Portal:Sport of athletics
Introduction
Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping and throwing. 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 -
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Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (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) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
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A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
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The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
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) -
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Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
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The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (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) -
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A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (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) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
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The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
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Selected article
Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups (which promotes fair competition). For international events the first age group is 35 to 39. Men as old as 105 and women in their 100s have competed in running, jumping and throwing events. Masters athletes are sometimes known as "veterans" and the European Masters Championships, for instance, is known as "Eurovets". This and other high level events including biennial World Championships cater largely to elite-level athletes, but many masters athletes are novices to athletics and enjoy the camaraderie offered by masters competition at the local, National and International level. Most National governing bodies for track and field hold annual Masters championships. Prestigious National meets such as the Penn Relays and the United States Olympic Trials (track and field) put on exhibition events for top masters athletes. Masters athletics is growing Internationally with over 6000 athletes competing at recent World Championships. World; National and Regional records are maintained for each age group.
In India the Masters Athletics Federation of India conducts National Masters Athletics Championships every year. In the United States, USATF (USA Track & Field) hosts various Masters events including National Championships for Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field and Cross Country. USATF adds the age divisions 30–34 as Sub-Masters, and 25–29 as Pre-Masters to give athletes just past college age more opportunities to compete. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
4 January:
- Igor Astapkovich, Belarusian hammer thrower
- Nataliya Bochina, Soviet sprinter
- Andrei Krauchanka, Belarusian decathlete
- Marla Runyan, American middle- and long-distance runner
- Pat Ryan, Irish-American hammer thrower
- Eddie Southern, American hurdler and sprinter
- Toru Terasawa, Japanese distance runner
- Marianne Werner, German shot putter
5 January:
- Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter
- Adolfo Consolini, Italian discus thrower
- Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
- Derek Johnson, British middle-distance runner
- Veikko Karvonen, Finnish distance runner
- Jack Lovelock, New Zealand middle-distance runner
- Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper
- Iwan Thomas, British sprinter
- Vadims Vasiļevskis, Latvian javelin thrower
6 January:
- Ajayi Agbebaku, Nigerian triple jumper
- Mike Boit, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Roy Cochran, American hurdler and sprinter
- Ibolya Csák, Hungarian high jumper
- Ludvík Daněk, Czechoslovakian discus thrower
- Vladimir Kazantsev, Soviet steeplechase runner
- Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan distance runner
- Irina Mushailova, Russian long jumper
- Christine Wachtel, German middle-distance runner
7 January:
- Vladimir Dubrovshchik, Belarusian discus thrower
- Charles Jenkins Sr., American sprinter
- Alessandro Lambruschini, Italian steeplechase runner
- Robert LeGendre, American long jumper and pentathlete
- Caster Semenya, South African middle-distance runner
8 January:
- Hollis Conway, American high jumper
- Giovanni De Benedictis, Italian race walker
- Jos Hermens, Dutch distance runner and maanger
- Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter
- Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower
- Calvin Smith, American sprinter
9 January:
- Charles Bacon, American hurdler
- James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
- Tom Curtis, American hurdler and sprinter
- Tom Evenson, British steeplechase runner
- Lucyna Langer, Polish hurdler
- Sandra Myers, American-Spanish sprinter
- Shigeru So, Japanese distance runner
- Wang Junxia, Chinese distance runner
10 January:
- Mohammed Aman, Ethiopian middle-distance runner
- Chandra Cheeseborough, American sprinter
- Jerome Drayton, Canadian distance runner
- Ariane Friedrich, German high jumper
- Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Guido Kratschmer, German decathlete
- Leonard Patrick Komon, Kenyan distance runner
- Claudia Losch, German shot putter
- George Orton, Canadian steeplechase runner
- Francesco Panetta, Italian distance runner
- Aleksandr Pogorelov, Russian decathlete
- Bill Toomey, American decathlete
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that the 2000 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the heptathlon was Denise Lewis?
- ... that as part of a publicity stunt, the 1927 Texas Relays held an 89 mile (143 km) running race from San Antonio to Austin?
- ... that Czech decathlete Roman Šebrle, world record holder and 2004 Olympic winner, was injured in January 2007 when a javelin which had been thrown 55 metres pierced his shoulder?
- ... that at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, Yipsi Moreno became world champion in the hammer throw at the age of twenty, improving from an eighteenth place finish in 1999?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Emil Zátopek (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɛmɪl ˈzaːtopɛk] ⓘ; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. He was nicknamed the "Czech Locomotive".
In 1954, Zátopek was the first runner to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10,000 metres. Three years earlier in 1951, he had broken the hour for running 20 km. He was considered one of the greatest runners of the 20th century and was also known for his brutally tough training methods. He popularised interval training after World War Two.
In February 2013, the editors at Runner's World Magazine selected him as the Greatest Runner of All Time. He is the only person to win the 5,000 metres (24 July 1952), 10,000 metres (20 July 1952) and Marathon (27 July 1952), in the same Olympic Games. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in an unprecedented double victory?
- ... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that Mokulubete Makatisi placed eighth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games women's marathon despite running in new shoes that she had received on the eve of the race?
- ... that at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... that the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
- ... 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 Femke Bol successfully defended her 2021 title by winning the women's 400 metres at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships?
World records
Topics
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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Athletics by country | ||
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Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
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Athletics events
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Athletics competitions
From the first edition at the 1896 Summer Games, athletics has been considered the "queen" of the Olympics. Today, there are several other athletics championships organized at global and continental levels. Athletics also serves as the main focus of many multi-sport events such as the World University Games, Mediterranean Games, and Pan American Games. The following is a list of prominent athletics competitions.
| Event | 1st edition | Kind of competition | Can participate |
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| Olympic Games | 1896 | World games |  Worldwide
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| World Championships | 1983 | World championships | |
| World Indoor Championships | 1985 | ||
| European Championships | 1934 | Continental championships | .svg){kind=small} Europe
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| European Indoor Championships | 1966 | ||
| South American Championships | 1919 | .svg){kind=small} South America
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| Asian Championships | 1973 | .svg){kind=small} Asia
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| African Championships | 1979 | .svg){kind=small} Africa
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| Ocenian Championships | 1990 | .svg){kind=small} Oceania
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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)
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