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...)
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The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad (Greek: Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, romanized: Agónes tis 1is Olympiádas) and commonly known as Athens 1896 (Greek: Αθήνα 1896), was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had been created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, it was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
Fourteen nations (according to the IOC, though the number is subject to interpretation) and 241 athletes (all males; this number is also disputed) took part in the games. Participants were all European, or living in Europe, with the exception of the United States team. Over 65% of the competing athletes were Greek. Winners were given a silver medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has converted these to gold and silver, and awarded bronze medals to third placed athletes. Ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals. The United States won the most gold medals, 11, while host nation Greece won the most medals overall, 47. The highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, who won four events.
The 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date. The Panathenaic Stadium overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. After the Games, Coubertin and the IOC were petitioned by several prominent figures, including Greece's King George and some of the American competitors in Athens, to hold all the following Games in Athens. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, with the exception of the Intercalated Games of 1906, the Olympics did not return to Greece until the 2004 Summer Olympics, 108 years later. (Full article...)
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Athlete birthdays
5 June:
- Karin Balzer, German hurdler
- Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
- John Carlos, American sprinter
- Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
- Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper
- Fred Lorz, American distance runner
- Werner Schildhauer, German distance runner
6 June:
- Ryan Brathwaite, Barbadian hurdler
- Hans-Peter Ferner, German middle-distance runner
- Marian Oprea, Romanian triple jumper
- Andrey Prokofyev, Soviet hurdler
- Tommie Smith, American sprinter
- Paweł Wojciechowski, Polish pole vaulter
7 June:
- Alina Astafei, Romanian-German high jumper
- Clarence DeMar, American distance runner
- Alleyne Francique, Grenadian sprinter
- Hatem Ghoula, Tunisian race walker
- Piotr Małachowski, Polish discus thrower
- Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
8 June:
- Willie Davenport, American hurdler
- Hildegard Falck, German middle-distance runner
- Butch Reynolds, American sprinter
- Antoaneta Todorova, Bulgarian javelin thrower
9 June:
- Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper
- Al Cantello, American javelin thrower
- Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter
- Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter
- Faina Melnik, Soviet discus thrower
10 June:
- Laimutė Baikauskaitė, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Damian Kallabis, German steeplechase runner
- Burglinde Pollak, German pentathlete
- Vilmos Varjú, Hungarian shot putter
- Andrey Yepishin, Russian sprinter
11 June:
- Sebastian Bayer, German long jumper
- Jacques Freitag, South African high jumper
- Kim Gallagher, American middle-distance runner
- Karl Hein, German hammer thrower
- Vera Komisova, Soviet hurdler
- Christophe Lemaitre, French sprinter
- Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Yuriy Sedykh, Soviet hammer thrower
- Reiko Tosa, Japanese distance runner
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- ... that all four deaths in the thirty annual Chicago Marathons have occurred in the last ten years?
- ... that wind assistance has caused the non-ratification of many potential world records in athletics?
- ... that Patrick Ivuti's photo finish victory in the 2007 Chicago Marathon, one of the five major marathons, was his first marathon victory?
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Selected biography
Alberto Juantorena (born 3 December 1950) is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, and in the 800 m in 1976–77, and was chosen as the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in 1976 and 1977. (Full article...)
Juantorena proceeded to win a gold medal at the 1973 World University Games and a silver at the 1975 Pan American Games, both in the 400 meters. He was unbeaten in 1973 and 1974, but underwent two operations on his foot in 1975.[1] He only seriously took up running the 800 meters in 1976, so few thought he was a candidate for the Olympic gold that year. His coach, Zabierzowski, had initially tricked him in to trying an 800 m race by convincing him the other runners needed a pacemaker.[2]
Juantorena made it to the 800m Olympic final, and led the field for most of the race, eventually winning in a world record time of 1:43.50.[3] He was the first non-English speaking athlete to win Olympic gold in this event. Three days later, he also won the 400 meter final, setting a low-altitude world record at 44.26.[4] By winning the 400 meters, he became the first athlete since Paul Pilgrim at the 1906 Intercalated Games to do such a double at an Olympic sports event, and was the only man to do so at an officially recognized Olympics.[5][6]
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... 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 when the Oakland Athletics promoted Bill McNulty to the major leagues, they needed forest rangers to find him?
- ... 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 for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
- ... that at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
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
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Olympic Games | 1896 | World games | Worldwide |
World Championships | 1983 | World championships | |
World Indoor Championships | 1985 | ||
European Championships | 1934 | Continental championships | Europe |
European Indoor Championships | 1966 | ||
South American Championships | 1919 | South America | |
Asian Championships | 1973 | Asia | |
African Championships | 1979 | Africa | |
Ocenian Championships | 1990 | 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)
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Sources
- ^ "Alberto Juantorena". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ Sandrock, p. 207
- ^ 'Alberto Juantorena 1976 Olympics 800' on YouTube
- ^ 'Legendary: El Caballo Romps' on YouTube
- ^ Robb, Sharon (21 June 1980) "Treasure Island Cuba Doesn't Just Love Sports Heroes. It Worships Them". SunSentinel.
- ^ Alberto Juantorena. Olympic.org. Retrieved on 25 June 2018.