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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Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
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A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
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Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
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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Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
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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) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (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) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (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) -
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) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field)
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Selected article
Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the use of mercury.
Because the "Tartan" product was widely successful in its time, the name Tartan has been used as a genericized trademark for description of an all-weather running track.[original research?]
Athletic Polymer Systems, a subsidiary of MCP Industries, Inc., manages the installation of Tartan-branded running track. (Full article...)
| More selected articles |
Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
24 November:
- Eamonn Coghlan, Irish middle- and long-distance runner
- Dejen Gebremeskel, Ethiopian distance runner
- Carmelita Jeter, American sprinter
- Gisela Mauermayer, German discus thrower
- Sándor Rozsnyói, Hungarian steeplechase runner
- Ryan Whiting, American shot putter
25 November:
- Lillian Copeland, American discus and javelin thrower
- Yoel García, Cuban triple jumper
- Lalonde Gordon, Trinidadian sprinter
- DeHart Hubbard, American long jumper and sprinter
- Christos Papanikolaou, Greek pole vaulter
- Gerhard Sperling, German race walker
26 November:
- Ellen Fiedler, German hurdler
- Étienne Gailly, Belgian distance runner
- Lyudmila Shevtsova, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Roman Šebrle, Czech decathlete
27 November:
- Henry Carr, American sprinter
- Edward Cook, American pole vaulter
- Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter
- Anatoliy Samotsvetov, Soviet hammer thrower
28 November:
- Kriss Akabusi, British hurdler
- Yelizaveta Bryzghina, Ukrainian sprinter
- Anastasía Kelesídou, Greek discus thrower
- Nadezhda Olizarenko, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Sonia O'Sullivan, Irish middle-distance runner
- Vania Stambolova, Bulgarian sprinter and hurdler
- Alfred Kirwa Yego, Kenyan middle-distance runner
29 November:
- Nikolay Chernetskiy, Soviet sprinter
- Käthe Krauß, German sprinter
- Hugo Lahtinen, Finnish pentathlete and long jumper
- Jennifer Oeser, German heptathlete
- Gus Pope, American discus thrower
30 November:
- Basil Bennett, American hammer thrower
- Innocent Egbunike, Nigerian sprinter
- Kipkemboi Kimeli, Kenyan distance runner
- Ian Morris, Trinidadian sprinter
- Pauli Nevala, Finnish javelin thrower
- Olga Rypakova, Kazakh triple jumper
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that 1985 NCAA hurdling champion Thomas Wilcher won the Michigan High School Athletic Association team track & field championship three consecutive times, both as an athlete and a coach?
- ... that Charlie Fonville broke a 14-year-old shot put world record by almost twelve inches at the 1948 Kansas Relays but was not allowed to stay with the other athletes because he was African-American?
- ... that the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on July 4 (U.S. Independence Day) in Atlanta, Georgia, is the world's largest 10 kilometer road race with 55,000 runners participating in 2007?
- ... 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]
| 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 Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
- ... 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 Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... 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 when the Oakland Athletics promoted Bill McNulty to the major leagues, they needed forest rangers to find him?
- ... that the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
- ... 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?
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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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.
