The 7th IAAF World Championships in Athletics – Seville 1999

1999 was a huge year for the world; the Euro was established, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France and the last IAAF World Championships of the 20th Century was held in Seville, Spain!

Known as the artistic, cultural and financial capital of southern Spain, Seville was a great choice for the 7^th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Though the city has much to see with its amazing history, the athletics community was worried about the extreme heat and humidity during the event. The city has an average high of 35 °C, which can be very taxing on athletes and spectators in the stadium.

Poster

Emblem & Moscot

This Event was held in the 57,000 seat, multi-purpose venue, the Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla, which was later used to host the 2003 UEFA Cup Final as well as concerts by Madonna and U2.

The Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla

It was at the IAAF World Championships in Seville that the Men’s 100m and 200m regained its popularity after the retirement of Carl Lewis (USA). This year fellow American Maurice Green took both the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m Relay gold medals.

One of the most astounding moments of the Seville World Championships, was Michael Johnson’s (USA) 400m performance. Though he had suffered injuries in 1999 the athlete was able to overcome them and earn his fourth consecutive gold medal in the 400m and shattering the World Record with an astonishing time of 43.18.

This Championships was also one of firsts as the first ever North Korean medalist emerged. Sung-Ok Jung took the gold medal in the Women’s Marathon.