IAAF Continental Cup

Not to be confused with Athletics World Cup.

IAAF Continental Cup
Statusdefunct
GenreTrack and field
Date(s)varying
Frequencybiennial
Countryvarying
Years active1977–2018
Inaugurated1977 (1977)
Most recent2018
Organised byWorld Athletics
Websiteworldathletics.org

The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as the IAAF World Cup.[1] The event was initially held every two years, but following the establishment of the World Athletics Championships it moved to a quadrennial basis. The 1989 edition was held the same year as the World Indoor Championships, then moved to the even-year between the Summer Olympics, ensuring the sport of athletics had a global competition in all years.

The original format included separate men's and women's competitions consisting of 21 events each, with team points being awarded for the finishing position of each athlete. Eight teams, five continental and three national, entered an athlete in each event: if the stadium had a ninth lane, the host nation would also be permitted to enter.

The eight entrants included the United States, the top two nations in the preceding European Cup and continental teams comprising Africa, Asia, Oceania, the rest of the Americas (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association and Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo), and the rest of Europe.

From 2010, the event was rebranded to the IAAF Continental Cup, with the national teams being removed, and team scoring incorporated both the sexes. Two athletes per individual event were entered by four regional teams: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe and the Americas), though the regions had only one team each for the relay events.[2]

After a decision at the 206th IAAF Council Meeting, held after the 2016 Summer Olympics, long-distance events were removed from the programme, and the 4 × 400 metres relay event was modified to a mixed-gender event.[3]

A nation-based competition, the Athletics World Cup, was staged in 2018 by an independent promoter. The IAAF competition was briefly rebranded as the World Athletics Continental Cup in 2019, but the event was scrapped in March 2020.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ "Past Presidents of the IAAF". iaaf.org. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. ^ IAAF Council Meeting notes, Monaco - 21 November. IAAF (2008-11-21). Retrieved on 2009-09-11.
  3. ^ Competitions Update. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-21.
  4. ^ "World Athletics Continental Cup". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Continental Cup scrapped by World Athletics after 43 years". insidethegames.biz. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  6. ^ Pavitt, Michael (12 March 2020). "Continental Cup scrapped by World Athletics after 43 years". inside the games. Retrieved 12 April 2020.