The Introduction of IAAF: Part 1 – Foundation and Growth

In many countries athletics was banned by royal ordinances along with other sporting events until the 16th Century because sports were believed to interfere with archery, the key military training discipline. In the 17th Century, athletics was revived and in the 18th Century, long-distance races took place on public roads in various areas. The runners were later arranged to go around a designated stadium as requested by the public which was interested in watching the competitions.

It was in the 1840s that colleges and universities began to re-adopted and sponsor athletic events. Athletics populatiry continued to grow quickl from the 1880's to the 1920's as many nations established their own national sports associations.

As the Olympic Games and international athletics developed, there was a need for an international organization to steer the athletics championships. The organization was required to establish an universal set of rules and regulations, as well as develop a certification system for the Olympic Games and World Records.

 

A conference was held two days after the closing ceremony of the Stockholm Olympic Games, which was attended by representatives from 17 countries, namely: U.S.A., Greece, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Australia, Austria, Egypt, England, Chile, Canada, Finland, France, and Hungary.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) was thus founded as the head of the international athletics organizations.

According to the IAAF, the Stockholm Congress was recorded as the First Official Congress, as it was there that the foundations for all other Congresses were established.

In 1913, the first edition of the IAAF Constitution was approved by the Berlin Congress in Germany, where 34 nations were registered as members of the IAAF. The Berlin Congress also elected J. Sigfried Edström (SWE) as the first President of the IAAF; Kristian Hellström (SWE) was elected as the Honorary Secretary/Treasurer. 

In 1914, the Lyon Congress in France approved the first technical rules for international competitions and the inaugural list of official world records. Subsequent congresses laid out the foundations that helped propel the sport of athletics and the IAAF as we know today. Among the achievements were:

Year	Congress	Achievement
1926	8th Congress The Hague (NED)	Rules for photofinish judging was developed
1928	9th Congress Amsterdam (NED)	Approval of first anti-doping regulations
1936	13th Congress Berlin (GER)	Incorporation of women's athletics that created a unified, single sport
1982	33rd Congress Athens (GRE)	Amateurism was abolished (the term "Amateur" was removed in the IAAF title in 2001)

The next story of IAAF is the growth and organization and the event they are conducting.