IAAF Grand Prix

The IAAF Grand Prix was an annual, global circuit of one-day outdoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was created in 1985 as the IAAF's first seasonal track and field circuit and lasted until 2009. Athletes scored points based on their performances on the circuit and the top athletes were invited to the annual IAAF Grand Prix Final.

IAAF Grand Prix

Sport	Outdoor track and field
Founded	1985
Ceased	2009
Continent	Global

The IAAF Grand Prix expanded over its lifetime to incorporate the IAAF Golden League, the IAAF Super Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Grand Prix II. IAAF/Area Permit Meetings were also attached to the series, allowing athletes to score additional points in certain events at lower level meetings. In 2003 the series concept was renamed at the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings and the Grand Prix was reduced to a single tier of competitions within that tour. The series was again folded into the IAAF World Athletics Tour upon its creation in 2006, before being rendered defunct by the introduction of the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge in 2010.

History

Created in 1985, the IAAF Grand Prix was the first global series of outdoor invitational track and field meetings organised by the IAAF.^[1] It followed on from the IAAF Golden Events (1978–82), where the IAAF helped finance meetings between the world's top athletes to encourage seasonal engagement with the sport outside of the Olympic cycle.^[2] The creation of the IAAF Grand Prix circuit came two years after the first World Championships in Athletics in 1983, highlighting the sports governing body's pivot to a more direct role in organising athletics competitions.^[3]

From 1985 to 1992 the series featured Grand Prix Meetings and IAAF Permit Meetings.^[1] The series culminated in the IAAF Grand Prix Final, which athletes gained qualification to based on their performances at the series' meetings.^[4] The competing athletes at the final earned additional points for their performances there, and the series winner of each event was the athlete with the highest score (as opposed to the Grand Prix Final event winner).^[5] In 1993 the Grand Prix format was amended so that the event winner was the first place athlete at the Final competitions, rather than the seasonal points leader, and this format continued until the last Grand Prix Final in 2002.^[5]

In 1993 the IAAF Council approved a new tier of IAAF Grand Prix II meetings, which Permit-level meetings could apply for after two years.^[1] That same year four of the Grand Prix meetings (Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin) organised a Golden Four group of top-level European meetings within the series.^[6][7][8] In response, the IAAF Grand Prix series was again expanded with the foundation of the IAAF Golden League in 1998, which split out the Golden Four meetings (plus the Herculis and Golden Gala meets) as a new top tier within the IAAF Grand Prix circuit.^[9] After this point, the IAAF Grand Prix referred to multiple concepts in that it was both an annual series of track and field meetings incorporating four tiers (the IAAF Golden League, IAAF Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix II and Area Permit Meetings) as well as a term to refer to the second and third tiers of that series. In 2003, an IAAF Super Grand Prix level was added to the circuit, the IAAF Permit Meeting tier was dropped, and the Grand Prix Final was replaced with the IAAF World Athletics Final.^[10]

In 2003 the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings brand superseded the IAAF Grand Prix to the umbrella series concept and Grand Prix levels I and II continued within that series.^[11] In 2006, the IAAF World Athletics Tour was formed to replace the World Outdoor Meetings and at this time the IAAF Grand Prix II tier was dropped in favour of an Area Permit Meeting structure.^[12] The IAAF Grand Prix was made defunct along with the World Athletics Tour in 2010, as both were replaced by the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge series.^[13]

Editions

The IAAF Grand Prix calendar was subject to change during its lifetime, with the number of meetings, the constituent meetings, the categorisation of meetings, and the duration of the series all regularly changing from year to year. Athletes received points based on their performances at the meetings on the circuit, with more points being given at the more prestigious and competitive competitions. From 2006 to 2009, series points could also be scored in certain events at Area Permit Meeting qualifiers (APM-Qs), although the meetings themselves were not considered a formal part of the meeting series.

A total of seven meeting categories existed over the lifetime of the circuit:

• GL : IAAF Golden League
• SGP : IAAF Super Grand Prix
• GP : IAAF Grand Prix
• GP2 : IAAF Grand Prix 2
• GPF : IAAF Grand Prix Final
• WAF : IAAF World Athletics Final
• PM : IAAF/Area Permit Meeting

Key:   As part of IAAF World Athletics Tour   As part of IAAF World Outdoor Meetings

