Portal:Sport of athletics
Introduction
Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
The results of racing events are decided by finishing position (or time, where measured), while the jumps and throws are won by the athlete that achieves the highest or furthest measurement from a series of attempts. The simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most common types of sports in the world. Athletics is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of relay races and competitions which combine athletes' performances for a team score, such as cross country.
Organized athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC. The rules and format of the modern events in athletics were defined in Western Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th century, and were then spread to other parts of the world. Most modern top level meetings are held under the auspices of World Athletics, the global governing body for the sport of athletics, or its member continental and national federations. (Full article...)
General images -
-
-
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
-
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field) -
-
Edvin Wide, Ville Ritola, and Paavo Nurmi (on left) competing in the individual cross country race at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris; due to the hot weather, which exceeded 40 °C (104 °F), only 15 out of 38 competitors finished the race. (from Cross country running) -
American athlete Jim Thorpe lost his Olympic medals after taking expense money prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics for playing baseball, a violation of Olympic amateurism rules. (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
Marion Jones, after admitting to doping, lost her Olympic medals, was banned from the sport, and spent six months in jail. (from Track and field) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
-
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
-
-
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
-
The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
-
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking)
_-_The_Winners_of_the_10,000_M_Walk.jpg)
_-_start_dje%C4%8Daka.JPG)
_not_in_contact_with_the_ground.jpg)
Selected article
A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action.
In athletics, the two standard relays are the 4 × 100 metres relay and the 4 × 400 metres relay. 4 × 200, 4 × 800, and 4 × 1500 m relays exist as well, but they are rarer. Mixed-gendered 4 × 400 metres relays were introduced at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, repeated at the 2018 Asian Games, the 2019 World Championships in Athletics and were added to the 2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, a 2 × 2 × 400 m and shuttle hurdles mixed relay races were introduced at the 2019 IAAF World Relays.
Traditionally, the 4 × 400 m relay finals are the last event of a track meet,[citation needed] and is often met with a very enthusiastic crowd, especially if the last leg is a close race.[A] It is hard to measure exact splits in a 4 × 400 (or a 4 × 100) relay. For example, if a team ran a 3-minute 4 × 400, it does not mean every runner on the team has to run a 45-second open 400, because a person starts accelerating before they have the baton, therefore allowing for slightly slower overall open 400 times. A 4 × 400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, including the handoff. The second leg then proceeds to run in lanes for the first 100 metres, after which point the runners are allowed to break into the first lane on the backstretch, as long as they do not interfere with other runners. A race organizer then puts the third-leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running (with the first place closest to the inside). The faster teams pass first, while the slower teams have to slide in to the inside lanes as they come available.
According to the IAAF rules, world records in relays can only be set if all team members have the same nationality. Several superior marks were established by teams from a mixture of countries and were thus never ratified.
Selected picture
.jpg)
Athlete birthdays
25 April:
- Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter
- Duncan Kibet, Kenyan distance runner
- Valentyna Kozyr, Soviet high jumper
- Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
- Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower
- Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
- Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner
- Ernest Webb, British race walker
- Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper
- Nick Willis, New Zealand middle-distance runner
26 April:
- Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch all-rounder
- Stephanie Graf, Austrian middle-distance runner
- Roger Moens, Belgian middle-distance runner
- Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
- Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter
- Yuliya Zaripova, Russian steeplechase runner
27 April:
- Gudrun Berend, German hurdler
- Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter
- Johnny Kuck, American shot putter
- Con Leahy, Irish jumper
- Luz Long, German long jumper
- Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian distance runner
- Ron Morris, American pole vaulter
- Nina Ponomaryova, Soviet discus thrower
- John Rimmer, British steeplechase runner
- Seppo Räty, Finnish javelin thrower
28 April:
- Ethel Catherwood, Canadian high jumper
- Dainis Kūla, Soviet javelin thrower
- Roman Rasskazov, Russian race walker
- Art Shaw, American hurdler
- Henry Stallard, British middle-distance runner
29 April:
- Rob Druppers, Dutch middle-distance runner
- Taoufik Makhloufi, Algerian middle-distance runner
- Dorothy Manley, British sprinter
- Jim Ryun, American middle-distance runner
- Sofia Sakorafa, Greek javelin thrower
- Larisa Turchinskaya, Russian heptathlete
- Attila Zsivóczky, Hungarian decathlete
30 April:
- Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower
- Margit Papp, Hungarian pentathlete
1 May:
- Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish distance runner
- Lornah Kiplagat, Kenyan-Dutch distance runner
- Mikhail Krivonosov, Soviet hammer thrower
- Ollie Matson, American sprinter
- Bryshon Nellum, American sprinter
- Michelle Perry, American hurdler
- Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
- Marina Stepanova, Soviet hurdler
- John Svanberg, Swedish distance runner
- Archie Williams, American sprinter
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that Amane Gobena is the first Ethiopian runner to win the Osaka Ladies Marathon?
