In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The foremost championships to be held in 2010 included: the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 European Athletics Championships, 2010 African Championships in Athletics, and Athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.One month to go - IAAF World Indoor Championships. IAAF (2010-02-12). Retrieved on 2010-02-13.
Two major competitions debuted in new formats. The IAAF Diamond League – a worldwide expansion on the European-centred IAAF Golden League concept – saw a schedule of fourteen one-day meetings with some of the sport's most prominent athletes centrally contracted to a track and field series for the first time.Track and Field’s elite endorse IAAF Diamond League at sparkling launch. IAAF (2009-11-21). Retrieved on 2010-01-02. The second competition was the renamed IAAF Continental Cup (formerly World Cup) which had its format simplified: previously a contest between several countries and continents, it comprised only four teams (Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia/Oceania).IAAF Council Meeting notes, Monaco - 21 November. IAAF (2008-11-21). Retrieved on 2009-09-11.
Major events World
World Indoor Championships in Athletics World Junior Championships in Athletics Continental Cup Commonwealth Games Summer Youth Olympics IAAF Diamond League World Marathon Majors World Cross Country Championships World Half Marathon Championships IAAF World Race Walking Cup WMRA World Mountain Running Championships
Regional
African Championships Asian Indoor Championships Asian Junior Championships Asian Games Central American and Caribbean Games Central American Games European Athletics Championships European Cross Country Championships European Cup Winter Throwing European Mountain Running Championships European Team Championships Ibero-American Championships Micronesian Games NACAC Cross Country Championships South American Games South American U23 Championships South American Cross Country Championships South Asian Games South Asian Junior Championships Oceania Athletics Championships Oceania Cross Country Championships
National
2010 American Samoa Athletics Championships 2010 German Athletics Championships 2010 Guam Athletics Championships 2010 Kiribati Athletics Championships 2010 Latvian Athletics Championships 2010 Lithuanian Athletics Championships 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Local 2010 Vilnius Athletics Championships
World records Men Event Athlete Nation Performance Meeting Place Date800 mDavid Rudisha1:41.09ISTAF Berlin, Germany22 August800 mDavid Rudisha1:41.01Rieti Meeting Rieti, Italy29 August10 km (road)Leonard Komon26:44Singelloop Utrecht, Netherlands26 September15 km (road)Leonard Komon41:13Zevenheuvelenloop Nijmegen, Netherlands21 November20 km (road)Zersenay Tadese55:21Lisbon Half Marathon Lisbon, Portugal21 MarchHalf marathonZersenay Tadese58:23Lisbon Half Marathon Lisbon, Portugal21 March25 km (road)Samuel Kosgei1:11:50Wenig, Jorg (2010-05-09). Kosgei, Keitany shatter 25Km World records in Berlin - Updated. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-04.BIG 25 Berlin Berlin, Germany9 MayTriple jump (indoor)Teddy Tamgho17.90 mWorld Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar14 MarchIndoor heptathlonAshton Eaton6499 ptsNew Reality Dawns on Record Setter in Heptathlon. The New York Times (2010-03-27). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.World record ratified. IAAF (2010-11-17). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.NCAA Indoor Championship Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States12–13 March
Women Event Athlete Nation Performance Meeting Place DateHammer throwAnita Włodarczyk78.30Enea Cup Bydgoszcz, Poland6 June25 km (road)Mary Keitany1:19:53BIG 25 Berlin Berlin, Germany9 May4 × 800 m relay (indoor)Tatyana AndrianovaOksana SpasovhodskajaYelena KofanovaYevgeniya Zinurova (Moscow-1 Team)8:12.41IAAF Newsletter Ed. 119 . IAAF (2011-01-25). Retrieved on 2011-01-25.Russian Indoor Championships Moscow, Russia28 February
