The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between 1 and 10 August 1997.

[1] Despite several attempts to sabotage, Athens used the successful organization of the World Championships to prove their capacity during the next IOC Session held the following month in Lausanne as a triumph and key event during the final stretch of the process to choose the city who hosted 2004 Summer Olympics.

It was the first edition to award wild cards to defending champions even if they did not qualify for their national team.

This allowed four athletes from the same country to compete in an individual event in some cases.

[2] 1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.