**[[relay race|Relays]]: [[4 x 100 meters relay]], [[4 x 400 meters relay]], 4 x 200 m, 4 x 800 m, etc. Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals. Typical medley relays include the distance medley relay (DMR) and the sprint medley relay (SMR). A distance medley relay consists of a 1200 m leg, a 400 m leg, an 800 m leg, and finishes with a 1600 m leg. A sprint medley relay consists of a 400 m leg, 2 200 m legs, and then an 800 m leg. Most American high schools run the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 with the 4x400 being the finishing event to the meet.
**[[relay race|Relays]]: [[4 x 100 meters relay]], [[4 x 400 meters relay]], 4 x 200 m, 4 x 800 m, etc. Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals. Typical medley relays include the distance medley relay (DMR) and the sprint medley relay (SMR). A distance medley relay consists of a 1200 m leg, a 400 m leg, an 800 m leg, and finishes with a 1600 m leg. A sprint medley relay consists of a 400 m leg, 2 200 m legs, and then an 800 m leg. Most American high schools run the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 with the 4x400 being the finishing event to the meet.
*[[Road running]]: conducted on open roads, but often finishing on the track. Common events are the 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, half-marathon and [[marathon (sport)|marathon]]. The marathon is the only common road-racing distance run in major international athletics championships such as the Olympics.
*[[Road running]]: conducted on open roads, but often finishing on the track. Common events are the 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, half-marathon and [[marathon (sport)|marathon]]. The marathon is the only common road-racing distance run in major international athletics championships such as the Olympics.
*[[Race walking]]: usually conducted on open roads. Common events are poopie lol, 20 km and 50 km.
*[[Race walking]]: usually conducted on open roads. Common events are 10km, 20 km and 50 km.
*Field events
*Field events
**Throwing events
**Throwing events
Revision as of 21:27, 25 March 2007
A women's 400 meter hurdles race on a typical outdoor red rubber track.
Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing and jumping. The name is derived from the Greek word "athlon" meaning "contest".
Some languages (e.g., German and Russian) refer to these sports as "light athletics" to distinguish them from "heavy athletics," like weight lifting, wrestling, etc.
Indoor track and field
There are two seasons for track and field. There is an indoor season, run during the winter and an outdoor season, run during the spring and summer. Most indoor tracks are 200 meters, however, less frequently, there are smaller and larger tracks that measure from between 120 (13.3 laps to a mile) to 300 meters. The typical indoor track consists of three to eight lanes (usually six) instead of the six to ten (usually eight) on an outdoor track. Often an indoor track will have banked turns to compensate for the tight bends.
In an indoor track meet athletes contest the same events as an outdoor meet with the exception of the 100 m and 110 m/100 m hurdles (replaced by the 60 m sprint and 60 m hurdles at most levels and sometimes the 55m sprint and 55m hurdles at the high school level), and the 10,000 m run, 3,000m steeplechase, and 400m hurdles. Indoor meets also have the addition of a 3,000 m run normally at both the collegiate and elite level instead of the 10,000 m. The 5,000 m is the longest event commonly run indoors, although there are situations where longer distances have been raced. In the mid 20th century, there was a series of races 'duel races' at Madison Square Garden's (NY) indoor track, some of which featured two men racing a marathon (26.2 miles). However, this is an extremely rare occurrence, for obvious reasons. In some occasions, there may also be a 500 m race instead the open 400 m normally found outdoors, and in many collegiate championship races indoors both are contested.
In the field events, indoor meets only feature the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put. The longer throws of javelin, hammer and discus are added only for outdoor meets, as there is normally not enough space in an indoor stadium to house these events.
Other events unique to indoor meets (especially in North America) are the 300, 600, 1000, and 35 lb. weight throw. In some countries, notably Norway, standing long jump and standing high jump are also contested.
For multi-event athletes there is the Pentathlon for women (consisting of 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m) and heptathlon for men (consisting of 60m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m).
Outdoor track and field
The outdoor track and field season usually begins in the spring and lasts through the summer. Most tracks are ovals of 400 meters in circumference. However, some older tracks are 440 yards in length, while there are some tracks that are neither oval nor 400m/440y due to geographic considerations. Modern tracks are made with a rubberized surface, while older tracks may be made of dirt or cinders. Tracks normally consists of 6-10 lanes and many include a steeplechase lane with a water pit on one of the turns. This steeplechase pit can be placed either inside or outside the track, making for a tighter turn or a wider turn. It is common that tracks will surround a playing field used for American football, soccer, or lacrosse. This inner field is usually known as the infield and has a surface of either grass or artificial turf.
All field events can be contested on the infield. However the javelin, hammer and discus throws are often contested on fields outside of the track stadium because they take up a large amount of space, the implements may damage the infield, and the implements could end up landing on the track.
Events
There are other variations besides the ones listed below, but races of unusual length (e.g., 300 m) are run much less often. The unusual races are typically held during indoor season because of the shorter 200m indoor track. With the exception of the mile run, races based on imperial distances are rarely run on the track anymore since most tracks have been converted from a quarter mile (402.3 m) to 400 meters; almost all recordkeeping for imperial distances has been discontinued. However, the IAAF record book still includes the mile world record (currently held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco for men and Svetlana Masterkova of Russia for women) because of its worldwide historic significance.
Men and women do not compete against each other. Women generally run the same distances as men although hurdles and steeplechase barriers are lower and the weights of the shot, discus, javelin and hammer are less.
Track events - running events conducted on a 400 meter track.
Middle distance: events from 800m to 3000 m, 800 meters, 1500 meters, mile and 3000m. (Note: In the United States, high school athletes in most states normally run the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m. In a few states high school athletes run the 1500m and 3000m instead of the 1600m and 3200m.)
Steeplechase - a race (usually 3000 m) in which runners must negotiate barriers and water jumps.
Long distance: runs over 5000 m. Common events are 5000 m and 10000 m. Less common are 1, 6, 12, 24 hour races.
Hurdling: 110 m high hurdles (100 m for women) and 400 m intermediate hurdles (300 m in some high schools).
Relays: 4 x 100 meters relay, 4 x 400 meters relay, 4 x 200 m, 4 x 800 m, etc. Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals. Typical medley relays include the distance medley relay (DMR) and the sprint medley relay (SMR). A distance medley relay consists of a 1200 m leg, a 400 m leg, an 800 m leg, and finishes with a 1600 m leg. A sprint medley relay consists of a 400 m leg, 2 200 m legs, and then an 800 m leg. Most American high schools run the 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 with the 4x400 being the finishing event to the meet.
Road running: conducted on open roads, but often finishing on the track. Common events are the 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, half-marathon and marathon. The marathon is the only common road-racing distance run in major international athletics championships such as the Olympics.
Race walking: usually conducted on open roads. Common events are 10km, 20 km and 50 km.
