The IAAF Grand Prix was an annual, global circuit of one-day outdoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was created in 1985 as the IAAF's first seasonal track and field circuit and lasted until 2009. Athletes scored points based on their performances on the circuit and the top athletes were invited to the annual IAAF Grand Prix Final.

The IAAF Grand Prix expanded over its lifetime to incorporate the IAAF Golden League, the IAAF Super Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix and IAAF Grand Prix II. IAAF/Area Permit Meetings were also attached to the series, allowing athletes to score additional points in certain events at lower level meetings. In 2003 the series concept was renamed at the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings and the Grand Prix was reduced to a single tier of competitions within that tour. The series was again folded into the IAAF World Athletics Tour upon its creation in 2006, before being rendered defunct by the introduction of the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge in 2010.

History Created in 1985, the IAAF Grand Prix was the first global series of outdoor invitational track and field meetings organised by the IAAF.Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24. It followed on from the IAAF Golden Events (1978–82), where the IAAF helped finance meetings between the world's top athletes to encourage seasonal engagement with the sport outside of the Olympic cycle.Golden Events. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23. The creation of the IAAF Grand Prix circuit came two years after the first World Championships in Athletics in 1983, highlighting the sports governing body's pivot to a more direct role in organising athletics competitions.World Championships in Athletics. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23.

From 1985 to 1992 the series featured Grand Prix Meetings and IAAF Permit Meetings. The series culminated in the IAAF Grand Prix Final, which athletes gained qualification to based on their performances at the series' meetings.1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-27. The competing athletes at the final earned additional points for their performances there, and the series winner of each event was the athlete with the highest score (as opposed to the Grand Prix Final event winner).IAAF Grand Prix Final. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2019-09-23. In 1993 the Grand Prix format was amended so that the event winner was the first place athlete at the Final competitions, rather than the seasonal points leader, and this format continued until the last Grand Prix Final in 2002.

In 1993 the IAAF Council approved a new tier of IAAF Grand Prix II meetings, which Permit-level meetings could apply for after two years. That same year four of the Grand Prix meetings (Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin) organised a Golden Four group of top-level European meetings within the series.Abschied von der Golden League in Brüssel. Tagesspiegel (2009-09-04). Retrieved 2019-08-04.Die Geschichte des DKB-ISTAF Berlin . . ISTAF. Retrieved 2019-08-04.Grand Prix 1997. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24. In response, the IAAF Grand Prix series was again expanded with the foundation of the IAAF Golden League in 1998, which split out the Golden Four meetings (plus the Herculis and Golden Gala meets) as a new top tier within the IAAF Grand Prix circuit. Athletics: Golden Four extended with more money and meetings. The Independent (1997-11-22). Retrieved 2019-09-23. After this point, the IAAF Grand Prix referred to multiple concepts in that it was both an annual series of track and field meetings incorporating four tiers (the IAAF Golden League, IAAF Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix II and Area Permit Meetings) as well as a term to refer to the second and third tiers of that series. In 2003, an IAAF Super Grand Prix level was added to the circuit, the IAAF Permit Meeting tier was dropped, and the Grand Prix Final was replaced with the IAAF World Athletics Final.Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-31.

In 2003 the IAAF World Outdoor Meetings brand superseded the IAAF Grand Prix to the umbrella series concept and Grand Prix levels I and II continued within that series.IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24. In 2006, the IAAF World Athletics Tour was formed to replace the World Outdoor Meetings and at this time the IAAF Grand Prix II tier was dropped in favour of an Area Permit Meeting structure. The IAAF Grand Prix was made defunct along with the World Athletics Tour in 2010, as both were replaced by the IAAF Diamond League and IAAF World Challenge series.

Editions The IAAF Grand Prix calendar was subject to change during its lifetime, with the number of meetings, the constituent meetings, the categorisation of meetings, and the duration of the series all regularly changing from year to year. Athletes received points based on their performances at the meetings on the circuit, with more points being given at the more prestigious and competitive competitions. From 2006 to 2009, series points could also be scored in certain events at Area Permit Meeting qualifiers (APM-Qs), although the meetings themselves were not considered a formal part of the meeting series.

