The Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) is an annual track and field athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. It was first held in July 1921 at the Deutsches Stadion, which was replaced from 1937 by the Stadium of the 1936 Olympic Games. Since 2006 ISTAF has been sponsored by DKB and officially known as the DKB-ISTAF and from 2010, had been part of the IAAF World Challenge, the second tier of global one day athletics events. Nowadays it's part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver tier, the third overall tier.

ISTAF Berlin
The Olympic Stadium in Berlin
DateAugust–September
StandortOlympiastadion, Berlin
Event typeTrack and field athletics
World Athletics Cat.B
Established1937
Official siteISTAF

History

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On 3 July 1921 the Berliner Sport-Club (BSC), the Sport-Club Charlottenburg (SCC) and the Schwimm-Club Poseidon organised the first sports festival under the current name of Internationales Stadionfest or ISTAF. On 23 March 1937 the BSC, the Deutscher Sport-Club (DSC, later Olympischer Sport-Club OSC) and the SCC, agreed to hold international sports festivals together and organized the first meeting on 1 August 1937 at the Olympic Stadium, where the event is still held today. Four ISTAF meetings, in 1938, 1941, the first post-war in 1949, as well as 1953, were all held at the Mommsen Stadium, but since 1955 meetings have been held annually at Berlin's Olympic Stadium in Charlottenburg. The 2002 and 2003 ISTAF meetings were held at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark instead, due to reconstruction of the Olympic Stadium in preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

There were several ISTAF-free years during the Second World War and after: 1940, as well as 1943-48 and again in 1950 and 1951. A meeting wasn't held in 1972 because of the 1972 Summer Olympics and again in 1973, as a result of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympic Games. From 1993 to 1997, the IAAF classified ISTAF among the Golden Four meetings and from 1998 to 2009, it became part of the IAAF Golden League. When the Diamond League was conceived, it had been provisionally planned for Berlin to hold one of its meetings, but it was unable to meet the criteria set for the new elite series, therefore as from 2010, ISTAF became part of the second tier World Challenge circuit instead.

Indoor events

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ISTAF was also held as an indoor meeting at the Deutschlandhalle for a few years until 1968, and from 2014 onwards as the ISTAF Indoor at the Mercedes Benz Arena (formerly O2 World Berlin), the first large indoor athletics event in Berlin for some time.

On 31 January 2021, the ISTAF Indoor Düsseldorf was held in Düsseldorf as the successor to the PSD Bank Meeting, against a larger backdrop at the ISS Dome. Meeting director and managing director of the ISTAF is Martin Seeber.

World records

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Over the course of its history, many world records have been set at the ISTAF.

World records set at the ISTAF Berlin
Year Event Record Athlete Nationality
1937 100 m 11.6 h Stanisława Walasiewicz   Polen
80 m hurdles 11.6 h Barbara Burke   Südafrika
1939 3000 m 8:24.4 h Miklós Szabó   Ungarn
Long jump 6.12 m Christel Schulz   German Reich
1970 3000 m steeplechase 8:22.0 h Kerry O'Brien   Australien
1975 100 m 9.9 h Steve Williams   Vereinigte Staaten
110 m hurdles 13.0 h Guy Drut   Frankreich
1977 High jump 1.97 m Rosemarie Ackermann   East Germany
High jump 2.00 m Rosemarie Ackermann   East Germany
1978 1000 m 2:32.0 h Ulrike Bruns   East Germany
400 m hurdles 55.44 Krystyna Kacperczyk   Polen
1985 1500 m 3:29.46 Saïd Aouita   Marokko
1989 10000 m 27:08.23 Arturo Barrios   Mexiko
1990 1000 m 2:30.67 Christine Wachtel   East Germany
1999 2000 m 4:44.79 Hicham El Guerrouj   Marokko
2010 800 m 1:41.09 David Rudisha   Kenia
2014 Hammer throw 79.58 m Anita Włodarczyk   Polen
2015 2000 m steeplechase 6:02.16 Virginia Nyambura Nganga   Kenia
2017 600 m 1:21.77 Caster Semenya   Südafrika
2019 2000 m steeplechase 5:52.80 Gesa-Felicitas Krause   Deutschland
2024 600 m 1:21.63 Mary Moraa   Kenia