Season's bests 60 metres 6.48 6.97 NR100 metres 9.78 10.78 200 metres 19.56 21.98 400 metres 44.13 49.64 800 metres 1:41.01 WR 1:57.34 1500 metres 3:29.27 3:57.65 3000 metres 7:28.70 8:24.46 Indoors5000 metres 12:51.21 14:27.41 10,000 metres 26:56.74 31:04.52 60 metres hurdles 7.34 7.72 100/110 metres hurdles 12.89 NR 12.52 400 metres hurdles 47.32 52.82 3000 metres steeplechase 8:00.90 9:11.71 10 kilometres 26:44 WR 30:45 15 kilometres 41:13 WR 47:48 20 kilometres 55:21 WR 1:03:47 Half marathon 58:23 WR 1:07:07 25 kilometres 1:11:50 WR 1:19:53 WR30 kilometres 1:28:46 1:39:28 Marathon 2:04:48 2:20:25 20 kilometres race walk 1:18:24 1:25:11 50 kilometres race walk 3:40:37 —Pole vault 6.01 m Indoors 4.89 m High jump 2.38 m Indoors 2.06 m IndoorsLong jump 8.47 m 7.13 m Triple jump 17.98 m 15.25 m ARShot put 22.41 m 21.70 m IndoorsDiscus throw 71.45 m 67.78 m Javelin throw 90.37 m 68.89 m Hammer throw 80.99 m 78.30 m WRPentathlon — 4937 pts NRHeptathlon 6499 pts WR 6823 pts Decathlon 8483 pts —4 × 100 metres relay Trell KimmonsWallace SpearmonTyson GayMichael Rodgers 37.45 Olesya PovhNataliya PohrebnyakMariya RyemyenElizaveta Bryzhina 42.29 4 × 400 metres relay U23LeJerald BettersO'Neal WilderJoey HughesTavaris Tate 2:58.83 Anastasiya KapachinskayaAntonina KrivoshapkaKseniya UstalovaTatyana Firova 3:21.26
Awards
Men AwardWinner IAAF World Athlete of the Year Track & Field Athlete of the Year European Athlete of the Year European Athletics Rising Star
Women AwardWinner IAAF World Athlete of the Year Track & Field Athlete of the Year European Athlete of the Year European Athletics Rising Star
Doping
The highest profile doping case in 2010 was that of 400 m Olympic and World Champion LaShawn Merritt. He failed three out-of-competition tests in October and December 2009, and January 2010, testing positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on each occasion. He claimed that he had inadvertently ingested the substance via an over the counter sex enhancement drug he was using at the time (ExtenZe).Shipley, Amy (2010-04-23). Olympic 400-meter champ LaShawn Merritt tests positive for steroid. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2011-01-04. Initially set for a two-year ban,US 400m star LaShawn Merritt fails drug test. BBC Sport (2010-04-22). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. he received a reduced 21-month suspension from October 2010 to July 2012 as a result of his co-operation with anti-doping authorities. However, the seriousness of the doping substance meant he was automatically banned from defending his title at the 2012 London Olympics.Cazeneuve, Brian (2010-10-20). . Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
A major investigation by the Guardia Civil into doping in Spain, known as Operación Galgo, began in April 2010 and made headline news in December following a number of arrests.World champion Marta Dominguez suspended in drugs probe. BBC Sport (2010-12-10). Retrieved on 2010-12-11.Bezabeh and Fernández pull out of Euro Cross as Spanish doping probe continues . Athletics Weekly (2010-12-10). Retrieved on 2010-12-11. Marta Domínguez, world steeplechase champion and vice president of the Spanish Athletics Federation, was implicated in the blood doping ring.Dominguez detained in doping investigation . Athletics Weekly (2010-12-09). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. Manuel Pascua Piqueras, coach to a number of prominent runners, admitted to doping his athletes, while Alemayehu Bezabeh (the 2009 European Cross Country Champion) admitted to using banned substances.La Guardia Civil interroga a Nuria Fernández y Reyes Estévez. El País (2010-12-10). Retrieved on 2010-12-11.
Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser received a six-month ban after a positive test for pain relief narcotic oxycodone at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting. Her coach Stephen Francis, who had the painkiller on prescription for his kidney stones, gave the banned substance to his athlete to relieve her toothache.Shelly-Anne Fraser handed six-month ban for failing drug test. The Guardian (2010-10-06). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser fails drugs test . BBC Sport (2010-07-09). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
Another sprinter Laverne Jones-Ferrette ran the fastest 60 metres in a decade in February, but was absent from outdoor competition in 2010. This was later explained by the revelation that she had failed a drug test for clomiphene on February 16. The substance can be used as a complement to steroid cycles, but can also act as a fertility drug and Jones-Ferrette (who announced her pregnancy in November) claimed this was the intended usage. She was banned from competition for six months, lasting from April to September, and lost her silver medal from the World Indoor Championships.Laverne Jones-Ferrette stripped of world indoor medal after positive test . Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2011-01-04. Bobby-Gaye Wilkins won a relay medal for Jamaica at the same championships, but she was also stripped of her medal after testing positive for andarine – a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM).Lowe, Andrew (2010-09-09). Wilkins banned for two years . Jamaica Star. Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
A series of athletes were disqualified from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi as a result of in-competition testing. Nigerians Samuel Okon and Oludamola Osayomi (the 100 m gold medallist) were banned for using the stimulant methylhexanamine. A third Nigerian, Folashade Abugan who won silver medals in the 400 m individual and relay races, failed a drug test for traces of testosterone prohormone and was stripped of her honoursCommonwealth Games 2010: Third Nigerian tests positive. BBC Sport (2010-10-15). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. Indian racewalker Rani Yadav was also banned after testing positive for 19-Norandrosterone.Bull, Andy (2010-10-13). Commonwealth Games 2010: Indian athlete tests positive for drugs. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2010-10-15.
Retired American sprinters Ramon Clay and Crystal Cox received retrospective bans from the United States Anti-Doping Agency due to their steroid usage relating to the BALCO scandal period from 2001 to 2004. Cox was stripped of her Olympic relay gold medal as a result.U.S. track star Crystal Cox suspended. United Press International (2010-01-29). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.Ramon Clay suspended for steroids use. ESPN (2010-10-22). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. Former Jamaican runner Raymond Stewart was given a life ban from coaching for trafficking and administering banned substances as part of an ongoing investigation. Olympic Bahraini sprinter Roqaya Al-Gassra was banned for two years.IAAF Newsletter - Edition 115 . IAAF (2010-07-20). Retrieved on 2010-08-08. Other prominent athletes to receive suspensions included South American triple jump champion Johana Triviño (two years for stanozolol), Asian indoor champion Munira Saleh (life ban for second violation with stanozolol),Athletes Currently Suspended. IAAF (2010-12-01). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. and 2010 CAC Games medallist Zudikey Rodríguez (methylhexanamine).Zudikey Rodríguez reconoce que tomó suplemento . Informador (2010-08-11). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.
Deaths February 6 — Kipkemboi Kimeli (43), Kenyan long-distance runnerKenyan Olympic Medalist Dies. Albuquerque Journal (2010-02-09). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. February 17 — Luigi Ulivelli (74), Italian long jumper and Mediterranean championGustavo Pallicca(2010-02-21)CI HA LASCIATI LUIGI ULIVELLI . Athleticanet. Retrieved on 2011-01-04. February 17 — David Lelei (38), Kenyan middle-distance runner and Africa Games medallistKenyan middle distance runner David Lelei killed in car crash. IAAF (2010-02-18). Retrieved on 2011-01-04. March 2 — Paul Drayton (70), American sprinter and 1960 Olympic medallistCleveland Olympian Paul Drayton dies at age 70 from cancer . Cleveland (2010-03-02). Retrieved on 2011-01-04.