Barcelona: IAAF Centenary Historic Exhibition

The IAAF Centenary Historic Exhibition is open to the public for six weeks from 13 October to Sunday 25 November inclusive.

The exhibit is free, and situated inside the Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch in Barcelona next to the 1992 Olympic Stadium or behind the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) or National Art Museum of Catalonia. The Olympic Museum costs 4.55 euros, which I’ll write about in the next article.

In the center of the room, they built an 8 lane sprint straight, 12 meters in length with glass showcases around it. In the middle of the “track” was a throwing ring with implements and starting blocks on demonstration.

There are over 300 artifacts from around the world, most of which are on loan from the former athletes.

The official inventory of the items has now been updated… click here for the list.

Moreover, a Centenary Banquet will be hosted in the Drassanes Museum (the MUSEU MARÍTIM DE BARCELONA or MMB) on Friday 23 November and the following evening (24^th) a unique Centenary Gala Show will be held in the Museum of Catalonian Arts (MNAC). Here is the list of athletes who (so far) have confirmed their attendance to the Gala (click here for the list).

The Eight Lanes

Built on and around a specially laid Mondo track, the main 8 displays, which appropriately for this exhibition are called ‘lanes’, cover the history of the IAAF and Athletics, in text, photographs and video.

Lane 1 – The exhibition opens with ‘100 Years of IAAF’ which presents the history of the IAAF and its founding members set against a general historical timeline of the past century.
Lane 2 – ‘World Championships Highlights’, a vast 4 meters high by 12 meters wide display which details the greatest athletes of the Olympic Games and IAAF World Athletics Series.
Lane 3 – ‘IAAF Competitions,’ concerns the general development of the IAAF competition program.
Lane 4 – ‘IAAF Areas’, covers the highlights the 6 continental areas’ athletics achievements.
Lane 5 – ‘Women in Athletics’ follows the struggle for equality and parity with men’s athletics.
Lane 6 – ‘Technical Developments’ – tracks changes in facilities, equipment, clothing, rules etc…
Lane 7 – ‘Events Highlights’ – another huge display, focuses on many of the greatest competition moments and stars of the last 100 years.
Lane 8 – ‘Building for the Future’ brings the exhibition to a close by looking at the next 100 years with an emphasis placed on the IAAF’s School / Youth program and IAAF/Nestlé Kids’ Athletics.