United States at the World Athletics Championships

The United States has competed at every edition of the World Athletics Championships since its inception in 1983. It has been the most successful nation at the global competition for track and field. By the end of the 2023 World Championships, its athletes had won a total of 443 medals, 195 of them gold – more than double that of the next most successful nation Kenya, as well as more than the combined total of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states. It has been the top nation in the championships medal table at every edition bar 1983 and 1987 (East Germany), 2001 (Russia) and 2015 (Kenya). It also ranks number one on points in the national placing tables. As one of the foremost nations in the sport internationally, its delegations for the championships are among the largest. It also won the first title of "World Team Champions" inaugurated for the Oregon 2022.

United States at the
World Athletics Championships
WA codeUSA
National federationUSA Track & Field
Websitewww.usatf.org/Home.aspx
Medals
Ranked 1st
Gold
195
Silver
134
Bronze
114
Total
443
World Athletics Championships appearances (overview)

The most decorated athlete of the competition's history is American: Allyson Felix has won 20 World Championships medals, eleven of them gold, competing across the individual and relay sprint events. Among men, the United States has three of the four most decorated men (after Usain Bolt), all of them sprinters; LaShawn Merritt has eleven medals, Carl Lewis won ten and Michael Johnson won eight. All three won eight gold medals. Johnson is the nation's most successful athlete individually (and the third most successful overall), having won six gold medals in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. American Gail Devers is the second most successful woman individually, with four golds and two silver medals from the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles. Felix and Amy Acuff have made the most appearances for the United States, each having represented their country at eight separate editions.

The United States team was affected by doping during the period from 1997 to 2003, principally in sprinting events. The loss of several gold medals in 2001 resulted in the United States dropping to second in the medal rankings for the first time since 1987.

Medal table

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Championships Men Women Mixed Total
Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank Athletes
1976 Malmö 0 0 0 No female events No mixed events 0 0 0 0 Unranked 3
1980 Sittard No male events 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unranked 6
1983 Helsinki 6 8 4 2 1 3 8 9 7 24 2 101
1987 Roma 7 3 4 3 1 2 10 4 6 20 2
1991 Tokyo 9 4 7 1 4 1 10 8 8 26 1
1993 Stuttgart 8 3 3 5 4 2 13 7 5 25 1
1995 Gothenburg 7 1 4 5 1 1 12 2 5 19 1
1997 Athens 4 1 6 2 2 2 6 3 8 17 1
1999 Seville 6 0 3 4 3 1 10 3 4 17 1
2001 Edmonton 3 3 2 2 2 1 5 5 3 13 2
2003 Paris 6 4 0 2 3 1 8 7 1 16 1
2005 Helsinki 9 4 2 5 4 1 14 8 3 25 1
2007 Osaka 10 3 6 4 2 1 14 5 7 26 1
2009 Berlin 6 4 4 4 2 2 10 6 6 22 1 160
2011 Daegu 6 5 3 6 4 4 12 9 7 28 1 127
2013 Moscow 4 8 2 4 5 3 8 13 5 26 1 137
2015 Beijing 4 3 2 2 3 4 6 6 6 18 3 130
2017 London 3 6 4 7 5 5 10 11 9 30 1 167
2019 Doha 9 5 1 4 6 3 1 0 0 14 11 4 29 1 144
2022 Eugene 6 7 5 7 2 5 0 0 1 13 9 11 33 1 151
2023 Budapest 6 2 5 5 6 4 1 0 0 12 8 9 29 1 138
Total 119 74 67 74 60 46 2 0 1 195 134 114 443 1

Multiple medalists

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Athlete Gold Silver Bronze Total Years
Allyson Felix 14 3 3 20 2005–2022
LaShawn Merritt 8 3 0 11 2005–2015
Carl Lewis 8 1 1 10 1983–1993
Michael Johnson 8 0 0 8 1991–1999
Noah Lyles 6 1 0 7 2019–2023
Gail Devers 5 3 0 8 1991–2001
Sanya Richards-Ross 5 2 0 7 2003–2015
Jeremy Wariner 5 1 0 6 2005–2009
Natasha Hastings 5 1 0 6 2007–2017
Jessica Beard 5 1 0 6 2009–2019
Maurice Greene 5 0 0 5 1997–2001
Justin Gatlin 4 6 0 10 2005–2019
Jearl Miles Clark 4 3 2 9 1991–2003
Allen Johnson 4 0 1 5 1995–2005
Dwight Phillips 4 0 1 5 2003–2011
Kerron Clement 4 0 1 5 2007–2017
Vernon Norwood 4 0 1 5 2015–2023
Jackie Joyner-Kersee 4 0 0 4 1987–1993
Brittney Reese 4 0 0 4 2009–2017
Christian Taylor 4 0 0 4 2011–2019
Gwen Torrence 3 4 1 8 1991–1995
Christian Coleman 3 3 0 6 2017–2023
Butch Reynolds 3 2 1 6 1987–1995
Carmelita Jeter 3 1 3 7 2007–2013
Fred Kerley 3 1 1 5 2017–2023
Calvin Smith 3 1 0 4 1983–1987
Lauryn Williams 3 1 0 4 2005–2007
Tyson Gay 3 1 0 4 2007–2009
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 3 1 0 4 2019–2022
Marion Jones 3 0 1 4 1997–1999
Bershawn Jackson 3 0 1 4 2005–2011
Angelo Taylor 3 0 1 4 2007–2011
Greg Foster 3 0 0 3 1983–1991
Dan O'Brien 3 0 0 3 1991–1995
John Godina 3 0 0 3 1995–2001
Grant Holloway 3 0 0 3 2019–2023

