The IAAF World Outdoor Meetings were 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 2003 building upon the IAAF Grand Prix series held since 1985. The series incorporated four categories of competitions: the IAAF Golden League, IAAF Super Grand Prix, IAAF Grand Prix I and IAAF Grand Prix II. The reorganisation came with the introduction of the IAAF World Rankings system.World Athletics Final – a new concept based on a tradition of quality. IAAF (2003-07-18). Retrieved 2019-10-01. Athletes scored points based on their performances at the series meetings and the highest scoring athletes in each event were invited to compete at the IAAF World Athletics Final. The series lasted only three years before being reorganised into the IAAF World Athletics Tour.Turner, Chris (2005). IAAF - World Athletics Tour. International Sports Press Association. Retrieved on 2009-09-11.
Prior to 2003, the IAAF Grand Prix had featured four levels (Golden League, Grand Prix I and II, and IAAF Permit Meetings) and an IAAF Grand Prix Final with a limited set of events. The World Outdoor Meetings series made the Permit Meetings defunct, with most such meetings being merged into the Grand Prix II level, introduced the Super Grand Prix as the secondary level of competition, and replaced the Grand Prix Final with the World Athletics Final.IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.Grand Prix Schedule 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
Editions A total of five 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 WAF : IAAF World Athletics Final
EditionYearStart dateEnd dateMeetsGLSGPGPGP2FinalFinal date 1 2003 1 March 7 September 34 6 7 10 11 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final 13–14 September IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2003. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 2 2004 12 February 12 September 34 6 8 9 11 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final 18–19 September IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01. 3 2005 17 February 4 September 34 6 8 10 10 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final 9–10 September IAAF World Outdoor Meetings 2005. IAAF. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
Meetings The IAAF World Outdoor Meetings calendar remained mostly unchanged during its three years of existence. A total of 34 meetings were present for each season. The Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix was added to the Super Grand Prix Level for the second and third years. The Helsinki Grand Prix was dropped from the Grand Prix category in 2004. The Adidas Oregon Track Classic was dropped from the Grand Prix II category in 2005. The Grand Prix II meeting Cena Slovenska - Slovak Gold was held in the first year only and was replaced by the Grande Premio Rio de Atletismo meet for the final two years.
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.
# Meeting City Country 200320042005 1 ISTAF Berlin Berlin Germany GL GL GL 2 Bislett Games Oslo Norway GL GL GL 3 Golden Gala Rome Italy GL GL GL 4 Weltklasse Zürich Zürich Switzerland GL GL GL 5 Memorial Van Damme Brussels Belgium GL GL GL 6 Meeting Areva Saint-Denis France GL GL GL 7 Herculis Monte Carlo Monaco WAFWAFWAF 8 Athletissima Lausanne Switzerland SGP SGP SGP 9 London Grand Prix London United Kingdom SGP SGP SGP 10 DN Galan Stockholm Sweden SGPSGPSGP 11 British Grand Prix Gateshead United Kingdom SGP SGP SGP 12 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria Athens Greece SGP SGP SGP 13 Golden Spike Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic SGP SGP SGP 14 Meeting de Atletismo Madrid Madrid Spain SGP SGP SGP 15 Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix Doha Qatar -SGPSGP 16 Prefontaine Classic Eugene United States GP GP GP 17 Osaka Grand Prix Osaka Japan GPGPGP 18 Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo Belém Brazil GP GP GP 19 Meeting Lille-Métropole Villeneuve-d'Ascq France GP GP GP 20 FBK Games Hengelo Netherlands GPGPGP 21 Rieti Meeting Rieti Italy GPGPGP 22 Hanžeković Memorial Zagreb Croatia GP GP GP 23 Gran Premio Diputación Seville Spain GP GP GP 24 Gugl Grand Prix Linz Austria GP GPGP 25 Helsinki Grand Prix Helsinki Finland GP-GP 26 Melbourne Track Classic Melbourne Australia GP2 GP2 GP2 27 Brothers Znamensky Memorial Kazan Russia GP2 GP2 GP2 28 International Meeting Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece GP2 GP2 GP2 29 Palo Alto Meeting Palo Alto United States GP2 GP2 GP2 30 Meeting du Conseil Général de la Martinique Fort-de-France France GP2 GP2 GP2 31 Notturna di Milano Milan Italy GP2 GP2 GP2 32 Memorial Primo Nebiolo Turin Italy GP2 GP2 GP2 33 Josef Odložil Memorial Prague Czech Republic GP2 GP2 GP2 34 KBC Night of Athletics Heusden-Zolder Belgium GP2 GP2 GP2 35 Adidas Oregon Track Classic Gresham United States GP2 GP2 - 36 Cena Slovenska - Slovak Gold Bratislava Slovakia GP2 - - 37 Grande Premio Rio de Atletismo Rio de Janeiro Brazil - GP2 GP2 The 2003 Athens Grand Prix Tsiklitiria was held in Trikala and the 2004 meeting in Heraklion The 2003 Brothers Znamensky Memorial was held in Tula, Russia The 2004 Adidas Oregon Track Classic was held in Portland, Oregon
References
External links IAAF World Athletics Tour