The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29.
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, GOIH is a retired Nigerian-born Portuguese sprinter, who specialized in 100 metres and 200 metres. He was the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 metres. In the same race, he set the European record in the event at 9.86 seconds, which stood for nearly 17 years. At club level, he was a professional athlete for Sporting CP.
Uchenna Emedolu is a retired Nigerian athlete who specialised in short-distance sprints, particularly the 100 metres and the 200 metres. In 100 metres his personal best time is 9.97 seconds, achieved at the 2003 All-Africa Games where he finished second. This ranks him ninth in Nigeria, behind Olusoji Fasuba, Divine Oduduru, Seun Ogunkoya, Davidson Ezinwa, Olapade Adeniken, Deji Aliu, Raymond Ekevwo and Francis Obikwelu.
Innocent Asonze is a former sprinter from Nigeria. Together with Francis Obikwelu, Daniel Effiong and Deji Aliu he won a bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics, but the team was later disqualified because he failed a doping test in June 1999.
Deji Aliu is a Nigerian sprinter. He won the 100 metres event at the 2003 All-Africa Games. He also took fourth place in the event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Anson Henry is a retired Canadian sprinter of Jamaican descent who specialized in the 100 metres. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His personal best time is 10.12 seconds, achieved in May 2006 in Doha. He also has 20.52 seconds in the 200 metres and 6.59 seconds in the 60 metres.
Jaysuma Saidy Ndure is a Gambian-Norwegian sprinter. He is of Serer heritage of the noble Ndure family. In 2002, he went to Oslo, aged 18 and settled with his father who has lived in Norway since the 1970s. Having changed nationality from Gambia to Norway in 2006, he holds Norwegian records in the 100 and in the 200 metres, and is the seventh and fourth fastest European of all times on the two distances. He has a bronze medal from the African Championships and several top-three placings in IAAF Golden League meets and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Olapade Charles Adeniken is a retired Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres, and is the father of Michael Adeniken.
Oludamola Bolanle ("Damola") Osayomi is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is a four-time gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics and won an Olympic silver medal with Nigeria in the 4×100 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She also won the 100 and 200 m sprints at the 2007 All-Africa Games.
The Men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla on August 28 and August 29.
Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medallist in the long jump and a world medalist in the 200 metres. Okagbare also holds the women's 100 metres Commonwealth Games record at 10.85 seconds. She is currently serving a 10-year ban for breaching multiple World Athletics anti-doping rules. Her ban expires on 30 July 2032.
Arnaldo Luís Isaías Abrantes is a Portuguese track and field sprinter, specialising in the distances of 100 metres and 200 metres. He also competes in the 4×100 metres relay. His father, Arnaldo Abrantes, was also a sprinter.
The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 16 August at the Beijing National Stadium. 80 athletes from 64 nations competed. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Jamaican Usain Bolt in a world record time of 9.69 seconds. It was Jamaica's first title in the event, and first medal in the event since 1976. Jamaica became the first country to join the men's 100 metre winners since Trinidad and Tobago, also in 1976; Richard Thompson won the country's fourth overall medal in the event with his silver.
Joseph Obinna Metu is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best time is 10.11 seconds, achieved in June 2012 in Calabar.
Steve Mullings is a Jamaican former sprint athlete who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres events.
Patrick "Pat" Jarrett is a Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He represented Jamaica at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He was also the 1999 Jamaican 100 m champion and a quarter-finalist at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics.
Oluwakemi "Kemi" Adekoya is a Nigerian-born track and field athlete who competes for Bahrain. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and has a personal best of 53.39 seconds – a Bahraini and Asian record.
Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record.
The 4×100 metres relay at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 4×100 metres relay at the Olympics. The competition format typically has one qualifying round leading to a final between eight teams. As of 2015, nations can qualify for the competition through a top eight finish at the previous IAAF World Relays event, with the remaining teams coming through the more traditional route of ranking highly on time in the seasonal lists. This system was modified due to the postponement of 2023 World Athletics Relays to 2024: therefore, the eight teams directly qualified are those of the 2022 World Championships, in Eugene, completed by eight more 2022-2023 top lists' teams.
