World Athletics Day 2021: History, significance and everything else you need to know about occasion

World Athletics Day, an occasion to promote sporting activities, was started in 1996 by the then President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Primo Nebiolo. It was started with the aim of spreading awareness among youngsters about athletics.

World Athletics Day 2021

As per News18.com, in 2021, several National Federations participated in the World Athletics Day on 5 May, while others will be participating in the on Wednesday, 12 May.

World Athletics Day History

The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) was founded on 17 July, 1912 in Sweden’s Stockholm. The name later changed to the International Association of Athletics Federations.

In 2019, the organisation became World Athletics. It is the governing body for the sport of track and field athletics. The many roles of World Athletics as a world governing authority are to create a competition programme, to standardise technical equipment, and to prepare a list of official world records.

World Athletics Day was founded back in 1996 when World Athletics was the International Association of Athletics Federations.

World Athletics Day significance

The day aims to encourage people to participate in athletic activities. World Athletics Day gave an opportunity to several schools, colleges, and other institutions to enhance the participation of children in various sporting activities.

World Athletics has several objectives behind organising World Athletics Day. These include giving a boost to athletics and making it the primary sport in schools and institutions, popularising sporting activities among youth, and increasing public awareness about sporting activities.