2002's Golden League jackpot winners receive their prizes

Don't know your Bislett from your Weltklasse? Don't worry.

The Golden League is a simple idea.

It's made up of Europe's six biggest single-day athletics meetings of the summer. In 2004 that means the Bislett Games in Bergen (1 June), the Golden Gala in Rome (2 July), the Meeting Gaz de France in Paris (23 July), the Weltklasse in Zurich (6 August), the Ivo Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (3 September) and ISTAF in Berlin (12 September).

The League was introduced in 1998 to unify and promote the elite individual European meetings.

For competing athletes, the concept is simple: win your event at all six Golden League events and share a jackpot of $1m worth of gold.

Last year, Mozambique's Maria Mutola became the first athlete to win the entire jackpot outright.

Because of the jackpot and the big prize money on offer, the Golden League attracts the best athletes in the world.

There are 12 Golden League events in 2004, six each for men and women.

Men can compete in the 100m, 800m, 1500m, 400m hurdles, triple jump and discus. Women compete in the 100m, 400m, 1500m, 3,000m/5,000m, 100m hurdles and high jump.