2019 World Athletics Championships
The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held between 27 September and 6 October 2019 in Doha, Qatar, at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium, but reduced to 21,000 available seats. 1,772 athletes from 206 teams competed in 49 athletics events over the ten-day competition, comprising 24 events each for men and women, plus a mixed relay. There were 43 track and field events, 4 racewalking events, and 2 marathon road running events. The racewalking and marathon events were held in Doha Corniche.
Hayward Field, venue of the Eugene bid, which failed to win the 2019 hosting rights but was awarded the 2022 event. The next event was to have been held in 2021, but the 2021 Summer Olympics rescheduling as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic forced World Athletics to change the date a year on 30 March 2020.
View of the Doha Corniche which was the route for the marathon and racewalking events.
World champion Sally Pearson announced her retirement in August before the World Championships
The 2017 World Championship women's 800 m final, with excluded athletes Margaret Wambui, Caster Semenya, and Francine Niyonsaba
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge is the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected to the four-year position in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a second four-year term, and then again in 2023 for a third and final 4 years.
President Sebastian Coe during a media session at the 2015 Doha Diamond League
The fourth IAAF president, Primo Nebiolo
Former athlete and World Athletics Council member Nawal El Moutawakel
French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie was elected to the Athletes' Commission in 2019.