A total of seven meeting categories existed over the lifetime of the circuit:

GL : IAAF Golden League SGP : IAAF Super Grand Prix GP : IAAF Grand Prix GP2 : IAAF Grand Prix II GPF : IAAF Grand Prix Final WAF : IAAF World Athletics Final PM : IAAF/Area Permit Meeting

Key:

EditionYearStart dateEnd dateMeetsGLSGPGPGP2PMFinalFinal date 1 1985 25 May 7 September 15 – – 15 – ? 1985 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September 2 1986 3 May 21 September 15 – – 15 – 13 1986 IAAF Grand Prix Final 10 September 3 1987 23 April 11 September 15* – – 15 – ? 1987 IAAF Grand Prix Final 11 September 4 1988 28 May 26 August 16 – – 16 – ? 1988 IAAF Grand Prix Final 13 September 5 1989 27 May 1 September 16 – – 16 – ? 1989 IAAF Grand Prix Final 1 September 6 1990 20 May 7 September 19 – – 19 – ? 1990 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September 7 1991 19 May 20 September 18 – – 18 – ? 1991 IAAF Grand Prix Final 20 September 8 1992 25 February 19 September 17 – – 17 – 15 1992 IAAF Grand Prix Final 4 September 9 1993 25 February 10 September 16 – – 16 – 12 1993 IAAF Grand Prix Final 10 September 10 1994 24 February 15 September 23 – – 15 8 8 1994 IAAF Grand Prix Final 3 September 11 1995 23 February 15 September 24 – – 15 9 10 1995 IAAF Grand Prix Final 9 September 12 1996 29 February 16 September 29 – – 17 12 10 1996 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 September Grand Prix & Grand Prix II. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-10-01. 13 1997 20 February 20 September 26 – – 16 10 12 1997 IAAF Grand Prix Final 13 September Outdoor Permit Meetings 1997. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-10-01. 14 1998 25 February 30 August 26 6 – 9 11 11 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final 5 September 1998 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.1998 IAAF Outdoor Permit Meeting. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-23. 15 1999 25 February 5 September 28 7 – 10 11 ? 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final 11 September 1999 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 16 2000 2 March 3 September 26 7 – 9 10 13 2000 IAAF Grand Prix Final 5 October 2000 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.2002 IAAF Permit Meeting. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24. 17 2001 1 March 2 September 28 7 – 10 11 11 2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final 9 September 2001 Grand Prix Standings. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.2001 IAAF Permit Meeting. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24. 18 2002 7 March 8 September 27 7 – 9 11 10 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final 14 September Grand Prix Schedule 2002. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.2002 IAAF Permit Meeting. IAAF (archived). Retrieved 2019-09-24. 19 2003 1 March 7 September 34 6 7 10 11 – 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final 13–14 September Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 20 2004 12 February 12 September 34 6 8 9 11 – 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final 18–19 September Grand Prix Schedule 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 21 2005 17 February 4 September 34 6 8 10 10 – 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final 9–10 September Grand Prix Schedule 2005. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 22 2006 9 March 3 September 24 6 6 12 – 25 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final 9–10 September World Athletics Tour 2006. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 23 2007 2 March 16 September 24 6 5 13 – 27 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final 22–23 September World Athletics Tour 2007. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 24 2008 28 September 2007 9 September 2008 25 6 5 14 – 29 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final 13–14 September World Athletics Tour Results 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2008. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 25 2009 20 September 2008 6 September 2009 25 6 5 14 – 29 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final 12–13 September World Athletics Tour Results 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.Area Permit Meetings scoring for World Athletics Tour 2009. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.

* Additionally in the 1987 season, four North American meetings each organized four or five individual events with Grand Prix status.

Meetings