2010 in athletics (track and field)

2010 in athletics
David Rudisha twice broke the 800 m world record
Major world events	2010 World Indoor Championships
World records set	10
New competitions	IAAF Diamond League
← 2009 2011 →

In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The foremost championships to be held in 2010 included: the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 European Athletics Championships, 2010 African Championships in Athletics, and Athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Two major competitions debuted in new formats. The IAAF Diamond League – a worldwide expansion on the European-centred IAAF Golden League concept – saw a schedule of fourteen one-day meetings with some of the sport's most prominent athletes centrally contracted to a track and field series for the first time. The second competition was the renamed IAAF Continental Cup (formerly World Cup) which had its format simplified: previously a contest between several countries and continents, it comprised only four teams (Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia/Oceania).

The highest profile doping case in 2010 was that of 400 m Olympic and World Champion LaShawn Merritt. He failed three out-of-competition tests in October and December 2009, and January 2010, testing positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on each occasion. He claimed that he had inadvertently ingested the substance via an over the counter sex enhancement drug he was using at the time (ExtenZe). Initially set for a two-year ban, he received a reduced 21-month suspension from October 2010 to July 2012 as a result of his co-operation with anti-doping authorities. However, the seriousness of the doping substance meant he was automatically banned from defending his title at the 2012 London Olympics.