[6] [7]: 56 This Championships was organized by WAVA in coordination with a Local Organising Committee (LOC) led by José F. Méndez, with San Juan Mayor Hernán Padilla serving as "Patron of the Games".

The reason being that the host countries usually dominate by sheer numbers and the smaller countries just don't have enough competitors to comprise a team.Funding for this Championships from the Puerto Rico Commonwealth was withheld by Governor Carlos Romero Barcelo, a political rival of Mayor Padilla, ostensibly over concerns of South Africa participation due to the apartheid policy of the South African government at that time.

[8] [13] South African athletes were officially banned from this Championships by the Puerto Rican government, despite the IAAF constitution that prohibits discrimination because of national origin.

[3]: 15 [7]: 48 About 30 of the 178 registered South African athletes eventually competed despite the ban, but they were listed under "alternate" countries, as was done at the 1981 Championships in Christchurch.

The blind sprinter Fritz Assmy, guided by his son and running his assigned lane 8, defeated Payton Jordan in 2 of 3 events in a memorable dual.