History
The previous format (known as the IAAF World Cup) included separate men's and women's competitions. Eight teams would take part in each event - five continental and three national. If the stadium had a ninth lane, the host nation could also enter a team. The winning men's and women's teams (and runners-up) from the preceding European Team Championships qualified as national teams for the World Cup, together with the United States. The continental teams comprised Africa, Asia, Oceania, the rest of America (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association and Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo), and the rest of Europe.
Beginning with the 2010 event in Split, Croatia, the format was changed and the competition renamed the IAAF Continental Cup. The number of regional teams was reduced to four: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe and the Americas. National teams were eliminated from the competition. In addition, the separate men's and women's competitions were merged; the continental teams now compete for a single mixed championship.
Read more about this topic: IAAF Continental Cup
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It’s nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I’m bloody close.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)
“These anyway might think it was important
That human history should not be shortened.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)