| Helsinki Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
 The host venue –Helsinki Olympic Stadium | |
| Location | Helsinki, Finland |
| Event type | Track and field |
| Established | 1959 |
| Last held | 2006 |
TheHelsinki Grand Prix (Finnish:Maailmankisat, World Games in English) was an annual one-day outdoortrack and field meeting held at theHelsinki Olympic Stadium inHelsinki, Finland. Established in 1959, it was originally organised by a localathletics club,Helsingin Kisa-Veikot (HKV). It continued in this format, withApu magazine a key sponsor, for nearly three decades. In 1987, HKV came to an agreement where theFinnish Amateur Athletic Association took on the operating costs of the competition. The Finnish Association ceased this arrangement in 1992, causing the cancellation of the 1993 meeting due to financial difficulties.[1][2]
Following the successful hosting the1994 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, the meeting was rebooted and incorporated into the annualIAAF Grand Prix series upon that competition's founding in 1998.[3] It continued to be a high-level meeting for international athletes, and was again included the top bracket upon the creation of theIAAF World Athletics Tour in 2005. During this period it had title sponsors and was known as theEricsson Grand Prix (1998–2000),Asics Grand Prix (2001–2004) andGE Money Grand Prix (2005–2006). However, the 2006 meeting proved to be its last and the meeting folded in 2007.[4]
At each competition, the best athlete of the meet would be presented with a sculpted glass prize.[5][1]
| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 9.87 | Frankie Fredericks |  Namibia | ||
| 200 m | 20.14 | Ato Boldon |  Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| Obadele Thompson |  Barbados | ||||
| 400 m | 44.53 | Mark Richardson |  United Kingdom | ||
| 800 m | 1:43.97 | Mbulaeni Mulaudzi |  South Africa | [6] | |
| 1500 m | 3:31.00 | Noureddine Morceli |  Algeria | ||
| 3000 m | 7:26.03 | Haile Gebrselassie |  Ethiopia | ||
| 5000 m | 12:39.36 | Haile Gebrselassie | Ethiopia | ||
| 10,000 m | 27:16.50 | Salvatore Antibo |  Italy | ||
| 3000 m steeplechase | 8:10.15 | Moses Kiptanui |  Kenya | ||
| 110 m hurdles | 13.12 | Colin Jackson | United Kingdom | ||
| 400 m hurdles | 48.06 | Ruslan Mashchenko |  Russia | ||
| High jump | 2.37 m | Hollis Conway |  United States | ||
| Pole vault | 5.90 m | Riaan Botha | South Africa | ||
| Long jump | 8.44 m | Dwight Phillips | United States | ||
| Triple jump | 17.82 m | Jonathan Edwards | United Kingdom | ||
| Shot put | 22.47 m | Werner Günthör |  Switzerland | ||
| Discus throw | 70.98 m | Mac Wilkins | United States | ||
| Hammer throw | 84.14 m | Yuriy Sedykh |  Soviet Union | ||
| Javelin throw | 89.98 m | Sergey Makarov | Russia | ||
| 4 × 100 m relay | 38.38 | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 10.86 | Marion Jones | United States | ||
| 200 m | 21.91 | Marion Jones | United States | ||
| 400 m | 50.39 | DeeDee Trotter | United States | ||
| 800 m | 1:57.10 | Sigrun Wodars |  East Germany | ||
| 1500 m | 4:02.9 | Tatyana Kazankina | Soviet Union | ||
| 3000 m | 8:40.72 | Maricica Puică |  Romania | ||
| 5000 m | 14:52.66 | Fernanda Ribeiro |  Portugal | ||
| 10,000 m | 31:00.64 | Kayoko Fukushi |  Japan | [7] | |
| 100 m hurdles | 12.66 | Damu Cherry | United States | [8] | |
| 400 m hurdles | 54.05 | Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | ||
| High jump | 2.00 m | Stefka Kostadinova |  Bulgaria | ||
| Pole vault | 4.50 m | Svetlana Feofanova | Russia | ||
| Long jump | 7.09 m | Inessa Kravets |  Ukraine | ||
| Triple jump | 15.05 m | Trecia-Kaye Smith |  Jamaica | [9] | |
| Shot put | 20.63 m | Natalya Lisovskaya | Soviet Union | ||
| Discus throw | 65.82 m | María Cristina Betancourt |  Cuba | ||
| Hammer throw | 69.19 m | Olga Kuzenkova | Russia | ||
| Javelin throw | 68.47 m | Osleidys Menéndez | Cuba | ||
| 4 × 100 m relay | 42.65 | United States |