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 race walking.
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 child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
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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) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100m race (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) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
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Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
A high school student attempting to high jump while using the Fosbury Flop technique (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Race walking) -
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A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (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) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
An example of a racewalker in a "flight phase" (both feet entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Race walking) -
The Gordon Indoor Track features an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (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) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (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) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
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The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Quincy Wilson setting the U18 world record in the 400-meter dash (from Track and field) -
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Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
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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Selected article
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members (annual individual membership fee: $35 for 18-year-old members and younger, $65 for the rest), but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
USA Track & Field is involved in many aspects of the sport at the local, national, and international level, providing the rules, officials, coaching education, sports science and athlete development, youth programs, masters (age 25+) competition, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, and an annual meeting. It also organizes the annual USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, the USA Cross Country Championships, the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, and the USATF National Club Track & Field Championships. Through its sanctioning program, the national body provides the insurance coverage necessary for members to rent facilities, thus allowing for competitive opportunities for all athletes to happen. USA Track and Field has held National conventions since the 1870s or 1880s. NAAA Track and Field Championship and Convention locations Dec 3–6, 2020, virtually; earlier announced the 2020 USATF Annual Meeting to be held virtually instead of face-to-face. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
8 February:
- Ivan Belyayev, Soviet steeplechase runner
- Galina Bystrova, Soviet pentathlete
- Genzebe Dibaba, Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner
- Steinar Hoen, Norwegian high jumper
- Uno Palu, Soviet decathlete
- Zersenay Tadese, Eritrean distance runner
- Albie Thomas, Australian middle- and long-distance runner
9 February:
- Yevgeniy Arzhanov, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Dieter Baumann, German distance runner
- David, Lord Burghley, British hurdler and IAAF president
- Antonio McKay, American sprinter
- Terje Pedersen, Norwegian javelin thrower
- Mariya Pinigina, Soviet sprinter
- Christian Schenk, German decathlete
- Ionela Târlea, Romanian hurdler
- Ellen van Langen, Dutch middle-distance runner
10 February:
- Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
- Sam Graddy, American sprinter
- Tapio Korjus, Finnish javelin thrower
- Magdelín Martínez, Cuban-Italian triple jumper
- Ken McArthur, South African distance runner
- Gordon Pirie, British distance runner
- Mary Rand, British long jumper and pentathlete
- Larry Young, American race walker
11 February:
- Gordon George Avery, Australian triple jumper
- Yumileidi Cumbá, Cuban shot putter
- Ralph Doubell, Australian middle-distance runner
- Olga Dvirna, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Mohammed Gammoudi, Tunisian distance runner
- Gunnar Lindström, Swedish javelin thrower
- Aleksandr Makarov, Soviet javelin thrower
- Roberto Moya, Cuban discus thrower
- Bernardo Segura, Mexican race walker
- George Woods, American shot putter
12 February:
- Steve Backley, British javelin thrower
- Charles Dumas, American high jumper
- Gunnar Höckert, Finnish distance runner
- Christoph Höhne, German race walker
- Caterine Ibargüen, Colombian triple jumper
- Henry Rono, Kenyan distance runner
13 February:
- Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower
- Mika Halvari, Finnish shot putter
- Kenny Harrison, American triple jumper
- Leamon King, American sprinter
- Suleiman Nyambui, Tanzanian distance runner
- Demetrius Pinder, Bahamian sprinter
14 February:
- József Csermák, Hungarian hammer thrower
- Deena Kastor, American distance runner
- Du'aine Ladejo, British sprinter
- Jon Ridgeon, British hurdler
- Heide Rosendahl, German pentathlete and long jumper
- Thierry Toutain, French race walker
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
Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen (pronounced [frɑnˈsinaː ˈʔɛlɕə ˈfɑni ˈblɑŋkərs ˈkun] ⓘ; née Koen, 26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname "the Flying Housewife", and was the most successful athlete at the event.
Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was stopped by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, and sprint and hurdling events.
Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles and 58 Dutch championships, and set or tied 12 world records – the last, in the pentathlon, in 1951 aged 33. She retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became captain of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Her Olympic victories are credited with helping to eliminate the belief that age and motherhood were barriers to success in women's sport. (Full article...)
| 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 Sydney McLaughlin's world record of 50.68 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles was called "one of the greatest track performances of all time"?
- ... that Liechtensteiner athlete Oskar Ospelt was a two-time Swiss national champion?
- ... 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 the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that Femke Bol's time of [[2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships –
- ... that the "fall and rise of Femke Bol" refers to her fall in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay followed by her world title in the 400 metres hurdles?
- ... that Libania Grenot was the first woman in three decades to successfully defend the European 400-metres title?
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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