Edition	Year	Start date	End date	Meets	GL	SGP	GP	GP2	PM	Final	Final date	Ref.
1	1985				–	–				1985 IAAF Grand Prix Final	7 September
2	1986				–	–				1986 IAAF Grand Prix Final	10 September
3	1987				–	–				1987 IAAF Grand Prix Final	11 September
4	1988				–	–				1988 IAAF Grand Prix Final	13 September
5	1989				–	–				1989 IAAF Grand Prix Final	1 September
6	1990				–	–				1990 IAAF Grand Prix Final	7 September
7	1991				–	–				1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final	20 September
8	1992				–	–				1992 IAAF Grand Prix Final	4 September
9	1993				–	–				1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final	10 September
10	1994				–	–				1994 IAAF Grand Prix Final	3 September
11	1995				–	–				1995 IAAF Grand Prix Final	9 September
12	1996	29 February	16 September	29	–	–	17	12	10	1996 IAAF Grand Prix Final	7 September	[14]
13	1997	20 February	16 September	28	–	–	17	11	15	1997 IAAF Grand Prix Final	13 September	[15][16][17]
14	1998	25 February	30 August	26	6	–	9	11	11	1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final	5 September	[18]
15	1999	25 February	5 September	28	7	–	10	11	?	1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final	11 September	[19]
16	2000	2 March	3 September	26	7	–	9	10	13	2000 IAAF Grand Prix Final	5 October	[20]
17	2001	1 March	2 September	28	7	–	10	11	12	2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final	9 September	[21]
18	2002	7 March	8 September	27	7	–	9	11	10	2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final	14 September	[22]
19	2003	1 March	7 September	34	6	7	10	11	–	2003 IAAF World Athletics Final	13–14 September	[23]
20	2004	12 February	12 September	34	6	8	9	11	–	2004 IAAF World Athletics Final	18–19 September	[24]
21	2005	17 February	4 September	34	6	8	10	10	–	2005 IAAF World Athletics Final	9–10 September	[25]
22	2006	9 March	3 September	24	6	6	12	–	25	2006 IAAF World Athletics Final	9–10 September	[26]
23	2007	2 March	16 September	24	6	5	13	–	27	2007 IAAF World Athletics Final	22–23 September	[27]
24	2008	28 September 2007	9 September 2008	25	6	5	14	–	29	2008 IAAF World Athletics Final	13–14 September	[28][29]
25	2009	20 September 2008	6 September 2009	25	6	5	14	–	29	2009 IAAF World Athletics Final	12–13 September	[30][31]

Meetings

#	Meeting	City	Country	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
1	ISTAF Berlin	Berlin	Germany	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
2	Bislett Games	Oslo	Norway	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
3	Golden Gala	Rome	Italy	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
4	Weltklasse Zürich	Zürich	Switzerland	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
5	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels	Belgium	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
6	Meeting Areva	Saint-Denis	France	GP	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL
7	Herculis	Monte Carlo	Monaco	GL	GL	GL	GL	GL	WAF	WAF	WAF	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP
8	Athletissima	Lausanne	Switzerland	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP
9	London Grand Prix	London	United Kingdom	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP
10	DN Galan	Stockholm	Sweden	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP
11	Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix	Doha	Qatar	GP2	GP	GPF	GP	GP	-	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP
12	British Grand Prix	Gateshead	United Kingdom	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	SGP	SGP	SGP	GP	GP	GP	GP
13	Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria	Athens	Greece	-	GP2	GP	GP	GP	SGP	SGP	SGP	SGP	GP	GP	GP
14	Golden Spike Ostrava	Ostrava	Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	SGP	SGP	SGP	GP	GP	GP	GP
15	Meeting de Atletismo Madrid	Madrid	Spain	-	-	-	-	-	SGP	SGP	SGP	GP	GP	GP	GP
16	Prefontaine Classic	Eugene	United States	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
17	Osaka Grand Prix	Osaka	Japan	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
18	Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo	Belém	Brazil	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
19	Melbourne Track Classic	Melbourne	Australia	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	GP
20	FBK Games	Hengelo	Netherlands	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
21	Rieti Meeting	Rieti	Italy	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
22	Hanžeković Memorial	Zagreb	Croatia	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP	GP
23	Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar	Dakar	Senegal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	GP	GP	GP	GP
24	Adidas Grand Prix	New York City	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	GP	GP	GP
25	Shanghai Golden Grand Prix	Shanghai	China	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	GP	GP
26	Helsinki Grand Prix	Helsinki	Finland	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	-	GP	GP	-	-	-
27	Gran Premio Diputación	Seville	Spain	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	-	-	-	-
28	Gugl Grand Prix	Linz	Austria	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP	GP	GP	-	-	-	-
29	Cena Slovenska - Slovak Gold	Bratislava	Slovakia	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-	-	-
30	Brothers Znamensky Memorial	Kazan	Russia	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
31	International Meeting Thessaloniki	Thessaloniki	Greece	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	WAF
32	Palo Alto Meeting	Palo Alto	United States	-	-	-	GP	GP	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
33	Meeting du Conseil Général de la Martinique	Fort-de-France	France	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
34	Notturna di Milano	Milan	Italy	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
35	Memorial Primo Nebiolo	Turin	Italy	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
36	Meeting Lille-Métropole	Villeneuve-d'Ascq	France	-	-	-	-	-	GP	GP	GP	-	-	-	-
37	Josef Odložil Memorial	Prague	Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
38	KBC Night of Athletics	Heusden-Zolder	Belgium	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
39	Grande Premio Rio de Atletismo	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-	-	-	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-
40	Engen Grand Prix	Pretoria	South Africa	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
41	Meeting Nikaïa	Nice	France	GP	GP	GP	GP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
42	Adidas Oregon Track Classic	Portland	United States	-	-	-	GP2	GP2	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-	-
43	US Open Meet	St. Louis	United States	GP	GP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
44	Meeting de L'Humanité	St. Denis	France	GP2	GP2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
45	Weltklasse in Köln	Cologne	Germany	-	GP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
46	Pontiac Grand Prix Invitational	Raleigh	United States	-	-	GP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

