In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The foremost championships to be held in 201
David Rudisha twice broke the 800 m world record
Blanka Vlašić topped the IAAF, Track & Field News and European Athletics polls.
American sprinter LaShawn Merritt was banned from competition for 21 months.
Shelly-Ann Fraser received a six-month suspension for using a banned painkiller.
In 2011, the foremost athletics event was the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. The other major global level competition held in 2011 was the World Cross Country Championships.
Australia's Sally Pearson was the women's IAAF Athlete of the Year.
The 2008 Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru died in May.