TheIAAF Golden Events were a sporadic series of twelveathletics events organised by theInternational Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) from 1978 to 1982. Aside from the inaugural event in Tokyo, the contests were held in Europe and were attached to independenttrack and field meetings.[1] The purpose of the events was to raise the profile of the sport outside of Olympic competition. Marking the growing professionalism in athletics, a significant prize pot was given to the winner of the event – a move designed to attract the sport's top athletes to compete against each other at the same meeting. The inaugural prize was an 18-carat gold trophy worth 9,500 US dollars.[2] All twelve events were for men, reflecting their position as the most prominent sex during that period.[1]
The central element of the series was the Golden Mile – a men'smile run contest that launched the series in 1978 and was held annually until 1981. The rivalry of British runnersSteve Ovett andSebastian Coe in this event saw each take two wins and Coe set twomile world records in the process.[3][4] British athletes were particularly successful in the series and won eight of the twelve events. Asprint format, aggregating an athlete's times in separate100 metres and200 metres, was launched in 1979 and repeated in 1981.Long-distance running was also a major element of the series as it featured one5000 metres race, two10,000 metres races,[5] and amarathon race over the series history. Field events were in a minority, with onejavelin throw and onepole vault being their only appearance.[6][7] The marathon, in 1982, was the last Golden Event to be held.[1][8]
The establishment of theIAAF World Championships in Athletics in 1983 saw the IAAF focus on its sport-specific championships as a way of using prizes to generate top level competition.[9] The launch of theIAAF Grand Prix in 1985 formalised the major track and field circuit as a professional series of point-scoring events.[10] The "Golden" was idea revived in the form of theGolden Four in 1992 – a high-prize money, track and field series comprisingOslo,Zurich,Brussels andBerlin (all venues that had hosted Golden Events).[11] This was later expanded and co-opted by the IAAF in 1998 as theIAAF Golden League,[12] which was itself later expanded to the current major track and field series: theIAAF Diamond League.[13]
Some of the events featured title sponsors: the first event was also known as the "Dubai Golden Mile", given its sponsorship by the emirate, and the final event was also known as the "Citizen Golden Marathon", under the patronage of Japanese watchmakersCitizen Holdings.[4][14]
| Year | Event | Location | Meet | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Mile run | Tokyo, Japan | Tokyo Eight Nations International | Steve Ovett |
| 1979 | 100/200 metres | Zürich, Switzerland | Weltklasse Zürich | James Sanford |
| Mile run | Oslo, Norway | Bislett Games | Sebastian Coe | |
| 10,000 metres | Brussels, Belgium | Memorial Van Damme | Mike McLeod | |
| Javelin throw | Budapest, Hungary | Arto Härkönen | ||
| 1980 | Mile run | London, United Kingdom | London Grand Prix | Steve Ovett |
| Pole vault | Nice, France | Serge Ferreira | ||
| 1981 | 100/200 metres | Berlin, West Germany | Internationales Stadionfest | Allan Wells |
| Mile run | Brussels, Belgium | Memorial Van Damme | Sebastian Coe | |
| 5000 metres | Gateshead, United Kingdom | British Grand Prix | Barry Smith | |
| 10,000 metres | Prague, Czechoslovakia | Mike McLeod | ||
| 1982 | Marathon | Athens, Greece | n/a | Rodolfo Gómez |
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