Portal:Sport of athletics

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Welcome——to THE ATHLETICS PORTAL

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Introduction

A copy of the——Ancient Greek statue *Discobolus*, portraying discus thrower

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P:SOA

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...)

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The following are images from various sport of athletics-related articles on XIV.

Image 1Marion Jones, after admitting to doping, lost her Olympic medals, was banned from the sport, and spent six months in jail. (from Track and field)
Image 2Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field)
Image 3The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running)
Image 4A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field)
Image 5Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field)
Image 6Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field)
Image 7The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field)
Image 8American 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)
Image 9A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field)
Image 10Yury Shayunou spinning with the hammer within the circle in hammer throw (from Track and field)
Image 11Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field)
Image 12An early model of hurdling at the Detroit Athletic Club in 1888 (from Track and field)
Image 13A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field)
Image 14Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field)
Image 15Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field)
Image 16A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking)
Image 17Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field)
Image 18A woman attempting to high jump while using the Fosbury Flop technique (from Track and field)
Image 19Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running)
Image 20Remigius Machura preparing to throw within the circle in shot put (from Track and field)
Image 21The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field)
Image 22Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking)
Image 23The pole vault competition at the 2007 Pan American Games (from Track and field)
Image 24The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running)
Image 25Anna Giordano Bruno releases the pole after clearing the bar in pole vault (from Track and field)
Image 26Edvin 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)
Image 27The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running)
Image 28A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field)
Image 29A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field)
Image 30The 2006 European Athletics Championships at Ullevi Stadium (from Track and field)
Image 31The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field)
Image 32An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field)
Image 33Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field)
Image 34Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field)
Image 35A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running)
Image 36Zoltán Kővágó preparing to spin and throw in discus throw (from Track and field)

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Selected article

Pacing strategies in track and field are the varied strategies which runners use to distribute their energy throughout a race. Optimal strategies exist and have been studied for the different events of track and field. These optimal strategies differ for runners in sprint events, such as the 100 meters, runners in middle-distance events, such as the 800 meters/the mile run, and runners in long-distance events, such as the 5000m or marathon. Additionally, pacing typically differs between different styles of races. For instance, in a time trial, where the goal of a racer is simply to run the fastest time, participants will typically employ the aforementioned optimal pacing strategy. However, in a championship race, where the goal of the racer is to win, the pace is typically slow in the beginning of the race and gradually speeds up for a sprint finish, often meaning the race is run with a negative split. Typically, to run a world record, the runner must employ a near-optimal pacing strategy. (Full article...)

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Selected picture

IAAF Athlete of the Year

Credit: Flickr: Lamine Diack, Usain Bolt, Sally Pearson and Prince Albert

Sally Pearson and Usain Bolt, along with IAAF president Lamine Diack and Prince Albert of Monaco, pose with the IAAF Athlete of the Year awards in Monaco.

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Athlete birthdays

5 July:

Abeba Aregawi, Ethiopian-Swedish middle-distance runner
Matthew Birir, Kenyan steeplechase runner
Valentí Massana, Spanish race walker
Wim Peters, Dutch triple jumper
Carlo Thränhardt, German high jumper
John Woodruff, American middle-distance runner

6 July:

Valerie Brisco-Hooks, American sprinter
Rex Cawley, American hurdler
Benita Fitzgerald-Brown, American hurdler
Gunhild Hoffmeister, German middle-distance runner
Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand coach
Mary Peters, British pentathlete
Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Ukrainian sprinter
Jozef Pribilinec, Czechoslovakian race walker
László Tábori, Hungarian middle-distance runner

7 July:

Murray Halberg, New Zealand distance runner
Kerstin Knabe, German hurdler
Adam Nelson, American shot putter
Tina Paulino, Mozambican middle-distance runner

8 July:

Harrison Dillard, American hurdler and sprinter
Shalane Flanagan, American distance runner
Olesya Krasnomovets, Russian sprinter
Wang Liping, Chinese race walker

