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...)
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Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (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) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
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A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
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 child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
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Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
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A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
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Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (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) -
The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (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)
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Selected article
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. In British English the term athletics is synonymous with American track and field and includes all jumping events. Outside of Canada and the United States, athletics is the official term for this sport with 'track' and 'field' events being subgroups of athletics events.
Track and field is one of the oldest sports. In ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. In modern times, the two most prestigious international track and field competitions are the athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships. World Athletics, formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), is the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world, continental, and national levels. However, if athletes are deemed to have violated the event's rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased.
In the United States, the term track and field may refer to other athletics events, such as cross country, the marathon, and road running, rather than strictly track-based events. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
15 November:
- Edna Kiplagat, Kenyan distance runner
- Kęstutis Šapka, Soviet high jumper and coach
- Mac Wilkins, American discus thrower
- Zhou Chunxiu, Chinese distance runner
16 November:
- Bert Cameron, Jamaican sprinter
- Tanja Damaske, German javelin thrower
- Donald Lippincott, American sprinter
- Marilyn Neufville, Jamaican-British sprinter
- Emerson Norton, American decathlete
- Mel Patton, American sprinter
- Edward Sarul, Polish shot putter
- Ellina Zvereva, Belarusian discus thrower
17 November:
- Eunice Barber, French heptathlete and long jumper
- Ulrike Bruns, German middle-distance runner
- Derek Clayton, Australian distance runner
- Winthrop Graham, Jamaican hurdler
- Tom Hill, American hurdler
- Brenda Jones, Australian middle-distance runner
- Bob Mathias, American decathlete
- Greg Rutherford, British long jumper
- Klavdiya Tochonova, Soviet shot putter
18 November:
- Earl Eby, American middle-distance runner
- Allyson Felix, American sprinter
- John Garrels, American hurdler and thrower
- Richard Limo, Kenyan distance runner
- LaVonna Martin, American hurdler
- Shirley Strong, British hurdler
19 November:
- Luigi Beccali, Italian middle-distance runner
- Claudinei Quirino da Silva, Brazilian sprinter
- Meseret Defar, Ethiopian distance runner
- Gail Devers, American sprinter and hurdler
- Ivanka Khristova, Bulgarian shot putter
- Yipsi Moreno, Cuban hammer thrower
- Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová, Czech discus thrower
- Dayron Robles, Cuban hurdler
- Reima Salonen, Finnish race walker
- Toby Stevenson, American pole vaulter
20 November:
- Naide Gomes, São Toméan-Portuguese long jumper
- Timothy Kitum, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Richmond Landon, American high jumper
- Dora Ratjen, German high jumper
- Jean Shiley, American high jumper
- Aleksey Spiridonov, Soviet hammer thrower
21 November:
- Oleksandr Bagach, Ukrainian shot putter
- Sabine Busch, German sprinter and hurdler
- Sebastian Chmara, Polish decathlete
- Henri Deloge, French middle-distance runner
- Alberto Juantorena, Cuban 400/800 runner
- Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Russian sprinter
- Werknesh Kidane, Ethiopian distance runner
- Ainārs Kovals, Latvian javelin thrower
- Nadine Müller, German discus thrower
- Niklas Wallenlind, Swedish hurdler
Related portals
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- ... 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
Iolanda Balaș (Romanian pronunciation: [joˈlanda ˈbalaʃ], Hungarian: Balázs Jolán, later Balázs-Sőtér Jolán; 12 December 1936 – 11 March 2016) was a Romanian athlete, an Olympic champion and former world record holder in the high jump. She was the first Romanian woman to win an Olympic gold medal and is considered to have been one of the greatest high jumpers of the twentieth century. (Full article...)
Balaș took up athletics owing to her caretaker Luisa Ernst, who was also a retired high jumper.[1] In 1953 she transferred from Timișoara club "Electrica" to CCA (CSA Steaua). After finishing fifth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, she won Olympic gold medals at Rome in 1960 (becoming the first Romanian woman to do so)[2] and Tokyo in 1964. At the 1964 Olympics she competed with a torn tendon, which forced her later to withdraw from the 1966 European Championships. Nevertheless, between 1957 and 1966, Balaș won 154 consecutive competitions,[3] not including qualifying competitions or exhibitions. She improved the world record 14 times, from 1.75 m to 1.91 m, and equalled it once outdoors and once indoors. She was the first woman to jump over six feet. Her technique was a sophisticated version of the scissors technique.[1]
Her record of 1.91 m, set in 1961, lasted until the end of 1971 (beaten by Ilona Gusenbauer from Austria), when jumpers with a more efficient technique (the straddle technique, and later the Fosbury style) took over.[1]
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... 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 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 and 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in an unprecedented double victory?
- ... that at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
World records
Topics
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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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Sources
- ^ a b c "Iolanda Balaş". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "Romanian high jumper Iolanda Balas dies at 79". Daily Herald. Associated Press. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ "The Sport's Longest Winning Streak Gets Longer", Track & Field News (August 2016), p. 47.
