World Masters Athletics Championships

The World Masters Athletics Championships (WMAC) are the athletics world championships for senior citizens aged 35 and over. They have been held every two years since 1975. According to the classification of the IAAF , the best are determined in age groups in 5-year steps. Between 1992 and 2004, road running world championships were held every two years. Since 2004 there have been the indoor world championships in the winter season, alternating annually with the outdoor competitions.

history

The first organized senior athletes were long-distance runners, who in 1968 organized themselves as the interest group for older long-distance runners (IGÄL) and held their own marathon championships in the Netherlands. Their goal was generally recognized competitions in their own age groups. The founders of the IGÄL included Arthur Lainbert , Meinrad Nägele , Dr. Ernst van Aaken and the Belgian Jacques Serruys .

Simultaneously and independently of the street running movement, smaller associations and clubs of senior athletes have already been formed in various countries. In 1965, for example, the first USA Masters Track and Field Team was formed in the USA, led by lawyer David Pain . In 1972 Woodford Green AC organized the first real international senior athletics competitions at the Crystal Palace National Sports Center in London . Groups from the USA, Canada and Australia took part in them.

I. WMA in Toronto

The first WMA championships were held in Toronto in 1975 by the Canadian Masters Association under the direction of Don Farquharson . Athletes from 32 countries took part in them. Among them was Cesare Beccalli , the only participant from Italy, who was in charge of founding the Italian Seniors' Association and two years later hosted the first championships of the European Veterans Athletic Association (EVAA). Other prominent participants were 90-year-old Duncan MacLean and Roy Fowler .

The World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA) also came together during the first world championships for seniors. The governing body consisted of Jack Fitzgerald (GBR); Don Farquharson (CAN), as well as David Pain (USA), Wal Sheppard (AUS), Maeve Kyle (NIR), Jacques Serruys (BEL), Robert Fine (USA), lan Hume (CAN) and Konrad Hernelind (SWE).

II. WMA in Gothenburg

In the run-up to the championships, there were discussions with the IAAF about the admission of participants who had lost their amateur status. With the visit of the then President of the IAAF, Adriaan Paulen , to the championships and his enthusiasm, an agreement became possible. Two months after the competitions, WAVA was granted the sole right to decide on the admission of athletes. The age limit was set at 40 for men and 35 for women. Rule 53 of the IAAF has been amended accordingly.

2750 athletes took part in the championships in Slottskogsvallen Stadium. One of the most outstanding moments was the encounter between the 1972 Olympic discus champion Ludvík Daněk from Czechoslovakia and the multiple Olympic champion Al Oerter from the USA. In the run, the appearances of Roy Fowler (Great Britain) and Gaston Roelants (Belgium) were significant. Roelants ran a senior world record over 3000 meters obstacle and then ended his active career. The blind sprinter Fritz Assmy (Germany), who had dominated the race for a long time, started for the first time in Gothenburg . Other championship debutants were the Australians Tony Blue and Noel Clough (800 m), the Swiss javelin thrower Urs von Wartburg and Jan Hesselberg from Norway. Once again, Jack Greenwood and the now 92-year-old Duncan MacLean attracted attention.

In Gothenburg the women's competitions were also more present for the first time, underlined by the senior debut of Miki Gormann (USA).

WAVA was officially founded on August 9, 1977. The management was expanded to include representatives from the individual continents and a statute was adopted.