Best placings

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Of the 50 events that have been held over the history of the championships, 30 have been won by American athletes (17 men's events and 13 women's events). A further 4 men's and 5 women's events have featured an American medallist at some point. Americans have topped the podium in all sprint and hurdles events, as well as all the men's jumps. By far the weakest events of the United States are men's and women's racewalking and women's throws – only four bronze medals have been won by American athletes in these disciplines, among a total of over 350 medals across events. Americans have featured in the final at some point of every discipline contested at the championships.

This table shows the best place finish by an American athlete by event. Where the best position has been achieved multiple times, the first instance is shown.

Event Men's placing Male athlete Women's placing Female athlete
100 m   Carl Lewis (1983)   Gail Devers (1993)
200 m   Calvin Smith (1983)   Inger Miller (1999)
400 m   Antonio Pettigrew (1991)   Jearl Miles (1993)
800 m   Donavan Brazier (2019)   Athing Mu (2022)
1500 m   Bernard Lagat (2007)   Mary Decker (1983)
3000 m Not contested   Mary Decker (1983)
5000 m   Bernard Lagat (2007) 6th Molly Huddle (2013)
10,000 m 4th Galen Rupp (2013)   Kara Goucher (2007)
Marathon   Mark Plaatjes (1993)   Marianne Dickerson (1983)
110/100 m hurdles   Greg Foster (1983)   Gail Devers (1993)
400 m hurdles   Edwin Moses (1983)   Kim Batten (1995)
3000 m s'chase   Evan Jager (2017)   Emma Coburn (2017)
10 km walk Not contested 15th Lynn Weik (1987)
20 km walk 18th Allen James (1993) 19th Debbi Lawrence (2001)
50 km walk   Curt Clausen (1999) 4th Kathleen Burnett (2017)
4 × 100 m relay   United States (1987)   United States (1987)
4 × 400 m relay   United States (1983)   United States (1993)
High jump   Charles Austin (1991)   Brigetta Barrett (2013)
Pole vault   Brad Walker (2007)   Stacy Dragila (1999)
Long jump   Carl Lewis (1983)   Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1987)
Triple jump   Kenny Harrison (1991)   Tori Franklin (2022)
Shot put   John Godina (1995)   Chase Ealey (2022)
Discus throw   Anthony Washington (1999)   Laulauga Tausaga (2023)
Javelin throw   Tom Petranoff (1983)   Kara Winger (2022)
Hammer throw 5th Lance Deal (1995)   DeAnna Price (2019)
Decathlon/heptathlon   Dan O'Brien (1991)   Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1987)

Doping

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Year Athlete Event Notes
1991 Delisa Floyd Women's 800 m Semi-finalist
1993 Mike Stulce Men's shot put Stripped of bronze medal
1997 Antonio Pettigrew Men's 400 m 7th individually, stripped of relay gold medal
1999 Antonio Pettigrew Men's 400 m 5th individually, stripped of relay gold medal
1999 Jerome Young Men's 400 m 4th individually, stripped of relay gold medal
2001 Ramon Clay Men's 200 m Quarter-finalist
2001 Tim Montgomery Men's 100 m Stripped of individual silver and relay gold medals
2001 Antonio Pettigrew Men's 400 m 4th individually, stripped of relay gold medal
2001 Jerome Young Men's 400 m Semi-finalist, stripped of relay gold medal
2001 Marion Jones Women's 100 m, 200 m Stripped of 100 m silver, 200 m gold and relay gold medals
2001 Kelli White Women's 100 m, 200 m 7th in 100 m, stripped of 200 m bronze and relay gold medals
2003 Calvin Harrison Men's 400 m 6th individually, stripped of relay gold
2003 Tim Montgomery Men's 100 m 5th in final
2003 Chris Phillips Men's 110 m hurdles 5th in final
2003 Kevin Toth Men's shot put 4th in final
2003 Jerome Young Men's 400 m stripped of individual and relay gold medals
2003 Regina Jacobs Women's 1500 m Semi-finalist
2003 Melissa Price Women's hammer throw 12th in final
2003 Kelli White Women's 100 m, 200 m stripped of 100 m and 200 m gold medals

References

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