Since 1998, the IAAF Golden League has provided many magical athletic moments. IAAF Editorial Manager Chris Turner has selected some of his own. Seven meetings, seven golden moments!

Oslo - Exxon Mobil Bislett Games: [ more ]
Oslo will forever be associated in my mind with Trine Hattestad's 69.48m world record in the women's Javelin in 2000. There is nothing better than watching a national heroine at the top of her form on home ground. The blonde Norwegian's throw repaid the local crowd's unstinting support throughout a long career, and the spectators' wild reception of the new world mark returned the affection in style. A truly magical moment.

Paris - Meeting Gaz De France Paris Saint-Denis: [ more ]
The size of the audience in Paris in recent years (more than 50,000) has made a memorable impression. However, if I was to select a single personal memory it would be from 2000 when Morocco's Ali Ezzine led home a whole army of Kenyans in the steeplechase, becoming then, with 8:03.57 the best ever non Kenyan at the distance. For one day at least the "chase" was not a Kenyan "parade" event.

Rome - Golden Gala: [ more ]
My best memory? I would say "memories" since I can recall every race ever run by Hicham El Guerrouj in Rome's magnificent Olympic stadium. 1 Mile (1999) and 1500m (1998) world records are something you never forget and the manner of the great Moroccan's triumph over Noah Ngeny in the 1999 race will always stay fresh in my mind.

Monte Carlo, Monaco - Herculis: [ more ]
The men's 800m last year when Switzerland's soon to be crowned world champion Andre Bucher defeated the fast finishing Russian Yuriy Borzakovskiy, 1:42.90 to 1:43.17, remains a freeze-frame image. Perhaps my real memory should have been watching Kenya's Raymond Yator break the world junior Steeplechase record with 8:03.74 the year before. But, to be honest, I hardly noticed at first, since I was watching the front of the race and the marvelous duel between Kenya's Bernard Barmasai (8:02.76) and Brahim Boulami (8:02.90).

Zurich - Weltklasse Zurich: [ more ]
1999 was Gabriela Szabo's year. She became Overall Grand Prix champion and won the Golden League Jackpot too. Her 3000m in Zurich that season was simply superb. She ran the world's leading time of the year (8:25.03) and dragged national records out of second and third place finishers Morocco's Zahra Ouaziz (8:26.48) and Britain's Paula Radcliffe (8:27.40). That race proved, beyond any doubt, that Szabo was peerless that year. But you can't recall Zurich without mentioning the tremendous din from the capacity crowd which reverberates from the tin roofs of the stands. Seeing a top performance in Zurich is a spine-tingling experience

Brussels - Memorial Van Damme: [ more ]
I have to say that the music concert is always a great finale for the huge audience which packs into the Stade Roi Baudouin each year. But as an addict of great 10,000m running, seeing the emergence in 1999 of a future Edmonton world champion Charles Kamathi was something special. The virtually unknown Kenyan's 26:51.49 was eye-opening and there was a "local" flavour to savour too as Belgium's Mohammed Mourhit broke the European record with 26:52.30, just behind Kamathi.

Berlin - ISTAF: [ more ]
This is the most recent of all my recollections! For me, Berlin brings back memories of last summer and the completion of an unbroken series of Golden League victories (seven) for Violeta Szekely. The Romanian won the 1500m in 4:00.80 to impressively conclude a string of gutsy and determined races at Europe's top venues. And as a student of history, I must also admit that Berlin's Olympic Stadium is one of the most evocative in the world. You can still sense the ghost of Jesse Owens there ...

The above segment is taken directly from the IAAF site : www.iaaf.org