1976 World Championships in Athletics

The International Olympic Committee had decided to drop the men's 50 km walk from the Olympic athletics programme for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, despite its constant presence at the games since 1932. The IAAF chose to host its own world championship event instead, a month and a half after the Olympics.Matthews, Peter (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dQFHe9RwE0wC Historical Dictionary of Track and Field] (pg. 217). Scarecrow Press (eBook). Retrieved on 2013-09-08.[http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013] (pg. 179). IAAF/AFTS (2013). Edited by Mark Butler. Retrieved on 2013-09-09.

It was the first World Championships that the IAAF had hosted separate from the Olympic Games (traditionally the main championship for the sport) and race winner Soviet athlete Veniamin Soldatenko (runner-up at the 1972 Olympics) became the first ever IAAF world champion and at 37 years and 258 days he remains the oldest male athlete to win that accolade. Mexico's Enrique Vera came second and Finnish walker Reima Salonen was third. A total of 42 walkers representing 20 countries entered the championships race and 37 finished, with four failed to finish and one being disqualified.[http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013] (pg. 20). IAAF/AFTS (2013). Edited by Mark Butler. Retrieved on 2013-09-09.

This marked the beginning of a move away from this arrangement as a 1976 IAAF Council meeting decided that the organisation would host its own, full-programme, championships on a quadrennial basis. The two-race 1980 World Championships in Athletics filled in for the lack of a women's 400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres run at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The competition came of age at the 41-event 1983 World Championships in Athletics, which is considered the first edition proper.[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/wc.htm IAAF World Championships in Athletics]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-08.{{cite web|title = 12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009.|url = http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf|publisher = IAAF Media & Public Relations Department

|location = Monte Carlo|pages = 153|year = 2009|accessdate = 5 August 2009|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20110629134819/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf|archivedate = 29 June 2011}}

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;Results

• [http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013] (pg. 179). IAAF/AFTS (2013). Edited by Mark Butler. Retrieved on 2013-09-09.

• [http://www.iaaf.org Official IAAF website]

{{1976 in athletics}}

{{IAAF World Championships in Athletics}}

{{Racewalking at the World Championships in Athletics}}

{{Footer World Champions 50 km Walk Men}}

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Category:World Athletics Championships

Category:1976 World Championships in Athletics

World Championships

Category:International athletics competitions hosted by Sweden

Category:International sports competitions in Malmö

World Championships in Athletics

Category:Sports competitions in Malmö

Category:Men's athletics competitions

Category:1970s in Malmö