- ... that Oprah Winfrey completed the America's Finest City Half Marathon in 1993, running under a pseudonym and accompanied by a bodyguard, a trainer, and a video crew?
- ... that Sharon Cherop fell over at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon but got back up and ran the fastest marathon ever by a woman in Canada?
- ... that Kenyan athlete Paul Malakwen Kosgei became the World Half Marathon Champion in 2002 despite having never competed in a half marathon before?
- ... that A. K. M. Miraj Uddin set a Pakistani national record in the pole vault by clearing 12 feet 2 inches (3.71 m) with a bamboo pole instead of a carbon-fiber pole?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Harold Maurice Abrahams CBE (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. (Full article...)
A sprinter and long jumper since his youth, he continued to compete in running while at Cambridge. Abrahams earned a place in the 1920 Olympic team,[1] but was eliminated in the quarter-finals of both the 100 m and the 200 m, and finished 20th in the long jump.[1] He was also part of the British relay team that took fourth place in the 4 × 100 m.[2]
Although Abrahams dominated British long jump and sprint events, after graduating from Cambridge, he employed Sam Mussabini, a professional coach, who improved his style and training techniques in preparation for the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France.[2][3]
For six months, Mussabini emphasised the 100 m at Abrahams's direction, with the 200 m as secondary. Through vigorous training, Abrahams perfected his start, stride and form. One month before the 1924 Games, Abrahams set the English record in the long jump 24 feet 2+1⁄2 inches (7.38 m), a record which stood for the next 32 years.[1] The same day he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds, but the time was not submitted as a record because the track was on a slight downhill.[4]
At the 1924 Summer Games, Abrahams won the 100 m in a time of 10.6 seconds, beating all the American favourites, including the 1920 gold-medal winner Charley Paddock.[1] In third place was Arthur Porritt, later Governor-General of New Zealand and Queen's Surgeon. The Paris Olympics 100 m dash took place at 7 p.m. on 7 July 1924, and Abrahams and Porritt dined together at 7 p.m. on 7 July every year thereafter, until Abrahams's death in 1978. Teammate Eric Liddell, the British 100-yard dash record holder at that time, declined to compete in the Paris 100 m because one of the heats for the event was held on a Sunday. Both Liddell and Abrahams competed in the final of the 200 m race, with Liddell finishing third and Abrahams sixth.[1] Liddell went on to win the gold medal in the 400 metres. Abrahams was the opening runner for the British 4 × 100 m team, which won the silver medal. He did not compete in the long jump.[2]
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... that at the 2022 British Athletics Championships, Daryll Neita became the first woman since 2010 to win both the 100- and 200-metre events?
- ... that German runner Alica Schmidt, who is running in the Women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, has won multiple European junior relay medals?
- ... that in the 1932 baseball game in which pitcher Eddie Rommel won his last game, he pitched 17 innings in relief, an American League record?
- ... that the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
- ... that the women's race at today's New York City Marathon will feature two of the medalists from this year's Olympic marathon?