Upcoming

9 July:

Pauline Davis-Thompson, Bahamian sprinter
Ben Eastman, American 400/800 runner
Olusoji Fasuba, Nigerian sprinter
Kara Goucher, American distance runner
Sim Iness, American discus thrower
Derek Mills, American sprinter
Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, Russian steeplechase runner
Richard Sheldon, American shot putter and discus thrower
Rutger Smith, Dutch shot putter and discus thrower

10 July:

Hassiba Boulmerka, Algerian middle-distance runner
Herb McKenley, Jamaican sprinter
Rashid Sharafetdinov, Soviet distance runner
C.K. Yang, Taiwanese decathlete

11 July:

Earlene Brown, American shot putter and discus thrower
Monique Éwanjé-Épée, French hurdler
Kostas Kenteris, Greek sprinter
Lynn Williams, Canadian middle- and long-distance runner

Related portals

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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

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Selected biography

Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (Ukrainian: Сергій Назарович Бубка; Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka; born 4 December 1963) is a former Ukrainian pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News, and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame.

Bubka won six consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal, and broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times. He was the first pole vaulter to clear 6.0 meters and 6.10 meters.

He held the indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine for almost 21 years until France's Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 meters on February 15, 2014, at the same meet in the same arena. He held the outdoor world record at 6.14 meters between July 31, 1994, and September 17, 2020.

Bubka is Senior Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), serving since 2007, and served as President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine from 2005 to November 2022. He is also an Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), having been involved since 1996. His older brother, Vasiliy Bubka, was also a medal-winning pole vaulter. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... 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 the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
... 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 Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
... 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 when the Oakland Athletics promoted Bill McNulty to the major leagues, they needed forest rangers to find him?
... 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?

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World records

World records (olympic events only) as of 7 July 2024
Bolded, italicized records with two asterisks (**) are pending ratification by World Athletics.

Event	Men	Record (Year)	Women	Record (Year)
100 metres	Usain Bolt	9.58 (2009)	Florence Griffith Joyner	10.49 (1988)
200 metres	Usain Bolt	19.19 (2009)	Florence Griffith Joyner	21.34 (1988)
400 metres	Wayde van Niekerk	43.03 (2016)	Marita Koch	47.60 (1985)
800 metres	David Rudisha	1:40.91 (2012)	Jarmila Kratochvílová	1:53.28 (1983)
1500 metres	Hicham El Guerrouj	3:26.00 (1998)	Faith Kipyegon	3:49.04 (2024)**
5000 metres	Joshua Cheptegei	12:35.36 (2020)	Gudaf Tsegay	14:00.21 (2023)
10000 metres	Joshua Cheptegei	26:11.00 (2020)	Beatrice Chebet	28:54.14 (2024)**
Marathon	Kelvin Kiptum	2:00:35 (2023)	Tigst Assefa	2:11:53 Mx (2023)
3000 metres steeplechase	Lamecha Girma	7:52.11 (2023)	Beatrice Chepkoech	8:44.32 (2018)
110 metres hurdles (men) 100 metres hurdles (women)	Aries Merritt	12.80 (2012)	Tobi Amusan	12.12 (2022)
400 metres hurdles	Karsten Warholm	45.94 (2021)	Sydney McLaughlin	50.65 (2024)**
High jump	Javier Sotomayor	2.45 m (1993)	Yaroslava Mahuchikh	2.10 m (2024)**
Pole vault	Armand Duplantis	6.24 m (2024)**	Yelena Isinbayeva	5.06 m (2009)
Long jump	Mike Powell	8.95 m (1991)	Galina Chistyakova	7.52 m (1988)
Triple jump	Jonathan Edwards	18.29 m (1995)	Yulimar Rojas	15.74 m (2022)
Shot put	Ryan Crouser	23.56 m (2023)	Natalya Lisovskaya	22.63 m (1987)
Discus throw	Mykolas Alekna	74.35 m (2024)**	Gabriele Reinsch	76.80 m (1988)
Hammer throw	Yuriy Sedykh	86.74 m (1986)	Anita Włodarczyk	82.98 m (2016)
Javelin throw	Jan Železný	98.48 m (1996)	Barbora Špotáková	72.28 m (2008)
Decathlon (men) Heptathlon (women)	Kevin Mayer	9126 pts (2018)	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	7291 pts (1988)
20 kilometres racewalk	Yusuke Suzuki	1:16:36 (2015)	Yang Jiayu	1:23:49 (2021)
4×100 metres relay	Jamaica Nesta Carter Michael Frater Yohan Blake Usain Bolt	36.84 (2012)	United States Tianna Bartoletta Allyson Felix Bianca Knight Carmelita Jeter	40.82 (2012)
4×400 metres relay	United States Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Butch Reynolds Michael Johnson	2:54.29 (1993)	Soviet Union Tatyana Ledovskaya Olga Nazarova Mariya Pinigina Olga Bryzgina	3:15.17 (1988)

