The 2017 London World Championships: All the numbers you need to know

A quick guide to the world championships which begin in London on Friday.

0.001 - The narrowest margin of victory in a world championship event came in the women’s 100m at Stuttgart 1993‚ when Gail Devers of the US edged Merlene Ottey‚ by 10.811sec to 10.812

1 - South Africa has won one medal at a single world championships on just one occasion‚ Johan Cronje’s 1500m bronze at Moscow 2013

2 - The most medals won by a South African athlete at a single championships — LJ van Zyl in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m at Daegu 2011. Wayde van Niekerk‚ Caster Semenya and Akani Simbine are all going for doubles here.

No SA athlete has more than two career world championship gongs to date‚ but Semenya and Van Niekerk could also change that in London

3 - The total number of SA women to have won medals over the years. Caster Semenya and Hestrie Cloete have two golds each and Sunette Viljoen two bronze

4 - That’s how many world championships at which SA has failed to medal‚ in their first two after isolation in 1993 and 1995‚ and again in 2005 and 2007.

Four is also the most medals won by SA at a single championships‚ another record that is likely to fall in London

7 - The most medals won by a single athlete in one event. Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya took four gold and three silver in the 3000m steeplechase

8 - The most golds won by an individual‚ a mark shared by four athletes — Bolt‚ Carl Lewis‚ Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix

14 - The most medals won by individual athlete‚ achieved by Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey between 1983 and 1997. Usain Bolt is on 13 looking for two more in London

16 - That’s the highest number of results annulled for doping offences by a single athlete. American sprinter Kelli White was expunged from the 2001 and 2003 results

17 - The age of the youngest world champion‚ Merlene Frazer who won gold with the Jamaican 4x100m relay team at Tokyo 1991

21 - The total number of medals SA has won‚ comprising nine gold‚ five silver and seven bronze

23 - The total number of SA men to have won world championship medals. That includes three relay outfits‚ the 4x100m at Edmonton 2001 and the 4x400m at Seville 1999 and again at Daegu 2011

26 - The highest number of countries winning gold medals at a single world championships. That was at Athens 1997 and it included SA javelin-thrower Marius Corbett

27 - The total size of the SA team which would have exceeded the record of 38 had 14 athletes who qualified for this showpiece actually been selected

40 - The age of the oldest world champion‚ Ellina Zvereva of Belarus‚ who won the discus at Edmonton 2001.

223 - The total number of nations to have competed at the world championships over the years

13‚614 - The total number of athletes to have taken part at the world championships

- TimesLIVE