The IAAF World Champs - A Retrospective, Part 2 - the 90's

Started in 1983, the IAAF's World Championships are the largest event for global track and field outside of the Olympic Games. Not only serving as the highlight of competition for athletics in between the Games, they often are looked upon as a specific Games preview. This especially holds true for the  Championships editions held the year right before an Olympics.

With that in mind, I take a look back at previous Championships to glimpse at how well Worlds medalists are able to finish on the podium at the following Olympics. Although Championships did start on a biennial schedule in 1993, with the first edition held after a Games, I'll focus more attention on those editions which occur right before.

Read previous IAAF World Champs Retrospective entries here:

• Part 1 - the 80's
• Part 3 - the 00's
• Part 4 - the 10's

III - Tokyo, 1991

Stats

• 1,517 athletes from 167 nations
• 43 events

Medal Table

1. Soviet Union (29)
2. United States (26)
3. Germany (17)

Highlights

• The long jump competition of all-time. Carl Lewis (USA) provides the best-ever six-jump series ever, but was beaten by Mike Powell (USA) who did what Lewis was never able to - break Bob Beamon's 1968 world record with a jump of 8.95m
• Lewis did set the only other world records of the Championships, 9.86 in the 100m, and a 37.50 as part of the men's 4x100m relay
• Katrin Krabbe (GER) won gold in both 100m and 200m - with Gwen Torrance (USA) and Merlene Ottey (JAM) in silver and bronze position in each
• Overall, 11 championship records were set across all events

How the Olympic medal podiums the following year (1992 Barcelona) compare

• Dennis Mitchell (USA) repeated with bronze in the 100m
• Frankie Fredericks (NAM) repeated with silver in the 200m
• Fita Bayisa (ETH) went from silver to bronze in the 5000m
• Richard Chelimo (KEN) and Khalid Skah (MAR) went from 2-3 to 2-1 in the 10,000m
• Jack Pierce (USA) went from silver to bronze in the 110m hurdles
• Winthrop Graham (JAM) and Kriss Akabusi (GBR) repeated as 2-3 in the 400m hurdles
• Patrick Sang (KEN) repeated with silver in the 3000m steeplechase
• Andrey Perlov (URS/EUN) went from silver to gold in the 50km walk
• USA repeated with gold in the men's 4x100m relay
• GBR and USA went from 1-2 to 3-1 in the men's 4x400m relay
• Mike Powell (USA) and Carl Lewis (USA) went from 1-2 to 2-1 in the long jump
• Mike Conley (USA) went from bronze to gold in the triple jump
• Javier Sotomayor (CUB) and Hollis Conway (USA) went from 2-3 to 1-3 in the high jump
• Maxsim Tarasov (URS/EUN) went from bronze to gold in the pole vault
• Igor Astapkovich (URS/EUN) repeated with silver in the hammer throw
• Seppo Ratty (FIN) repeated with silver in the javelin
• Gwen Torrance (USA) and Merlene Ottey (JAM) went from 2-3 to 1-3 in the 100m
• Marie-Jose Perec (FRA) repeated with gold in the 400m
• Lilia Nurutdinova (URS/EUN) and Ana Quirot (CUB) went from 1-2 to 2-3 in the 800m
• Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) and Ludmilla Rogachova (URS/EUN) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the 1500m
• Tetyana Dorovskikh (URS/EUN) & Yelena Romanova (URS/EUN) went from 1-2 to 2-1 in the 3000m
• Sally Gunnell (GBR) and Janeene Vickers (USA) went from 2-3 to 1-3 in the 400m hurdles
• URS/EUN repeated with silver in the women's 4x100m relay
• URS/EUN and USA repeated as 1-2 in the women's 4x400m relay
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) and Heike Dreschler (GER) went from 1-2 to 3-1 in the long jump
• Heike Henkel (GER) repeated with gold in the women's high jump
• Huang Zhihong (CHN) and Svetlana Krivelyova (URS/EUN) went from 1-3 to 2-1 in the shot put
• Tsvetanka Kristova (BUL) went from gold to silver in the discus
• Silke Renk (GER) went from bronze to gold in the javelin
• Sabine Braun (GER) and Irina Belova (URS/EUN) went from 1-3 to 3-2 in the heptathlon
• USA (30), EUN (21), GER (10) were the top nations on the medal table

