The inaugural World Championships, set in the Finnish capital, will be fondly remembered for many reasons.

In the sprints we saw first hand a man that would dominate the world of sprinting for many years to come.

That man was Carl Lewis.

The American went home with three gold medals - the 100m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay.

But the Santa Monica Track Club athlete eclipsed that feat a year later, adding the 200m at the 1984 Olympic Games, thus mirroring Jesse Owen's incredible feat in 1936.

Steve Cram added his name to the likes of Sebastien Coe and Steve Ovett as one of Britain's great middle-distnace runners, winning a thrilling 1500m.

Cram demonstrated his natural finishing speed, kicking the likes of Steve Scott, Said Aouita and Ovett in the final furlong.

Britain's leading miler, Coe, missed the championships with glandular fever but returned a year later to silence the press in Los Angeles.

The men's 10,000m will be remembered for THAT thrilling sprint finish, more akin to a handicap race.

The athletes were jostling for a route home in the final 100m and the eventual winner, Italy's Alberto Cova, crossed the line in lane five or six to the delight of the spectators.

Greg Foster won the first of three 110m hurdles titles and Sergei Bubka completed the first of six pole vault titles.

Of course we can't forget Daley Thompson's gold medal in the decathlon which was sandwiched in-between two Olympic gold medals.

Fatima Whitbread weighed in with a hard-earned silver behind Tina Lillak in the javelin and the women's 4 x 100m relay team captured a surprise silver.

In the women's sprints, Germany dominated with Marlies Gohr taking the 100m and Marita Koch the 200m.

Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvilova dominated the 400 and 800m in times that stand apart from today's performances.

And America's Mary Decker-Slaney, completed a fantastic middle-distance double in the 1500 and 3000m.

Off the track, Norway began their dominance of women's distance running with Greta Waitz running away with the marathon.