2005 World Championships in Athletics 2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic events, some of which were included as exhibition events. Much of the event was played in extremely heavy rainfall. The original winning bid for the competition was for London but the cost to build the required stadium at Picketts Lock and host the event was
2009 World Championships in Athletics record of 1,821 athletes set at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville. The 100 metres race attracted 100 entries, while the Marathon race listed 101 athletes for competition. The event was expected to be the largest sports gathering in 2009, continuing in the vein of the World Championships in Athletics being the third largest sports event after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the