​​IV - Stuttgart, 1993

Stats

• 1,689 athletes from 187 nations
• 44 events

Medal Table

1. United States (25)
2. Russia (16)
3. Great Britain and Kenya (10 each)

Highlights

• The women's triple jump was added
• Colin Jackson set a world record of 12.91 in the 110m hurdles
• USA set a world record of 2.54.29 in the men's 4x400m relay
• Sally Gunnell (GBR) set a world record of 52.74 in the 400m hurdles
• Ana Biryukova (RUS) set a world record of 15.09 in the triple jump
• Overall, 14 championship records were set across all events

These Championships were the first to be held on the new biennial schedule, and held the year after the 1992 Games. There are some repeat gold medalists between the '92 Games and these '93 Championships:

• Linford Christie (GBR) in the 100m
• Kevin Young (US) in the 400m hurdles
• USA in both the men's 4x100 relay and men's 4x400 relay
• Mike Conley (USA) in the triple jump
• Javier Sotomayor (CUB) in the high jump
• Jan Zelezny (CZE) in the javelin
• Gail Devers (USA) in the 100m
• Sally Gunnell (GBR) in the 400m hurdles
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) in the heptathlon

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​V - Gothenburg, 1995

Stats

• 1,804 athletes from 191 nations
• 44 events

Medal Table

1. United States (19)
2. Russia (12)
3. Belarus (7)

Highlights

• The women's 5000m was added, replacing the 3000m to match the men's track schedule
• Jonathan Edwards (GBR) set a world record of 18.29 in the triple jump
• Kim Batten (USA) set a world record of 52.61 in the 400m hurdles
• Inessa Kravets (UKR) set a world record of 15.50 in the triple jump
• Overall, 10 championship records were set across all events

How the Olympic medal podiums the following year (1996 Atlanta) compare

• Donovan Bailey (CAN) and Ato Boldon (TRI) repeated as 1-2 in the 100m
• Michael Johnson (USA) and Frankie Fredericks (NAM) repeated as 1-2 in the 200m
• Michael Johnson (USA) repeated with gold in the 400m
• Vebjorn Rodal (NOR) went from bronze to gold in the 800m
• Noureddine Morceli (ALG) repeated with gold in the 1500m
• Khalid Boulami (MAR) went from silver to bronze in the 5000m
• Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) and Paul Tergat (KEN) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the 10,000m
• Allen Johnson (USA) repeated with gold in the 110m hurdles
• Derrick Adkins (USA) and Samuel Matete (ZAM) repeated as 1-2 in the 400m hurdles
• Moses Kiptanui (KEN) went from gold to silver in the 3000m steeplechase
• Robert Korzeniowski (POL) went from bronze to gold in the 50km walk
• CAN repeated with gold in the men's 4x100m relay
• USA and JAM went from 1-2 to 1-3 in the men's 4x400m relay
• James Beckford (JAM) repeated with silver in the long jump
• Jonathan Edwards (GBR) went from gold to silver in the triple jump
• Artur Partyka (POL) went bronze to silver in the high jump
• Jean Galfione (FRA) went from bronze to gold in the pole vault
• John Godina (USA) and Randy Barnes (USA) went from 1-3 to 2-1 in the shot put
• Lars Riedel (GER), Vladimir Dubrovschik (BLR), & Vasiliy Kaptyukh (BLR) repeated as 1-2-3 in the discus
• Jan Zelezny (CZE) and Steve Backley (GBR) repeated as 1-2 in the javelin
• Dan O'Brien (USA) repeated with gold in the decathlon
• Gwen Torrance (USA) and Merlene Ottey (JAM) went from 1-2 to 3-2 in the 100m
• Merlene Ottey (JAM) went from gold to silver in the 200m
• Marie-Jose Perec (FRA) repeated with gold in the 400m
• Ana Quirot (CUB) went from gold to silver in the 800m
• Fernanda Ribeiro (POR) repeated with gold in the 10,000m
• Kim Batten (USA), Tonja Buford (USA) and Deon Hemmings (JAM) went from 1-2-3 to 2-3-1 in the 400m hurdles
• Elisabeta Perrone (ITA) and Yelena Nikolayeva (RUS) went from 2-3 to 2-1 in the 10km walk
• USA and JAM went from 1-2 to 1-3 in the women's 4x100m relay
• USA repeated with gold in the women's 4x400m relay
• Fiona May (ITA) went from gold to silver in the long jump
• Inessa Kravets (UKR) repeated with gold in the triple jump
• Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) and Inha Babakova (UKR) repeated as 1-3 in the high jump
• Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) repeated with gold in the shot put
• Ellina Zvereva (BLR) and Ilke Wyludda (GER) went from 1-2 to 3-1 in the discus
• Ghada Shouaa (SYR) repeated with gold in the heptathlon
• USA (23), RUS (10), GER (7) were the top nations on the medal table

