Given the susceptibility of the sport of athletics to doping issues, the IAAF has been central in the development of anti-doping standards and anti-doping measures have been were present at World Championships since the first edition in 1983. The anti-doping approach had a new development at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, where all Russian athletes were banned due to state-sponsored doping and had to request dispensation to compete at Authorised Neutral Athletes.