The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, poised at the 19th edition, is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, this March. Scheduled between March 1-3, it will feature ample star power competing for myriad titles, glory and lucrative prize money. A total of 133 teams are sending in 651 athletes to compete in 26 events, 13 for each men’s and women’s category. It is a major milestone, as the first significant event building momentum towards the Summer Olympics this year.

As the world’s elite track & field athletes will gather at Glasgow to claim the global indoor titles, it becomes pertinent to have a key understanding of the event, including its history, development, and major moments across these years.

When was the first World Indoor Athletics Championships held? A look at its origin

The international governing body, World Athletics, organized the World Indoor Athletics Championships for the first time ever in 1985 in Paris. Inaugurated as the World Indoor Games, the event was later renamed in 1987 as the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

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Held every two years, this indoor track and field competition is a much-coveted event. However, it was held consecutively in 2003 and 2004 as adjustments were made according to the World Athletics Championships (outdoors).

Initially hosted in Indianapolis after Paris, the championship involved major participation from American and Canadian athletes. It was due to the indoor competitive tradition in North America. But, as prize money was introduced in 1991 and the enlargement with the addition of new events like men’s and women’s pentathlon, the outreach grew. It now garners global participation even from non-Western nations.

Greatest moments from the event: Know the World Indoor Athletics Championships’s glorious history

Maria de Lurdes Mutola (Mozambique) and Natalya Nazarova have won seven gold medals at the World Indoor Athletics in the women’s category. Mutola reigned between 1993-2008 in women’s 800m, whereas Nazarova clinched gold between 1999-2008 in 400m and 4x400m relay.

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Athletes with stellar gold medals include Iván Pedroso in the men’s Long Jump (1993-2001), Stefka Kostadinova in the women’s High Jump, and Genzebe Dibaba in the women’s 1,500m and 3,000m (2012-2018).

Some other phenomenal performances include that of Mondo Duplantis, who went on to set his third and fourth world records at the indoor championship in Belgrade at 6.19 m and 6.20m.

As the Indoor Championship at Glasgow is just a few days away, the beckoning of formidable talent for the precursor event to the 2024 Paris Olympics will be the mst cathartic experiences of their lives.

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