See also: List of world records in athletics

Topics

Athletics events

Track

Sprints	50 m 55 m 60 m 100 y 100 m 150 m 200 m (straight) 300 m 400 m 440 y
Hurdles	50 m 55 m 60 m 80 m 100 m 110 m 200 m (low) 300 m 400 m
Middle-distance	500 m 600 m 800 m 1000 m 1500 m 1600 m One mile 2000 m 2000 m steeplechase 3000 m 3000 m steeplechase 3200 m Two miles
Long-distance	5000 m 10,000 m 20,000 m One hour run
Relays	4 × 100 m 4 × 200 m 4 × 400 m 4 × 800 m 4 × 1500 m 4 × mile Sprint medley relay Distance medley relay Swedish relay Shuttle hurdle relay
Walking	Mile 3000 m 5000 m 10,000 m 20,000 m

Field

Throws	Shot put Discus Hammer Javelin Weight throw Softball throw
Jumps	High jump (standing) Pole vault Long jump (standing) Triple jump (standing)

Combined

Road

Running	5 km 10 km 15 km 10 mi 20 km 25 km Half marathon Marathon Ekiden Ultramarathon
Walking	10 km 20 km 35 km 50 km 50 mi 100 km Marathon mixed relay

Other

Sport of athletics portal • Current Olympic events shown in italics

Records in athletics

Area records

Senior	Africa Asia Europe North, Central American and Caribbean Oceania South America
Under-23	African U23 Asian U23 CAC U23 European U23 North, Central American and Caribbean U23 Oceanian U23 South American U23
Junior (U-20)	African U20 Asian U20 CAC U20 European U20 North, Central American and Caribbean U20 Oceanian U20 South American U20
Youth (U-18)	African Youth Asian Youth CAC Youth European Youth North, Central American and Caribbean Youth Oceanian Youth South American Youth
Others	Baltic Central American and Caribbean Commonwealth Nordic North America OECS Panamerica

World events

Africa

Americas

North, Central America and Caribbean	NACAC Championships NACAC U23 Championships NACAC U20 Championships NACAC U18 Championships
Central America and Caribbean	CAC Championships CAC Games CAC Junior and Youth Championships CAC Age Group Championships
Central America	Central American Championships Central American Games Central American Junior and Youth Championships
South America	South American Championships South American Indoor Championships South American Games South American Under-23 Championships South American Junior Championships South American Youth Championships

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Community

International athletics competitions

World

Continental
championships

Asia	Outdoor Indoor Cross Country Marathon Race Walking Masters
Africa	Outdoor Cross Country Combined Events Mountain Running Race Walking
Europe	Outdoor Indoor Team Cross Country Mountain Running Race Walking Para-athletics
North America	Outdoor Cross Country Mountain Running
Oceania	Outdoor Combined Events Cross Country Marathon/Half Marathon Race Walking Masters Para-athletics
South America	Outdoor Indoor Cross Country Marathon Half Marathon Road Mile Mountain Running Race Walking

Regional

Arab
- Outdoor
- Cross Country
GCC Championships
Ibero-American Championships
Balkan
Central American
Central American and Caribbean
- Outdoor
- Cross Country
East Caribbean Championships
Pan American
Southern African
West African
East African
Small States of Europe

