ABSTRACT
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was officially founded in 1913 following an initiative by Swedish members of the Organising Committee for the 1912 Olympic Games. This chapter outlines the challenges faced by athletics administrators in their attempts to establish an international governing body for their sport and analyses the processes that led to the installation of core principles that have shaped the IAAF up to the present day. Understanding the link between the organisation’s first leaders and its organisational structures is crucial to comprehend the IAAF’s decision-making in the twentieth century. The influence of larger nations in determining IAAF decisions and policies, a trend that continued for decades, as well as an organisational culture that played favourites and defined winners through personal relationships rather than merit, is discussed.
