 100 m
Norway Trine Hattestad Javelin
Russia Tatyana Kotova Long jump
2001
Details		 Switzerland André Bucher 800 m 8.33 kg Gold Bar
Morocco Hicham El Guerrouj (3) 1500 m/mile/2000 m
United States Allen Johnson 110 m hurdles
United States Marion Jones (2) 100 m
Romania Violeta Szekely 1500 m
Russia Olga Yegorova 3000 m/5000 m
2002
Details		 Morocco Hicham El Guerrouj (4) 1500 m 12.5 kg Gold Bar
Mexico Ana Guevara 400 m
United States Marion Jones (3) 100 m
Dominican Republic Félix Sánchez 400 m hurdles
2003
Details		 Mozambique Maria de Lurdes Mutola 800 m $1,000,000
2004
Details		 Sweden Christian Olsson Triple jump $500,000
The Bahamas Tonique Williams-Darling 400 m
2005
Details		 Russia Tatyana Lebedeva Triple jump $1,000,000
2006
Details		 Jamaica Asafa Powell 100 m $249,999*
United States Jeremy Wariner 400 m
United States Sanya Richards 400 m
Ethiopia Kenenisa Bekele 5000 m $83,333*
Ethiopia Tirunesh Dibaba 5000 m
Panama Irving Saladino Long jump
2007
Details		 Russia Yelena Isinbayeva Pole vault $500,000
United States Sanya Richards (2) 400 m
2008
Details		 Kenya Pamela Jelimo 800 m $1,000,000
2009
Details		 United States Sanya Richards (3) 400 m $333,333
Russia Yelena Isinbayeva (2) Pole vault
Ethiopia Kenenisa Bekele (2) 3000 m/5000 m
2010 succeeded by IAAF Diamond League

Meetings

Meetings and dates for the final series in 2009:
Date Meet Stadium City Country
14 June Internationales Stadionfest Olympiastadion Berlin Germany
3 July Bislett Games Bislett Stadion Oslo Norway
10 July Golden Gala Stadio Olimpico Rome Italy
17 July Meeting Areva Stade de France Saint-Denis France
28 August Weltklasse Zürich Letzigrund Zurich Switzerland
4 September Memorial van Damme King Baudouin Stadium Brussels Belgium
  • The Paris meeting was part of the series from 1999 onwards, after the first edition
  • Prior to 2003, a seventh meet, Herculis, was held in Monaco
  • For the inaugural series in 1998, the 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final served as the seventh and last meeting of the circuit

See also

References

  1. ↑ "IAAF to launch global Diamond League of 1 Day Meetings". IAAF. 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  2. ↑ Twelve years of the IAAF Golden League. IAAF (2009-09-09). Retrieved on 2009-09-09.
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