The 4951 participants at this year's "world's largest track meet" dwarfed the 1617 athletics competitors at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

[1]: 3 The 1968 Summer Olympics 1500m gold medalist Kipchoge Keino carried a friendship torch into the stadium to light an Olympic-style flame during opening ceremonies on Friday, 26 July.

[8] [7]: 3 [4]: 38 The governing body of this series is World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA).

[9] [5]: 56 This Championships was organized by WAVA in coordination with a Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Tom Jordan, Barbara Kousky.

[13] The participation of South African athletes in WAVA competitions had been at odds with the IAAF, specifically due to the 1977 WAVA constitution which had stated that [3]: 167 [14] no competitor be barred because of race, religion, ethnic background, or national origin.As a compromise, South Africans often competed at these Championships under the flag of other nations before 1987.