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 -
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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 typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
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Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
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Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
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A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
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 Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (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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The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running) -
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Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (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) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
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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Selected article
Pacing strategies in track and field are the varied strategies which runners use to distribute their energy throughout a race. Optimal strategies exist and have been studied for the different events of track and field. These optimal strategies differ for runners in sprint events, such as the 100 meters, runners in middle-distance events, such as the 800 meters or the mile run, and runners in long-distance events, such as the 5000m or marathon. Additionally, pacing typically differs between different styles of races. For instance, in a time trial, where the goal of a racer is simply to run the fastest time, participants will typically employ the aforementioned optimal pacing strategy. However, in a championship race, where the goal of the racer is to win, the pace is typically slow in the beginning of the race and gradually speeds up for a sprint finish, often meaning the race is run with a negative split. Typically, to run a world record, the runner must employ a near-optimal pacing strategy. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
15 May:
- Don Bragg, American pole vaulter
- Daniel Caines, British sprinter
- Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
- Valentina Gerasimova, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Li Yanfeng, Chinese discus thrower
- Fred Murray, American hurdler
- Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower
- Miruts Yifter, Ethiopian distance runner
16 May:
- Joan Benoit Samuelson, American distance runner
- Irina Korzhanenko, Russian shot putter
- Steve Lewis, American sprinter
- Albina Mayorova, Russian distance runner
- Helga Radtke, German long jumper
- Bob Tisdall, Irish hurdler and decathlete
17 May:
- Yelena Gorchakova, Russian javelin thrower
- Daniel Komen, Kenyan distance runner
- Mayte Martínez, Spanish middle-distance runner
- Christine Ohuruogu, British sprinter
- Gilles Quénéhervé, French sprinter
- William Yiampoy, Kenyan middle-distance runner
18 May:
- Eric Backman, Swedish distance runner
- Denis Horgan, Irish thrower
- Charles Kamathi, Kenyan distance runner
- Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
- Renata Nielsen, Danish long jumper
- Volha Tsander, Belarusian hammer thrower
- Angela Voigt, German long jumper
19 May:
- Livio Berruti, Italian sprinter
- Herman Brix, American shot putter
- Jānis Lūsis, Soviet javelin thrower
- Tadeusz Ślusarski, Polish pole vaulter
- Charlie Spedding, British distance runner
- Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Soviet long jumper
- Percy Williams, Canadian sprinter
20 May:
- Lynn Davies, British long jumper
- Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper
- Pat Leahy, Irish jumper
- Nils Schumann, German middle-distance runner
- Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
21 May:
- Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
- Inese Jaunzeme, Soviet javelin thrower
- Carl Johnson, American long jumper
- Tatyana Ledovskaya, Soviet hurdler
- Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter
- Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
- Eder Sánchez, Mexican race walker
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that Ethiopian long-distance runner Atsede Habtamu set a new course record at the Eindhoven Marathon with her first marathon victory earlier this month?
- ... that 2006 National Capital Marathon winner Amos Tirop Matui was disqualified and received financial compensation due to a misplaced barrier on the course?
- ... that Australian runner Michael Shelley lost his scholarship funding and suffered a broken leg in 2009, but went on to win a silver medal in the marathon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games?
- ... that Irene Kosgei, despite injuring her knee at a drinks station early in the women's marathon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, edged compatriot Irene Mogaka to become the first Kenyan woman to win a Commonwealth marathon title?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Andreas Thorkildsen (born 1 April 1982) is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008, European Champion in 2006 and 2010, and World Champion in 2009. He is the first male javelin thrower in history to simultaneously be European, World and Olympic Champion. He was also a three-time silver medalist at the World Championships, placing second in 2005, 2007 and 2011. His personal best of 91.59 m, set in 2006, is the Norwegian record. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... that for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
- ... 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 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 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?
World records
| Event | Men | Record | Women | Record |
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| 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 |
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| Field |
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| Road |
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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| Area records |
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| Americas |
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| Community |
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International youth athletics | |||||||||
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| Regional championships |
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| Games | |||||||||
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Athletics by country | ||
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Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
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| National |
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| Core program | |
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| Additions (2020- ) | |
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Athletics events
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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 |
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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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