• The South African meet was held in Johannesburg in 1998 and Roodepoort in 1999
• The second British meet was held in Sheffield in 1998, 2002 and 2007
• The 1998–2001 Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo was held in Rio de Janeiro
• The 2003 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria was held in Trikala
• The 2003 Adidas Oregon Track Classic was held in Gresham, Oregon
• The 2003 Brothers Znamensky Memorial was held in Tula, Russia

Series winners

In addition to event-level winners decided after the IAAF Grand Prix Final, the male and female athletes with the highest points scores across ally events were crowned the overall IAAF Grand Prix winners. Prize money was awarded to the eight top-scoring athletes on the circuit, with first prize being US$200,000 in 1998.^[1][5]

Year	Men's winner	Men's points	Women's winner	Women's points
1985	Doug Padilla (USA)	63	Mary Slaney (USA)	69
1986	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	63	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	69
1987	Tonie Campbell (USA)	63	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	63
1988	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	63	Paula Ivan (ROM)	63
1989	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	69	Paula Ivan (ROM)	67
1990	Leroy Burrell (USA)	63	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	63
1991	Sergey Bubka (URS)	69	Heike Henkel (GER)	63
1992	Kevin Young (USA)	63	Heike Drechsler (GER)	63
1993	Sergey Bubka (UKR)	72	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	72
1994	Noureddine Morceli (ALG)	78	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	72
1995	Moses Kiptanui (KEN)	84	Maria Mutola (MOZ)	78
1996	Daniel Komen (KEN)	103	Ludmila Engquist (SWE)	93
1997	Wilson Kipketer (DEN)	114	Astrid Kumbernuss (GER)	99
1998	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	136	Marion Jones (USA)	130
1999	Bernard Barmasai (KEN)	111	Gabriela Szabo (ROM)	108
2000	Angelo Taylor (USA)	101	Trine Hattestad (NOR)	110
2001	André Bucher (SUI)	102	Violeta Szekely (ROM)	116
2002	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	116	Marion Jones (USA)	116

References

1. Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
2. Golden Events. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
3. World Championships in Athletics. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
4. 1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
5. IAAF Grand Prix Final. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
6. Abschied von der Golden League in Brüssel. Tagesspiegel (2009-09-04). Retrieved 2019-08-04.
7. Die Geschichte des DKB-ISTAF Berlin (in German). Archived 2014-04-10 at the Wayback Machine. ISTAF. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
8. Grand Prix 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24.
9. Athletics: Golden Four extended with more money and meetings. The Independent (1997-11-22). Retrieved 2019-09-23.
10. Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
11. IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
12. World Athletics Tour 2006. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
13. Turner (2005). "IAAF - World Athletics Tour". International Sports Press Association. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
14. Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
15. Outdoor Permit Meetings 1997. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
16. Grand Prix II 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
17. Grand Prix 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01.
18. 1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
19. 1999 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
20. 2000 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
21. 2001 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
22. Grand Prix Schedule 2002. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
23. Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
24. Grand Prix Schedule 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
25. Grand Prix Schedule 2005. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
26. World Athletics Tour 2006. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
27. World Athletics Tour 2007. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
28. World Athletics Tour Results 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
29. Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
30. World Athletics Tour Results 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
31. Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.

External links

• IAAF World Athletics Tour at the Wayback Machine (archived 2009-11-20)