VI - Athens, 1997
​
Stats

• 1,882 athletes from 198 nations
• 44 events

Medal Table

1. United States (17)
2. Germany (10)
3. Russia (8)

Highlights

• Sergey Bubka (UKR) won his sixth-consecutive and final Worlds gold in the pole vault
• Merlene Ottey (JAM) won her fourteenth Worlds medal, a bronze in the 200m
• Javier Sotomayor (CUB) won his fourth Worlds medal, a gold in the high jump
• Ana Quirot (CUB) won her third-straight medal in the 800m, a gold
• For the first time, no world records were set at the World Championships
• Overall, only 3 championship records were set across all events

These Championships were the second to be held on the new biennial schedule, and held the year after the 1996 Games. There are some repeat gold medalists between the '96 Games and these '97 Championships:

• Michael Johnson (USA) in the 400m
• Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) in the 10,000m
• Allen Johnson (USA) in the 110m hurdles
• Robert Korzeniowski (POL) in the 50km walk
• CAN in the men's 4x100 relay
• Lars Riedel (GER) in the discus throw
• Ludmila Engquist (SWE) in the 110m hurdles
• USA in the women's 4x100m relay
• Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) in the shot put

​VII - Seville, 1999

Stats

• 1,821 athletes from 201 nations
• 46 events

Medal Table

1. United States (19)
2. Russia (12)
3. Belarus (7)

Highlights

• The women's pole vault and women's hammer throw were added, and the women's 10km walk was replaced by the 20km.
• Michael Johnson (USA) set a world record of 43.18 in the 400m
• Stacy Dragila (USA) set a world record in the pole vault of 4.60m
• Overall, 10 championship records were set across all events

How the Olympic medal podiums the following year (2000 Sydney) compare

• Maurice Greene (USA) repeated with gold in the 100m
• Michael Johnson (USA) repeated with gold in the 400m
• Wilson Kepketer (DEN) and Djabir-Said Guerni (ALG) went from 1-3 to 2-3 in the 800m
• Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) and Noah Ngeny (KEN) went from 1-2 to 2-1 in the 1500m
• Haile Gebreselassie (ETH), Paul Tergat (KEN) & Assefa Mezgebu (ETH) repeated as 1-2-3 in the 10,000m
• Anier Garcia (CUB) went from silver to gold in the 110m hurdles
• Christopher Kosgei (KEN), Wilson Boit Kipketer (KEN) & Ali Ezzine (MAR) repeated as 1-2-3 in the 3000m steeplechase
• USA and BRA went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the men's 4x100m relay
• JAM repeated with silver in the men's 4x400m relay
• Maxsim Tarasov (RUS) went from gold to bronze in the pole vault
• Ivan Pedroso (CUB) repeated with gold in the long jump
• Jonathan Edwards (GBR) went from bronze to gold in the triple jump
• Lars Riedel (GER) went from bronze to silver in the discus throw
• Jan Zelezny (CZE) went from bronze to gold in the javelin
• Chris Huffins (USA) repeated with bronze in the decathlon
• Ekaterini Thanou (GRE) went from bronze to silver in the 100m
• Beverly McDonald (JAM) went from silver to bronze in the 200m
• Cathy Freeman (AUS) and Lorraine Graham (JAM) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the 400m
• Maria Mutola (MOZ) went from silver to gold in the 800m
• Gabriela Szabo (ROM) repeated with gold in the 5000m
• Gete Wami (ETH) went from gold to silver in the 10,000m
• Lidia Simon (ROM) went from bronze to silver in the marathon
• Glory Alozie (NGR) repeated with silver in the 100m hurdles
• Nezha Bidouane (MAR) and Deon Hemmings (JAM) went from 2-3 to 3-2 in the 400m hurdles
• BAH and JAM went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the women's 4x100m relay
• RUS and USA went from 1-2 to 3-1 in the women's 4x400m relay
• Fiona May (ITA) repeated with silver in the long jump
• Yelena Yelesina (RUS) went from silver to gold in the high jump
• Stacy Dragila (USA) and Tatiana Grigorieva (AUS) went from 1-3 to 1-2 in the pole vault
• Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) went from gold to bronze in the shot put
• Anastasia Kelesidou (GRE) repeated with silver in the discus
• Mirela Manjani (GRE) and Trine Hattestad (NOR) went from 1-3 to 2-1 in the javelin
• Denise Lewis (GBR) went from silver to bronze in the heptathlon
• USA (16), RUS (13), and JAM (9) were the top nations on the medal table