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) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (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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The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
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Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
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A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (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 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 children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (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 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) -
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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A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
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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
The mechanics of the running blades used by South African former Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius depend on special carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer prosthetics. Pistorius has double below-the-knee amputations and competed in both non-disabled and T44 amputee athletics events. Pistorius's eligibility to run in international non-disabled events is sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Pistorius began running in 2004 after a rugby knee injury which led to rehabilitation at the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre with coach Ampie Louw. His first racing blades were fitted by South African prosthetist Francois Vanderwatt. Because he was unable to find suitable running blades in Pretoria, Vanderwatt ordered some to be made by a local engineer at Hanger Orthopedic Group. These quickly broke, and Vanderwatt referred Pistorius to American prosthetist and Paralympic sprinter Brian Frasure to be fitted for carbon-fibre blades by Icelandic company Össur.
Pistorius's participation in non-disabled international sprinting competitions in 2007 raised questions about his use of running blades, and the IAAF amended their rules to ban the use of "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device." After initial studies, Pistorius was ruled ineligible for competitions under these IAAF rules. After further research was presented, the Court of Arbitration (CAS) ruled that his running prostheses were not shown to provide a net competitive advantage over biological legs. In 2012, Pistorius qualified for and competed in both the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2012 Paralympic Games using his running blades, becoming the first amputee sprinter to run in the Olympic Games. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
1 December:
- Stephanie Brown-Trafton, American discus thrower
- Alberto Cova, Italian distance runner
- Mubarak Hassan Shami, Kenyan-Qatari distance runner
- Hans-Heinrich Sievert, German decathlete
- Alex Wilson, Canadian 400/800 runner
2 December:
- Arvo Askola, Finnish distance runner
- Mike Larrabee, American sprinter
- Taisto Mäki, Finnish distance runner
- Sunder Nix, American sprinter
- Maksim Tarasov, Russian pole vaulter
3 December:
- John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler
- Aleksey Drozdov, Russian decathlete
- Danilo Goffi, Italian distance runner
- Nataliya Grigoryeva, Ukrainian hurdler
- Glenn Hartranft, American shot putter and discus thrower
- Pentti Kahma, Finnish discus thrower
- Kaisa Parviainen, Finnish javelin thrower
- Yelena Zadorozhnaya, Russian distance runner
4 December:
- Sergey Bubka, Ukrainian pole vaulter
- Nathan Douglas, British triple jumper
- Tim Hutchings, British distance runner
- Nixon Kiprotich, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Glynis Nunn, Australian heptathlete and hurdler
- Darvis Patton, American sprinter
5 December:
- Marise Chamberlain, New Zealand middle-distance runner
- Ashia Hansen, British triple jumper
- Patriz Ilg, German steeplechase runner
- Pamela Jelimo, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Linet Masai, Kenyan distance runner
- Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
- Duane Ross, American hurdler
- Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker
- Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower
6 December:
- Luis Delís, Cuban discus thrower
- Guy Drut, French hurdler
- Jim Fuchs, American shot putter
- Viktor Lipsnis, Soviet shot putter
- John Mikaelsson, Swedish race walker
- Dwight Stones, American high jumper
- Miklós Szabó, Hungarian middle-distance runner
7 December:
- Alain Blondel, French decathlete
- John Carpenter, American sprinter
- Manuel Martínez, Spanish shot putter
- Duncan McNaughton, Canadian high jumper
- Aleksandr Menkov, Russian long jumper
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
Kipchoge Hezekiah Keino (born 17 January 1940) is a retired Kenyan track and field athlete. He was the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee (KOC) until 29 September 2017. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. In 2000, he became an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012, he was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... that the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
- ... 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 at the 2022 British Athletics Championships, Daryll Neita became the first woman since 2010 to win both the 100- and 200-metre events?
- ... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
World records
Topics
| Track |
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| Field |
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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| Area records |
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| Americas |
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| Community |
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| Regional championships |
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Athletics by country | ||
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Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
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| National |
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| Mandatory sports |
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| Discretionary sports | |
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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 |  Europe
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| European Indoor Championships | 1966 | ||
| South American Championships | 1919 |  South America
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| Asian Championships | 1973 |  Asia
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| African Championships | 1979 |  Africa
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| Ocenian Championships | 1990 |  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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