The 12 athletes, most of whom meet the strict Hall of Fame criteria of having at least two Olympic or world titles plus at least one world record, will join the 24 inaugural members inducted last year as part of the IAAF's centenary celebrations.

From this year, however, the IAAF extended its criteria to allow athletes whose achievements had an "extraordinary impact" on the sport to be considered.

Svetlana Masterkova, who won gold in the 800 and 1,500 metres at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, has been named among the Class of 2013 being inducted in to the IAAF Hall of Fame ©Bongarts/Getty Images


This saw French triple Olympic sprint champion and double World Championships gold medallist Marie-José Pérec and the late Grete Waitz of Norway, an Olympic marathon silver and world gold medallist, selected among the Class of 2013 members.

As well as Thompson, a double decathlon Olympic champion, multiple middle distance gold medallist Masterkova and two-time Olympic shot put gold medallist O'Brien, American sprinter Harrison Dillard, Australian sprinter Marjorie Jackson and late Finnish multiple long distance champion Hannes Kolehmainen - who won his first Olympic gold at Stockholm 1912 - were among the new members approved by the IAAF Council today.

Natalya Lisovskaya, who won shot put gold for the Soviet Union at Seoul 1988, Algerian multiple Olympic and world 1500 metres gold medallist Noureddine Morceli, Soviet triple jump star Viktor Saneyev and his compatriot Yuriy Sedykh, who won hammer gold at both Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980, complete the Class of 2013 line up.

The new IAAF Hall of Famers, among them is Viktor Saneyev, will be inducted at a special ceremony this weekend ©Getty Images


The athletes will now be inducted in to the IAAF Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in Monaco on Saturday (November 16).

The athletes considered for the prestigious position are proposed by the IAAF Hall of Fame Selection Panel, which comprises five athletics historians - all are members of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS) - and is chaired by IAAF senior vice-president Bob Hersh.

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