- ... that at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
World records
| Event | Men | Record | Women | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m |  Usain Bolt |
9.58 |  Florence Griffith Joyner |
10.49 |
| 200 m | Usain Bolt |
19.19 | Florence Griffith Joyner |
21.34 |
| 400 m |  Wayde van Niekerk |
43.03 |  Marita Koch |
47.60 |
| 800 m |  David Rudisha |
1:40.91 |  Jarmila Kratochvílová |
1:53.28 |
| 1500 m |  Hicham El Guerrouj |
3:26.00 | Faith Kipyegon |
3:49.11 |
| 5000 m |  Joshua Cheptegei |
12:35.36 |  Gudaf Tsegay |
14:00.21 |
| 10,000 m | Joshua Cheptegei |
26:11.00 | Letesenbet Gidey |
29:01.03 |
| Marathon | Kelvin Kiptum |
2:00:35 | Brigid Kosgei |
2:14:04 |
| 3000 m steeplechase | Lamecha Girma |
7:52.11 | Beatrice Chepkoech |
8:44.32 |
| 110 / 100 m hurdles | Aries Merritt |
12.80 |  Tobi Amusan |
12.12 |
| 400 m hurdles |  Karsten Warholm |
45.94 | Sydney McLaughlin |
50.68 |
| High jump |  Javier Sotomayor |
2.45 m |  Stefka Kostadinova |
2.09 m |
| Pole vault |  Armand Duplantis |
6.23 m |  Yelena Isinbayeva |
5.06 m |
| Long jump | Mike Powell |
8.95 m |  Galina Chistyakova |
7.52 m |
| Triple jump |  Jonathan Edwards |
18.29 m |  Yulimar Rojas |
15.74 m |
| Shot put | Ryan Crouser |
23.56 m | Natalya Lisovskaya |
22.63 m |
| Discus throw | Jürgen Schult |
74.08 m | Gabriele Reinsch |
76.80 m |
| Hammer throw | Yuriy Sedykh |
86.74 m |  Anita Włodarczyk |
82.98 m |
| Javelin throw | Jan Železný |
98.48 m | Barbora Špotáková |
72.28 m |
| Decathlon/Heptathlon |  Kevin Mayer |
9126 pts. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee |
7291 pts. |
| 20 km racewalk |  Yusuke Suzuki |
1:16:36 |  Yang Jiayu |
1:23:49 |
| 4×100 m relay | Jamaica |
36.84 |  United States |
40.82 |
| 4×400 m relay | United States |
2:54.29 | Soviet Union |
3:15.17 |
Topics
| Track |
| ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field |
| ||||||||||||
| Combined | |||||||||||||
| Road |
| ||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||
Records in athletics | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Area records |
| ||||||||||
| World events | |||||||||||
| Africa | |||||||||||
| Americas |
| ||||||||||
| Asia | |||||||||||
| Europe | |||||||||||
| Oceania | |||||||||||
| Community |
| ||||||||||
International youth athletics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | |||||||||
| Regional championships |
| ||||||||
| Games | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Athletics by country | ||
|---|---|---|
Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
|---|---|---|
| International |  | |
| National |
| |
| Core program | |
|---|---|
| Additions (2020- ) | |
| |
Athletics events
|
|
|
|
|
Athletics competitions
It's from the first edition (1896 Summer Olympics), that Athletics has been considered the "Queen" of the Olympics. Since then there have been a series of competitions organized at world level, than at the continental level. Furthermore, the Athletics is the main sport of nearly all multi-sport events such as Universiade, Mediterranean Games or Pan American Games. The following list refers to the main Athletics competitions that take place in the world.
| Event | 1st edition | Kind of competition | Can participate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 1896 | World games |  Worldwide
|
| World Championships | 1983 | World championships | |
| World Indoor Championships | 1985 | ||
| European Championships | 1934 | Continental championships | .svg){kind=small} Europe
|
| European Indoor Championships | 1966 | ||
| South American Championships | 1919 | .svg){kind=small} South America
| |
| Asian Championships | 1973 | .svg){kind=small} Asia
| |
| African Championships | 1979 | .svg){kind=small} Africa
| |
| Ocenian Championships | 1990 | .svg){kind=small} Oceania
|
Federations
- Internationals
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)
European Athletics Association (EAA)
Confederation of African Athletics (CAA)
Asian Athletics Association (AAA)
North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association
CONSUDATLE
Oceania Athletics Association (OAA)
- Nationals
Australia: Athletics Australia (AA)
Brazil: Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt)
Canada: Athletics Canada (AC)
Czech: Czech Athletics Federation (ČAS)
France: Fédération française d'athlétisme (FFA)
Germany: German Athletics Association (DLV)
Italy: Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL)
Jamaica: Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA)
Japan: Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF)
Kenya: Athletics Kenya (AK)
China: Chinese Athletic Association
Norway: Norwegian Athletics Association
Romania: Romanian Athletics Federation
Spain: Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA)
Great Britain: UK Athletics (UKA)
United States: USA Track & Field (USATF)
- Others
Wales: Welsh Athletics (WA)
England: Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA)
Scotland: Scottishathletics
Athletic Association of Small States of Europe (AASSE)
Categories
WikiProjects
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Sources
- ^ Each segment of the relay (the distance run by one person) is referred to as a leg.
- ^ a b c d e Kebric, Robert B. (2002) [1992]. Dawson, Dawn P. (ed.). Great Athletes. Vol. 1 (Revised ed.). Salem Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 1-58765-008-8.
- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Harold Abrahams". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ^ "Olympics 2000". Sporting Life. Archived from the original on 10 December 2000.
- ^ "Uc_Hilal : Jews in Sports @ Virtual Museum". Jewsinsports.org. 14 January 1978. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
