1980 World Championships in Athletics
| Host city | Sittard, Netherlands | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nations participating | 21 | ||
| Athletes participating | 42 | ||
| Events | 2 | ||
| Dates | 14–16 August 1980 | ||
| Main venue | De Baandert | ||
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The 1980 World Championships in Athletics was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, Netherlands, it featured two events: the women's 400 metres hurdles and the women's 3000 metres run. West Germany's Birgit Friedmann took the first women's world title in the 3000 m, while her East German counterpart Bärbel Broschat became the first women's 400 m hurdles world champion.
Historically, the IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed that the Athletics at the Summer Olympics served as the world championship event for the sport. The IAAF began to expand its programme of approved events for women and this conflicted with the Olympic athletics programme. The 400 m hurdles was recently introduced event for female athletes while the 3000 m marked the increasing popularity of long-distance running events among women. Neither event was contested at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The boycott of those Olympics and the presence of the Liberty Bell Classic (an alternative event for the boycotting nations) gave the IAAF additional incentive to hold its own competition; although the Soviet Union withdrew, the events in Sittard attracted entries from countries on both sides of the Western and Eastern divide.
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