Meeting records

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Men's meeting records of the ISTAF Berlin
Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref.
100 m 9.82 (−0.1 m/s) Yohan Blake   Jamaika 11 September 2011 [1][2]
200 m 19.97 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 30 August 1996
400 m 43.94 Michael Johnson   Vereinigte Staaten 27 August 1993
800 m 1:41.09 David Rudisha   Kenia 22 August 2010 [3]
1500 m 3:29.46 Saïd Aouita   Marokko 23 August 1985
Mile 3:45.60 Hicham El Guerrouj   Marokko 26 August 1997 [4]
2000 m 4:44.79 Hicham El Guerrouj   Marokko 7 September 1999 [5]
3000 m 7:28.99 Tariku Bekele   Äthiopien 22 August 2010 [6]
Two miles 8:17.6 h Rod Dixon   Neuseeland 21 August 1974 [7]
5000 m 12:50.55 Moses Ndiema Masai   Kenia 1 June 2008 [8]
10000 m 27:08.23 Arturo Barrios   Mexiko 18 August 1989
110 m hurdles 12.97 (+1.2 m/s) Aries Merritt   Vereinigte Staaten 2 September 2012 [9]
400 m hurdles 47.08 Karsten Warholm   Norwegen 13 September 2020 [10]
3000 m steeplechase 8:04.48 Paul Kipsiele Koech   Kenia 11 September 2011 [2][11]
High jump 2.36 m Javier Sotomayor   Cuba 30 August 1994
Pole vault 6.05 m Sergey Bubka   Ukraine 30 August 1994
Long jump 8.57 m (+0.5 m/s) Mike Powell   Vereinigte Staaten 21 August 1992
Triple jump 17.69 m (−0.5 m/s) Jonathan Edwards   Vereinigtes Königreich 30 August 1996
Shot put 21.61 m Ryan Whiting   Vereinigte Staaten 11 September 2011 [2][12]
Discus throw 70.60 m Lars Riedel   Deutschland 30 August 1996
Hammer throw 82.84 m Heinz Weis   West Germany 18 August 1989
Javelin throw 93.52 m (old design) Bob Roggy   Vereinigte Staaten 20 August 1982
91.30 m (current design) Jan Železný   Czechoslovakia 1 September 1995
4 × 100 m relay 37.65 Team USA I:
Jon Drummond
Bernard Williams
Curtis Johnson
Maurice Greene
  Vereinigte Staaten 1 September 2000 [13]

