2016 in the sport of athletics
In 2016, the foremost athletics events will be staged at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The two other major global level competitions in 2016 are the World Indoor Championships and World Half Marathon Championships.
| 2016 in athletics | |
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| Major world events | 2016 Olympic Games |
← 2015 2017 → | |
| Years in the sport of athletics |
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2016 in sports |
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A new addition to the continental tournament schedule came in the form of the 2016 European Athletics Youth Championships. Two long-running competitions were renamed and held under new titles in 2016. The World Junior Championships in Athletics became the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships and the IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held as the 2016 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships.
The hosting of the two above events had to be reopened as they were affected by the suspension of the All-Russia Athletic Federation as a result of contraventions of the World Anti-Doping Code. As a major nation in athletics, Russia's ban meant the absence of many world class athletes from competition. Kenya – another prominent country – was subject to a World Anti-Doping Agency plan to improve its own anti-doping infrastructure, on pain of exclusion from international events.