Seasonal

Defunct

Sport of athletics portal

International youth athletics

World

Regional
championships

Under-23	Europe Mediterranean Outdoor Indoor North America, Central America and Caribbean South America
Under-20	Africa Arab Asia Balkan CARIFTA Games Central American and Caribbean Central America East and Central Africa Europe Leeward Islands Oceania Pan American South America West Africa
Under-18	Africa Arab Asia CARIFTA Games Central American and Caribbean Central America Europe Leeward Islands Oceania Pan American South America Southeast Asia Gulf CC
Under-16	Central American and Caribbean Central American Leeward Islands

Games

Sport of athletics portal
World records

Athletics at multi-sport events

World events	Olympic Games Paralympic Games Youth Olympics Gymnasiade Goodwill Games Military World Games Universiade

Asia	Asian Games Asian Indoor Games Asian Para Games Asian Youth Games Regional Games: West Central East Southeast South ASEAN Para Games ASEAN University Games ASEAN School Games National Games of China Sukma Games Far Eastern Championship Games GCC Games
Africa	African Games Central African Games All-Africa University Games African Youth Games
North America	Central American and Caribbean Games Central American Games Pan American Games Parapan American Games
South America	South American Games Bolivarian Games Pan American Games Parapan American Games
Oceania	Pacific Games Pacific Mini Games Micronesian Games
Europe	European Games European Youth Olympic Festival Island Games Games of the Small States of Europe

Community	Afro-Asian Games ALBA Games Arab Games Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Youth Games Friendship Games Inter-Allied Games Islamic Solidarity Games Jeux de la Francophonie Lusophony Games Maccabiah Games Mediterranean Games Pacific Ocean Games West African University Games

Sport of athletics portal

v t e Athletics by country
Albania Algeria Australia Bahamas Barbados Belgium Belize Botswana Brazil Cameroon Chile Cyprus Finland France Germany Greece Iceland India Italy Jamaica Kosovo Latvia Lebanon Lithuania Luxembourg Malawi Namibia Netherlands New Zealand Pakistan Paraguay Portugal Russia Saint Lucia Serbia Slovenia Turkey United Kingdom United States		Sport of athletics portal

v t e Annual awards in athletics and track and field
International	Abebe Bikila Award AIMS Best Marathon Runner European Athlete of the Year World Athletics Awards Track & Field News Athlete of the Year Dicksonpokalen
National	BAWA Athlete of the Year Dutch Athlete of the Year Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year Cross country Track and field Golden Spike award Jesse Owens Award Rudolf Harbig Memorial Award The Bowerman Złote Kolce
Sport of athletics portal

v t e Summer Olympic sports
Core program	Aquatics Artistic Diving Marathon Swimming Swimming Water polo Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball 3x3 Boxing Canoeing Canoe slalom Canoe sprint Cycling BMX racing Freestyle BMX Mountain biking Road cycling Track cycling Equestrian Dressage Eventing Show jumping Fencing Field hockey Football Golf Gymnastics Artistic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics Trampolining Handball Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Rugby sevens Sailing Shooting Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Beach volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling Freestyle wrestling Greco-Roman wrestling
Additions (2020- )	Breaking Baseball / Softball Karate Skateboarding Competition climbing Surfing
See also: Paralympic sports and Winter Olympic sports

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Athletics events

Events in the sport of athletics

Track

Sprints
- 55 m
- 60 m
- 100 m
- 200 m
- 400 m

Hurdles
- 60 m
- 100 m
- 110 m
- 400 m

Middle distance
- 800 m
- 1500 m
- One mile
- 3000 m
- 3000 m steeplechase

Long distance
- 5000 m
- 10,000 m

Relays
- 4 × 100 m
- 4 × 400 m

Field

Throws
- Discus
- Hammer
- Javelin
- Shot put
- Weight throw

Jumps

Combined
- Heptathlon
- Decathlon

Road

Running
- Half marathon
- Marathon

Walking
- 20 km
- 50 km

Others

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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
World Championships	1983	World championships
World Indoor Championships	1985	World championships
European Championships	1934	Continental championships	Europe
European Indoor Championships	1966		Europe
South American Championships	1919		South America
Asian Championships	1973		Asia
African Championships	1979		Africa
Ocenian Championships	1990		Oceania