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 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 New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (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) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
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) -
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An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (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) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
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) -
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A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
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A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
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A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
A high school student attempting to high jump while using the Fosbury Flop technique (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (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) -
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 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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Selected article
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The IAAF Hall of Fame was established by the International Association of Athletics Federations (since 2019: World Athletics) in 2012. It is intended to honor individuals who have made valuable contributions in the sport of athletics both internationally and in their home countries that match certain criteria.
The inaugural class, composed of 24 individuals, was introduced in November 2012. (Full article...)
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Athlete birthdays
25 February:
- Herb Elliott, Australian middle-distance runner
- Lee Evans, American sprinter
- Barney Ewell, American sprinter
- Samson Kitur, Kenyan sprinter
- Marek Plawgo, Polish hurdler
- Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter
- Vira Rebryk, Ukrainian javelin thrower
- Xing Huina, Chinese distance runner
- Svetla Zlateva, Bulgarian middle-distance runner
- Gyula Zsivótzky, Hungarian hammer thrower
26 February:
- Nigel Barker, Australian sprinter
- Irina Beglyakova, Soviet discus thrower
- Frank Busemann, German decathlete
- Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower
- Heli Rantanen, Finnish javelin thrower
- Sanya Richards-Ross, American sprinter
27 February:
- Rob de Castella, Australian distance runner
- Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan distance runner
- Stephen Kiprotich, Ugandan distance runner
- Vítězslav Veselý, Czech javelin thrower
- Rhys Williams, British hurdler
28 February:
- Tariku Bekele, Ethiopian distance runner
- Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, Moroccan distance runner
- Larisa Berezhnaya, Ukrainian long jumper
- Robert Heffernan, Irish race walker
- Kjell Isaksson, Swedish pole vaulter
- George Jefferson, American pole vaulter
- Christina Lathan, German sprinter
- Noureddine Morceli, Algerian middle-distance runner
- Jozef Plachý, Czechoslovakian middle-distance runner
- Yelena Slesarenko, Russian high jumper
- Reinhard Theimer, German hammer thrower
- Konstantin Volkov, Russian pole vaulter
29 February:
- Iván García, Cuban sprinter
- Raúl González, Mexican race walker
- Larisa Peleshenko, Russian shot putter
1 March:
- Yelena Afanasyeva, Russian middle-distance runner
- Rens Blom, Dutch pole vaulter
- Rolf Danneberg, German discus thrower
- Jim Delaney, American shot putter
- Daniele Greco, Italian triple jumper
- Viljo Heino, Finnish distance runner
- Ben Jipcho, Kenyan runner
- Allen Johnson, American hurdler
- Oleksandr Krykun, Ukrainian hammer thrower
- Ekaterina Poistogova, Russian middle-distance runner
- Duncan White, Sri Lankan hurdler
2 March:
- Patrick Makau Musyoki, Kenyan distance runner
- Onni Rajasaari, Finnish triple jumper
- Joel Shankle, American hurdler
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
Stephanie Hightower (born July 19, 1958) is an American former hurdler and former president of USA Track & Field (USATF). She is a four-time U.S. Champion at 100 meter hurdles and a five-time U.S. Indoor Champion at 60 meter hurdles. She also won the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials, but was prevented from competing in the Moscow Olympics due to the boycott. She won a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Hightower became president of USA Track & Field in December 2008. She resigned as chair of the USATF board in April 2015 and was elected to the IAAF Council in August 2015 She resigned as president of USATF in December 2016. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that Femke Bol successfully defended her 2021 title by winning the women's 400 metres at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
- ... 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 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 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?
World records
Topics
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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| Area records |
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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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