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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A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Race walking) -
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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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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Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Race walking) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (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) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (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) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (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 women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
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The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
A high school student attempting to high jump while using the Fosbury Flop technique (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
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The Gordon Indoor Track features an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
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Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (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) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (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) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running)
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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
22 April:
- Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan distance runner
23 April:
- Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian distance runner
- Folke Jansson, Swedish triple jumper
- Alysia Montaño, American middle-distance runner
24 April:
- Josy Barthel, Luxembourgish middle-distance runner
- Al Bates, American long jumper
- Eddie Hart, American sprinter
- Tatyana Lesovaya, Soviet discus thrower
- Hanna Melnychenko, Ukrainian heptathlete
- David Oliver, American hurdler
- Ruth Osburn, American discus thrower
- Mike Rodgers, American sprinter
- Con Walsh, Irish-Canadian hammer thrower
25 April:
- Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter
- Duncan Kibet, Kenyan distance runner
- Valentyna Kozyr, Soviet high jumper
- Vitaliy Kyrylenko, Ukrainian long jumper
- Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower
- Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
- Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner
- Ernest Webb, British race walker
- Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper
- Nick Willis, New Zealand middle-distance runner
26 April:
- Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch all-rounder
- Stephanie Graf, Austrian middle-distance runner
- Roger Moens, Belgian middle-distance runner
- Cornelia Ullrich, German hurdler
- Novlene Williams-Mills, Jamaican sprinter
- Yuliya Zaripova, Russian steeplechase runner
27 April:
- Gudrun Berend, German hurdler
- Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter
- Johnny Kuck, American shot putter
- Con Leahy, Irish jumper
- Luz Long, German long jumper
- Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian distance runner
- Ron Morris, American pole vaulter
- Nina Ponomaryova, Soviet discus thrower
- John Rimmer, British steeplechase runner
- Seppo Räty, Finnish javelin thrower
28 April:
- Ethel Catherwood, Canadian high jumper
- Dainis Kūla, Soviet javelin thrower
- Roman Rasskazov, Russian race walker
- Art Shaw, American hurdler
- Henry Stallard, British middle-distance runner
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that the 2000 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the heptathlon was Denise Lewis?
- ... that as part of a publicity stunt, the 1927 Texas Relays held an 89 mile (143 km) running race from San Antonio to Austin?
- ... that Czech decathlete Roman Šebrle, world record holder and 2004 Olympic winner, was injured in January 2007 when a javelin which had been thrown 55 metres pierced his shoulder?
- ... that at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, Yipsi Moreno became world champion in the hammer throw at the age of twenty, improving from an eighteenth place finish in 1999?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Pietro Paolo Mennea (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛːtro menˈnɛːa]; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed la Freccia del Sud ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72 seconds in September 1979. This record stood for almost 17 years – the longest duration in the event history – and is still the European record. He is the only male sprinter who has qualified at four consecutive 200 metres Olympic finals: from 1972 to 1984. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in an unprecedented double victory?
- ... 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 the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
- ... 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 successfully defended her 2021 title by winning the women's 400 metres at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships?
- ... that four-time NAIA scoring champion Grace Beyer has scored more career points than any female basketball player at a four-year college or university?
World records
Topics
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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| Area records |
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International youth, junior, and U23 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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