The 1998 IAAF Golden League was the first edition of the annual international track and field meeting series, held from 9 July to 5 September. It was contested at six European meetings: the Bislett Games, Golden Gala, Herculis, Weltklasse Zürich, Memorial Van Damme and the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF).[1] The series tied in with the 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final, with the jackpot of US$1,000,000 being decided at that competition. The million-dollar prize represented the single largest prize pot ever in athletics at that point.[2]
The jackpot was available to athletes who won at all of the seven competitions of the series in one of the 12 specified events (7 for men, 5 for women). The jackpot events for 1998 were:[1]
- Men: 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 3000/5000/10,000 metres, 400 metres hurdles, triple jump and pole vault
- Women: 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 100 metres hurdles and javelin throw
The jackpot winners were Marion Jones (100 metres), Hicham El Guerrouj (1500 metres), Haile Gebrselassie (5000 metres/10,000 metres).[3]
Bryan Bronson, a 400 metres hurdler, was in the running for the prize at a late stage but failed to win at the Grand Prix Final, placing only sixth.[4][5][6] Svetlana Masterkova took six wins out of seven in the 1500 m, only being defeated by Gabriela Szabo in Paris. Michael Johnson had five 400 m victories, but did not compete at the first or last meet of the series. Trine Hattestad (women's javelin) and Maksim Tarasov (men's pole vault) each had four wins on the circuit.
- ^ a b IAAF Golden League – The New Vision of Athletics. IAAF (1998-03-20). Retrieved on 2014-01-11.
- ^ IAAF Golden League Archived 2012-08-16 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-11.
- ^ Golden League Intro Archived 2012-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-11-17.
- ^ Still in the IAAF Ericsson $1 million Jackpot stakes: after Zürich Archived 2012-08-19 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-11.
- ^ IAAF Grand Prix Final. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-01-11.
- ^ IAAF Grand Prix Final 1998 -Results 400 METRES HURDLES - Men Archived August 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-11.