The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) is no more. The IAAF Congress has approved the proposal to change its name to World Athletics.
The change was proposed and agreed upon by the IAAF Council in June and was put forth for the Congress approval. The athletics body, in session prior to the start of the World Athletics Championships in Doha, had also re-elected Sebastian Coe as its president for a second term.
The IAAF was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation but changed its name to the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001 to reflect the fact that its top competitors were no longer amateur.
The new brand identity will begin its rollout in October after the World Athletics Championships which starts on Friday.
The new name builds upon the organisation’s restructuring and governance reform agenda of the past four years to represent a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport.
The Council had moved to rebrand the organisation to make the sport more accessible to a wider audience while giving the global governing body the opportunity to more clearly communicate its mission as the leader of the world’s most participatory sport.
The World Athletics logo consists of three main elements. The “W” of World is a symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory, while the “A” of Athletics represents an athlete’s focus as they prepare for the road ahead.
The arc over both letters represent the entire athletics community coming together.
A running track also appears in an upward trajectory, symbolising the desire to continually push beyond limits.
The patterns capture the energy present in all four of athletics’ group disciplines, which are running, jumping, throwing and walking.
The IAAF Congress also elected Ximena Restrepo, Sergey Bubka, Geoffrey Gardner and Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud as Vice Presidents.
Chilean Restrepo, the 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medallist from Colombia, will become the first woman to serve as a Vice President.
The Congress also elected new members of the Council. The newly elected members are Hiroshi Yokokawa (Jpn), Antti Pihlakoski (Fin), Anna Riccardi (Ita), Nan Wang (Chn), Adille Sumariwalla (Ind), Nawal El Moutawakel (Mar), Abby Hoffman (Can), Sylvia Barlag (Ned), Alberto Juantorena (Cub), Willie Banks (USA), Raul Chapado (Esp), Dobromir Karamarinov (Bul) and Beatrice Ayikoru (Uga)
The Council will be composed of 26 members, eight of whom are women. The 13 newly elected members will be joined by six Area Presidents and two members of the Athletes’ Commission, one man and one woman, including the Chair.
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