The IAAF U18 Championships in Athletics (until 2015 known as IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics) was a global athletics event comprising track and field events for competitors who were 17 or younger (youth = Under-18). The event was organized by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was held biennially from 1999 to 2017.

The name change and cancellation

In the 206th IAAF Council Meeting, held after the 2016 Summer Olympics, the council decided to conclude the world championship for under-18 athletes after the 2017 event. The decision was made with the intention of improving under-18 competitions at continental level instead. The competition was renamed to the IAAF World U18 Championships in November 2015, though ultimately only the 2017 competition used this title. The competition was the under-18 counterpart to the World U20 Championships, which are for athletes who are 19 years of age or under in the year of competition.

Editions

Championships records

Key:

Boys

Girls

All-time medal table

Independent Athletes were not included in the official medal table.