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...)
General images -
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Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
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The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (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 racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
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Men assuming the starting position for a sprint 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 typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
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 children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
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The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
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Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
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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)
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Selected article
Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an opponent. Human physiology dictates that a runner's near-top speed cannot be maintained for more than 30–35 seconds due to the depletion of phosphocreatine stores in muscles, and perhaps secondarily to excessive metabolic acidosis as a result of anaerobic glycolysis.
In athletics and track and field, sprints (or dashes) are races over short distances. They are among the oldest running competitions, being recorded at the Ancient Olympic Games. Three sprints are currently held at the modern Summer Olympics and outdoor World Championships: the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 400 metres. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
20 April:
- Brahim Boulami, Moroccan steeplechase runner
- Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter
- Nelson Évora, Portuguese triple jumper
- Debbie Flintoff-King, Australian hurdler
- Manfred Kinder, German sprinter
- Tatyana Polnova, Russian pole vaulter
- Naftali Temu, Kenyan distance runner
- Roman Virastyuk, Ukrainian shot putter
21 April:
- Romeo Bertini, Italian distance runner
- Richard Chelimo, Kenyan distance runner
- Ludmila Engquist, Russian-Swedish hurdler
- Dieter Fromm, German middle-distance runner
- John Kibowen, Kenyan distance runner
- Julius Korir, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Olga Kuragina, Soviet pentathlete
- Yuliya Pechonkina, Russian hurdler
- Michael Tinsley, American hurdler
- Marc Wright, American pole vaulter
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
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
Daniel Dion O'Brien (born July 18, 1966) is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships (1991, 1993, 1995), and set the world record in 1992. (Full article...)
As the 1991 world champion, O'Brien entered the Olympic year of 1992 as the favorite to win gold in the decathlon in Barcelona and be proclaimed as the "world's greatest athlete." However, during the U.S. Olympic Trials at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans in late June, O'Brien had a disaster in the eighth event, the pole vault. After passing at the first four (lower) heights, O'Brien entered the competition at 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m), and failed to clear the bar on all three attempts. As a result, he scored no points and dropped from first to eleventh place among the 24 decathletes.[1][2] He did not make the Olympic team for Barcelona, but he continued to train for the competition held in France a few weeks after the Olympics ended.[3]
O'Brien regrouped and set a world record of 8,891 points in early September in Talence, France.[4][5][6][7] His marks were as follows: 100 meters in 10.43 seconds (with a tailwind); Long Jump 26 ft 6¼ in (8.08 m); Shot Put 54 ft 9¼ in (16.69 m); High Jump 6 ft 9½ in (2.07 m); 400 meters 48.51 seconds, for a first day total of 4,720 points; Day two 110 Meter High Hurdles in 13.98 seconds; Discus 159 ft 4 inches (48.56m); Pole Vault 16 ft 4¾ in (5.00 m); Javelin 205 ft 4 in (62.58m); 1,500 meter run in 4 minutes 42.10 seconds = total 8,891 points).
This stood as the world record until 1999,[8] and the American record for nearly twenty years, until Ashton Eaton broke it in 2012 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. O'Brien was in attendance at Hayward Field and congratulated Eaton shortly after he completed the 1500 meters for a new world record of 9,039 points.[9]
At the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, O'Brien won the gold medal with 8,824 points, 118 ahead of runner-up Frank Busemann of Germany.[10][11][12] After a break from competition, he won the Goodwill Games title in 1998, held east of New York City on Long Island, his eleventh consecutive win since 1992.[13] A plantar fascia injury to his left foot in July 2000, shortly before the U.S. Olympic Trials, caused his withdrawal and he did not defend his title.[14][15] Injuries continued and prevented his return to the Olympic trials in 2004.[16]
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
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- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... that for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
- ... 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?
- ... 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?
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- ... that the women's race at today's New York City Marathon will feature two of the medalists from this year's Olympic marathon?
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
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Athletics by country | ||
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Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
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| Additions (2020- ) | |
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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
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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
- ^ Anderson, Curtis (June 28, 1992). "The Dan and Dave show is over". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 1E.
- ^ "Tragic day at the Trials". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho Washington. June 29, 1992. p. 1C.
- ^ Gillespie, Kerry (July 3, 2016). "For Damian Warner, four years of training comes to fruition at Rio Olympics in August - Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ Rodman, Bob (September 6, 1992). "Dan O'Brien earns decathlon world record". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1E.
- ^ "Definitely Dan's day: O'Brien sets decathlon mark". Observer-Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. September 6, 1992. p. C8.
- ^ "Dan O'Brien breaks Daley's world record". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. news services. September 6, 1992. p. D3.
- ^ Rodman, Bob (June 14, 1993). "O'Brien takes aim at decathlon mark". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 4B.
- ^ "Dvorak tops O'Brien's world decathlon mark". Sarasota Herald Tribune. Florida. Associated Press. July 5, 1999. p. 2C.
- ^ "9039 points! Eaton breaks world record before a home crowd in Eugene". IAAF. June 24, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
- ^ Baum, Bob (August 2, 1996). "O'Brien buries memories of '92". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. p. 1C.
- ^ Powell, Shaun (August 2, 1996). "O'Brien endures to win decathlon". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Newsday). p. 1C.
- ^ Ventre, Michael (August 2, 1992). "O'Brien strikes Olympic gold". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. (Los Angeles Daily News). p. 1B.
- ^ Rosenthal, Bert (July 21, 1998). "Still the greatest". Ocala Star-Banner. Florida. Associated Press. p. 1D.
- ^ Baum, Bob (July 19, 2000). "O'Brien bows out of Olympic trials". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. p. 1B.
- ^ "Injured foot to keep O'Brien from trials". Toledo Blade. Ohio. Associated Press. July 19, 2000. p. 7C.
- ^ "Injured O'Brien 'officially done' with decathlon". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. July 9, 2004. p. C2.