Women

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Women's meeting records of the ISTAF Berlin
Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref.
100 m 10.78 Marion Jones   Vereinigte Staaten 1 September 2000 [14]
200 m 21.96 (+0.2 m/s) Katrin Krabbe   Deutschland 10 September 1991
400 m 49.07 Tonique Williams-Darling   Bahamas 12 September 2004 [15]
600 m 1:21.63 Mary Moraa   Kenia 1 September 2024
800 m 1:54.99 Pamela Jelimo   Kenia 1 June 2008 [16]
1000 m 2:30.67 Christine Wachtel   East Germany 17 August 1990
1500 m 3:57.40 Laura Muir   Great Britain 13 September 2020 [10]
Mile 4:22.45 Marta Pen Freitas   Portugal 2 September 2018 [17]
3000 m 8:46.66 Natalya Artyomova   Soviet Union 18 August 1989
5000 m 14:08.79 Letesenbet Gidey   Äthiopien 3 September 2023 [18]
100 m hurdles 12.37 (+1.4 m/s) Yordanka Donkova   Bulgarien 15 August 1986
400 m hurdles 53.26 Deon Hemmings   Jamaika 26 August 1997
2000 m steeplechase 5:52.80 Gesa-Felicitas Krause   Deutschland 1 September 2019 [19]
3000 m steeplechase 9:03.70 Norah Jeruto   Kenia 27 August 2017 [20]
High jump 2.06 m Ariane Friedrich   Deutschland 14 June 2009 [21]
Pole vault 4.83 m Elena Isinbaeva   Russland 14 June 2009 [22]
Long jump 7.10 m Heike Drechsler   Deutschland 16 September 1992
Triple jump 14.88 m (−0.2 m/s) Tatyana Lebedeva   Russland 10 August 2003 [23]
Shot put 20.98 m Helena Fibingerová   Tschechische Republik 17 August 1984
Discus throw 71.16 m Valarie Allman   Vereinigte Staaten 12 September 2021 [24]
Hammer throw 79.58 m Anita Włodarczyk   Polen 31 August 2014 [25]
Javelin throw 74.56 m (old design) Petra Felke   East Germany 23 August 1985
70.53 m (current design) Maria Abakumova   Russland 1 September 2013 [26]
4 × 100 m relay 41.55 Team USA:
Alice Brown
Diane Williams
Florence Griffith Joyner
Jeanette Bolden
  Vereinigte Staaten 21 August 1987
4 × 100 m mixed relay 40.58 Kerron Stewart
Aleen Bailey
Mario Forsythe
Kemar Bailey-Cole
  Jamaika 2 September 2012 [27]

List of winners

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Track disciplines

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References

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  1. ^ "100 Metres Results". ISTAF. 11 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Ramsak, Bob (11 September 2011). "Blake dashes 9.82, one of four meet records to celebrate ISTAF's 90th birthday – Berlin Report – IAAF World Challenge". IAAF. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ^ "800 Metres Results". ISTAF. 22 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Mile Results". ISTAF. 26 August 1997. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  5. ^ "2000 Metres Results". ISTAF. 7 September 1999. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  6. ^ "3000 Metres Results". istaf.de. 22 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  7. ^ "ISTAF Race Winners". arrs.run. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  8. ^ "5000 Metres Results". ISTAF. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  9. ^ Jörg Wenig (2 September 2012). "Merritt sizzles 12.97, Harting wins 33rd straight in Berlin – IAAF World Challenge". IAAF. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  10. ^ a b Jörg Wenig (13 September 2020). "Warholm breaks Moses' 40-year-old ISTAF meeting record in Berlin". World Athletics. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  11. ^ "3000 Metres Steeplechase Results". ISTAF. 11 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  12. ^ "Shot Put Results". ISTAF. 11 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  13. ^ "4 x 100 Metres Relay Results". ISTAF. 1 September 2000. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  14. ^ "100 Metres Results". istaf.de. 1 September 2000. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  15. ^ "400 Metres Results". ISTAF. 12 September 2004. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  16. ^ "800 Metres Results". ISTAF. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  17. ^ Jörg Wenig (2 September 2018). "Semenya clocks 2:30.70 in ISTAF 1000m as Harting takes his final bow". IAAF. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  18. ^ "5000m Result" (PDF). sportresult.com. 3 September 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Krause smashes 2000m steeplechase world best in Berlin". IAAF. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  20. ^ "3000m Steeplechase Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 27 August 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  21. ^ "High Jump Results". ISTAF. 14 June 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  22. ^ "Pole Vault Results". ISTAF. 14 June 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  23. ^ "Triple Jump Results". ISTAF. 10 August 2003. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  24. ^ Jon Mulkeen (12 September 2021). "Allman breaks North American discus record in Berlin". World Athletics. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Hammer Throw Results" (PDF). istaf.de. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  26. ^ Silke Bernhart (1 September 2013). "Abakumova dominates in Berlin with 70.53m throw – IAAF World Challenge". IAAF. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  27. ^ "4x100m Mixed Relay Results" (PDF). ISTAF. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.[permanent dead link]
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