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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The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (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) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (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) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
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A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (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) -
The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (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) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
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Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
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A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
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The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
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An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (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) -
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The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running)
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_-_The_Winners_of_the_10,000_M_Walk.jpg)
Selected article
Track & Field News is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field.
The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the United States from the high school to national level as well as covering the sport on an international bases. The magazine has given itself the motto of "The Bible of the Sport".
Each year, the magazine produces world and US rankings of top track & field athletes, selected by the magazine's editors along with an international team of experts. The team changes year to year, for the 2012 season (published in the February 2013 issue) the world rankings compilers consisted of Jonathan Berenbom, Richard Hymans, Dave Johnson, Nejat Kok, and R. L. Quercentani. (Full article...)
The Track & Field News Athlete of the Year award is given to track and field athletes by Track & Field News magazine, an American sports magazine. A panel of international track and field experts organized by the magazine selects the winners. The award has been given to men since 1959 and women since 1974.
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
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
29 April:
- Rob Druppers, Dutch middle-distance runner
- Taoufik Makhloufi, Algerian middle-distance runner
- Dorothy Manley, British sprinter
- Jim Ryun, American middle-distance runner
- Sofia Sakorafa, Greek javelin thrower
- Larisa Turchinskaya, Russian heptathlete
- Attila Zsivóczky, Hungarian decathlete
30 April:
- Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower
- Margit Papp, Hungarian pentathlete
1 May:
- Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish distance runner
- Lornah Kiplagat, Kenyan-Dutch distance runner
- Mikhail Krivonosov, Soviet hammer thrower
- Ollie Matson, American sprinter
- Bryshon Nellum, American sprinter
- Michelle Perry, American hurdler
- Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
- Marina Stepanova, Soviet hurdler
- John Svanberg, Swedish distance runner
- Archie Williams, American sprinter
2 May:
- Tim Benjamin, British sprinter
- James Dillion, American discus thrower
- Bill Horr, American discus thrower
- Taťána Kocembová, Czechoslovakian sprinter
- Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that Erica Larson, a chemist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, won the Pikes Peak mountain marathon five times in six years between 1999 and 2004, more than any other woman in the event's history?
- ... that all four deaths in the thirty annual Chicago Marathons have occurred in the last ten years?
- ... that wind assistance has caused the non-ratification of many potential world records in athletics?
- ... that Patrick Ivuti's photo finish victory in the 2007 Chicago Marathon, one of the five major marathons, was his first marathon victory?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen (Dutch: [frɑnˈsinaː ˈʔɛlʃə ˈfɑni ˈblɑŋkərs ˈkun]; 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, 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 Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... that German runner Alica Schmidt, who is running in the Women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, has won multiple European junior relay medals?
- ... 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 the women's race at today's New York City Marathon will feature two of the medalists from this year's Olympic marathon?
- ... 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 at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... that for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
World records
| Event | Men | Record | Women | Record |
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| 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
| Track |
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| Field |
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| Road |
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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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International youth athletics | |||||||||
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| Regional championships |
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| Games | |||||||||
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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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| 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 |
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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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