World Record: Men: 9.79 - Maurice Greene (USA) World Record: Women: 10.49 - Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Maurice Greene, Frank Fredericks, Donovan Bailey, Ato Boldon.
Women: Marion Jones, Zhanna Pintussevich, Mary Onyali, Gail Devers
110 m hurdles The athletes have to navigate 10 hurdles placed nine metres apart before sprinting the last ten metres to the line. More often than not the race is decided by a photo finish. The womens race is run over 100m, whereas the men have to run an extra ten metres. World Record: Men: 12.91 - Colin Jackson (GBR) World Record: Women: 12.21 - Yordanka Donkova (BUL)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Colin Jackson, Allen Johnson, Igor Kovac, Shaun Bownes.
Women: Michelle Freeman, Ludmila Engquist, Glory Aloze
200 metre sprint The 200m is half the distance around the track, and so athletes need to be able to run a good bend. Many 100m runners also compete in the 200m.
World Record: Men: 19.32 - Michael Johnson (USA) World Record: Women: 21.34 - Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Michael Johnson, Frank Fredericks, Ato Boldon.
Women: Marion Jones, Zhanna Pintussevich, Susanthika Jayasinghe
400 metre sprint This is the longest sprint, once around the track. 400m athletes need to have endurance as well as speed.
World Record: Men: 43.29 - Butch Reynolds (USA) World Record: Women: 47.60 - Marita Koch (GDR)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Michael Johnson, Jerome Young. Women: Cathy Freeman, Falilat Ogunkoya, Charity Opara, Marie Jose-Perec
400m hurdles The 400m is a very challenging event as athletes have to run a full lap of the track while hurding over ten barriers, although the hurdles are lower than those in the 110m hurdles.
World Record: Men: 46.78 - Kevin Young (USA) World Record: Women: 52.61 - Kim Batten (USA)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Bryan Bronson, Llewellyn Herbert, Samuel Matete.
Women: Kim Batten, Nezha Bidouane, Deon Hemmings
800 metres
The 800m is the shortest of the middle-distance events. Athletes start in lanes, but can break to the inside lane after the first curve. The runners complete two full laps of the track. The 800m is regarded as one of the toughest track events and is very exciting to watch.World Record: Men: 1:41.11 - Wilson Kipketer (DEN) World Record: Women: 1:53.28 - Jarmila Kratochvilova (CZE)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Wilson Kipketer, Hezekiel Sepeng, Johan Botha, Japhet Kimutai. Women: Maria Mutola, Ana Quirot, Svetlana Masterkova
1500 metres
This event is similar to the 800m. It replaced the mile, and is also known as the "metric mile".World Record: Men: 3:26.00 - Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) World Record: Women: 3:50.46 - Qu Yunxia (CHN)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Hicham El Guerrouj, Fermin Cacho, Laban Rotich.
Women: Svetlana Masterkova, Gabriela Szabo
3000 metre Steeplechase
The steeplechase is like a long-distance hurdles race. On each of their 7.5 laps, athletes have to jump over 4 giant hurdles and a water jump. Only men compete in this event.World Record: 7:55.72 - Bernard Barmasai (KEN)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Bernard Barmasai, Moses Kiptanui, Wilson Boit Kipketer
5000 metres
Athletes run 12.5 times around the track. The 5000m is known as a long-distance event. In recent years, the 5000m has been dominated by Africans.World Record: Men: 12:39.36 - Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) World Record: Women: 14:28.09 - Jiang Bo (CHN)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Daniel Komen, Tom Nyariki, Khalid Boulami. Women: Gabriela Szabo
10 000 metres This is the longest track event. 25 laps of a standard track are run, and the race can last for up to half an hour.
World Record: Men: 26:22.75 - Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) World Record: Women: 29:31.78 - Wang Junxia (CHN)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat, Salah Hissou.
Women: Sally Barsosio, Elana Meyer, Sonia O' Sullivan
Marathon
Not really a track event, the marathon is the longest race of the championships. It is run over 42.2 km on the road, although it does start and finish on the track. Because the event is so long, athletes prefer to run in packs, pacing off one another, before making a break for the finish.World Record: Men: 2:06.05 - Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) World Record: Women: 2:20.47 - Tegla Loroupe (KEN)
Major Contenders and athletes to watch Men: Ronaldo da Costa, Gert Thys, Abel Anton, Fabian Roncero.
Women: Fatuma Roba, Hiromi Suzuki, Manuela Machado