The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

topped the medal standings in the competition with 28 (12 gold, 9 silver, and 7 bronze). During the competition, 41 national records, 4 area records, 3 championship records, and 1 world record was set. The championships were heavily affected by post-championship doping cases, particularly from the Russian team, who in subsequent years were stripped of eleven medals, seven of them gold.

Bidding process

On 4 April 2006, the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

(now

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

) announced that nine countries (

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

) had submitted expressions of interest for hosting the 2011 World Championships.

Candidates

When the seeking deadline passed on 1 December 2006, four candidate cities (

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

) had confirmed their candidatures. Gothenburg backed out later that month, citing lack of financial support from the Swedish government.

was announced as the Australian candidate with the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (formerly ANZ Stadium) as the proposed venue for a championships to be held in July or August. The stadium previously hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and 2001 Goodwill Games. Brisbane also had an unsuccessful bid for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

was the city chosen for the Korean bid, following on from an initial application to host the 2009 edition. Daegu had previously hosted the 2003 Summer Universiade and four matches of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The World Championships in Athletics had never been staged in mainland Asia, although it has taken place twice in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The Russian bid had Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium as the proposed venue. The city hosted the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

and the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Among the intent candidates were

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

(Morocco) and Split (Croatia), both of which were failed bidders for the

. The Spanish candidate was rumored to be either

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, but Spain eventually settled for

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

as a candidate for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. The United States intent candidate city matched those bidding for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Selection

The

announced Daegu as the winning candidate at the IAAF Council Meeting in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

on 27 March 2007. Its victory was based on "the quality of the stadiums and eetingthe need for good crowds." IAAF's officials also praised Daegu's "ambition and challenging spirit" as key to its winning bid. Both Moscow and Brisbane later confirmed their candidacy to host the 2013 World Championships in Athletics – a selection process won by the Russian capital.

Event schedule

File:2011dongdaegust.jpg, A promotional poster for the event at Dongdaegu Station

:''All dates are KST ( UTC+9)''

Results

Men

The events in the men's section ended with a world record in 4 × 100 metres relay set by Jamaica and several world's leading results.

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

dominated the sprinting events, while

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

dominated the longer track events. In the field events, the

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

were most successful, winning four and three gold medals respectively. Yohan Blake and

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

, both from Jamaica, won two gold medals, being the most successful athletes in the men's events. In the 100 m final the largely favored Usain Bolt was disqualified for a

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can resu ...

, enabling Yohan Blake to win the crown with a time of 9.92 s. In the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

Bolt won with a time of 19.40 s, which was the fastest time ever not to be a world record at that point. Blake and Bolt, along with countrymen Nesta Carter and Michael Frater, ran in the 4 x 100 metres relay, setting a new world record with a time of 37.04 s. In the 10,000 metres event, World Champion Kenenisa Bekele did not finish the race. The world record holder in 800 m, David Rudisha, won the event with his first gold medal at the World Championships. On the last day, Kenyan Abel Kirui became the third marathon winner to retain the title at the next World Championships, after Abel Anton and Jaouad Gharib. Most of the field events ended with new winners, but Dwight Phillips retained the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

title, becoming only the second man after Ivan Pedroso to win four golds at the World Championships in this event. Ethiopia's Imane Merga was originally awarded the bronze medal in the Men's 5000 metres, but he was later disqualified for having run inside the curb of the running track for some 10 to 15 metres. His teammate Dejen Gebremeskel was elevated to the bronze medal as a result. Cuba's Dayron Robles finished first in the race of the Men's 110 metres hurdles, but was disqualified for interfering with Liu Xiang twice before and over the last barrier. Jason Richardson was awarded the Gold, Liu the Silver, and Andy Turner promoted to the Bronze medal position.

Track

Field

Women

During the championships,

was the most successful country in the women's events, winning seven gold medals, followed by the

with six. Most successful female athlete was Allyson Felix having won two relay golds and silver and bronze in her individual events. On the first day of the Championships, the athletes of

made an astonishing performance, winning all six medals available in the two events. Kenya also dominated the long-distance events, while Jamaica and the United States the sprinting. In the field events, Russia was initially dominant, winning four gold medals. Following a series of retests of stored samples and biological passports, a number of athletes were stripped of medals because of doping. Nine medals in eight events were forfeited for doping, eight of them from Russia, including five gold medals. The only Russian medals that survived the post-championship doping purge were two gold medals in the high jump and the hammer throw, and a bronze medals in the pole vault and the 400 metres hurdles. Of the four surviving medalists, a further three were eventually banned for doping. The amended results left the United States the clear leading nation in women's athletics.

Track

Field

Original gold medalist Mariya Abakumova of Russia was stripped of her gold medal.
Original gold medalist Tatyana Chernova of Russia was stripped of her gold medal on 29 November 2016 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Ennis and Oeser promoted to gold and silver respectively and the bronze awarded to Karolina Tymińska of Poland. File:Valerie Adams Daegu 2011.jpg, Valerie Adams broke the championship record in the shot put. File:Mariya Abakumova Daegu 2011.jpg, Mariya Abakumova improved the championship and Russian record in javelin. File:Tatyana Chernova Daegu 2011.jpg, Tatyana Chernova defeated the defending heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, but was disqualified in 2016 for doping offences.

Anti-doping programme

On 4 November 2011 the IAAF reported that 2 of the 468 urine samples had produced adverse analytical findings. The samples of Portuguese runner Sara Moreira, a finalist in the women's steeplechase, and Korean relay runner Hee-Nam Lim had both tested positive for methylhexaneamine. Analysis of blood samples is still ongoing. In March 2012 the Trinidad and Tobago track and field authorities announced that Semoy Hackett had tested positive for methylhexaneamine at the Trinidad and Tobago national championships prior to the World Championships. Her results in the women's 100 metres were annulled and the Trinidadian 4 × 100-metres relay team were also disqualified from fourth place. An anonymous poll conducted by the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

at the event showed that an estimated 29% of the athletes present at the World Championships had used a banned substance within the last 12 months.

Medal table

Originally, host nation South Korea failed to win any medals at these championships, a fate shared with Sweden in 1995 and Canada in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. However, in 2015, South Korean athlete Kim Hyun-sub was promoted from sixth place to bronze medalist in the 20 km walk after three Russian race walkers were disqualified for doping offences. ;Key

Participating nations

On the entry lists prior to the competition, a total of 1943 athletes from 202 national teams were set to participate in the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. The number of accredited athletes that actually participated at the event was 1848, while the total of countries represented was 204. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # (Hosts) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

References

External links

Website for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics – Daegu 2011

Entry Standards (IAAF)

Coverage and News
at the Guardian
Flotrack Race Interviews with athletes and Race Videos
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011 World Championships in Athletics World Athletics Championships World Championships in Athletics World Championships in Athletics Sports competitions in Daegu International athletics competitions hosted by South Korea August 2011 sports events in South Korea September 2011 sports events in South Korea

Bidding process

Candidates

Selection

Event schedule

Results

Men

Track

Field

Women

Track

Field

Anti-doping programme

Medal table

Participating nations

See also

References

External links