Berlin was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on 6 December 2004 beating out bids from Split (Croatia), Valencia (Spain), Brisbane (Australia), Brussels (Belgium), Delhi (India), Casablanca (Morocco) and Daegu (South Korea).

[3] The organizers announced a budget of €49.8 million to stage the event, which includes the travel and accommodation costs for all participating athletes.

[8] The colour scheme of the event, including the official logo, advertising, and the Olympiastadion's track and field, was blue and green.

[5] The event featured a number of environmentally friendly initiatives, including: free public transport with every ticket sold, efforts to reduce energy usage, considerations for waste and recycling management, and environmentally conscious construction and building management.

Furthermore, as part of the United Nations Environment Programme, forty-seven trees (one for each athletics event) were planted to create an "Avenue of Champions" in Berlin.

[2] To provide the public with an opportunity to participate in the event, the local organizers also conducted a Champions Run 10K on 22 August between the scheduled time for the men's and women's marathons, using a portion of the official marathon course which passes various Berlin landmarks with a finish at the Brandenburg Gate.

[12] In memory of their historic Olympic achievements at the Olympiastadion in 1936, a meeting took place between the families of Luz Long and Jesse Owens.

[32] In the women's 20 km race walk, the Olympic champion from last years games, Olga Kaniskina, took an expectant win by almost a full minute.

[33] In the women's shot put, the Olympic gold medallist from last years games and defending world champion, Valerie Vili, won with a throw of 20.44.

[citation needed] The defending world champion, Tyson Gay finished second with a time of 9.71, a US national record.

In women's pole vault final, the biggest surprise of the day was the Olympic champion and current world record holder, Yelena Isinbayeva, failing to clear any height.

In women's triple jump final, Yargelis Savigne won the gold and Mabel Gay took second place.

In men's triple jump, Phillips Idowu of Great Britain, produced a world leading distance of 17.73m earning him a gold medal.

In the discus final, Robert Harting of Germany won gold in front of a home crowd, trowing 69.43 metres.

In the women's 400m hurdles, Melaine Walker of Jamaica won in 52.42sec, eight hundredths of a second outside Yulia Pechonkina's world record (52.34).

Trey Hardee of the USA had won the decathlon, but Leonel Suárez of Cuba reversed positions on Aleksandr Pogorelov in the final event.

In the women's hammer throw, Anita Włodarczyk of Poland won gold medal with a distance of 77.96m, which is a new world record.

Brittney Reese won the women's long jump with 7.10 metres, beating defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia.

[37][38][39] Out of these athletes, a total of 1984 competed (1086 male, and 898 female) at the championships, with 201 of the 213 IAAF National Member Federations represented.