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==