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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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 New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
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A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (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) -
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) -
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) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field) -
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A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
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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) -
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Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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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 Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
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A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
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Selected article
The World Athletics Indoor Tour, formerly the IAAF World Indoor Tour, is an annual series of indoor track and field meetings, held since 2016. It was designed to create a Diamond League-style circuit for indoor track and field events, to raise the profile of indoor track and field, and replaced the IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings series.
The tour was announced with initially four meetings, three in Europe and one in the United States, leading to the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. Winners of the Tour enjoy similar privileges in relation to World Indoor Championships qualification as Diamond League winners do in relation to the World Athletics Championships. The tour was initially in place for two years.
The Düsseldorf leg was added for the 2017 Tour, and the Stockholm leg was replaced by the International Copernicus Cup, a long-standing indoor event in Torún, Poland. In 2018, the tour became a permanent fixture, and the Meeting Ville de Madrid was added as the sixth event on the tour. For 2020, the tour added a seventh leg in Liévin, France.
In 2021, the tour expanded by introducing three levels of competition: Gold, Silver and Bronze, mirroring the expanded outdoor World Athletics Continental Tour. In 2022, the tour expanded with the fourth tier: Challenger.
The tour is organised to allow for major indoor championships including the World Athletics Indoor Championships and the European Athletics Indoor Championships and, where appropriate, national championships and trials. (Full article...)
| More selected articles |
Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
28 May:
- Bill Baillie, New Zealand distance runner
- Mike Musyoki, Kenyan distance runner
- João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian triple jumper
- Derval O'Rourke, Irish hurdler
- Jim Thorpe, American decathlete
29 May:
- Frank Baumgartl, German steeplechase runner
- Nataliya Dobrynska, Ukrainian heptathlete
- Ralph Metcalfe, American sprinter
- Zhu Jianhua, Chinese high jumper
30 May:
- Wyndham Halswelle, British sprinter
- Margaret Okayo, Kenyan distance runner
- Kyle Vander-Kuyp, Australian hurdler
31 May:
- Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Soviet hammer thrower and coach
- Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler
- John Godina, American shot putter
- Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
- Tapio Kantanen, Finnish steeplechase runner
- Karin Melis Mey, South African-Turkish long jumper
- Joachim Olsen, Danish shot putter
- Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
- Aleksey Zagorniy, Russian hammer thrower
1 June:
- Hasna Benhassi, Moroccan middle-distance runner
- Antonietta Di Martino, Italian high jumper
- Werner Günthör, Swiss shot putter
- Mihaela Loghin, Romanian shot putter
- Moses Masai, Kenyan distance runner
- Lorraine Moller, New Zealand distance runner
- David Neville, American sprinter
- Olga Nazarova, Soviet sprinter
- Brian Oldfield, American shot putter
- Yarisley Silva, Cuban pole vaulter
2 June:
- Olga Bondarenko, Soviet distance runner
- Cliff Cushman, American hurdler
- Hec Dyer, American sprinter
- Volodymyr Holubnychy, Soviet race walker
- Joe McCluskey, American steeplechase runner
- Remigija Nazarovienė, Lithuanian heptathlete
- Mark Plaatjes, South African-American distance runner
- Natalia Rodríguez, Spanish middle-distance runner
3 June:
- Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter
- Micah Kogo, Kenyan distance runner
- Luis Fernando López, Colombian race walker
- Edith McGuire, American sprinter
- Dagmar Neubauer, German sprinter
- Eddy Ottoz, Italian hurdler
- Lindy Remigino, American sprinter
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that Ethiopian long-distance runner Atsede Habtamu set a new course record at the Eindhoven Marathon with her first marathon victory earlier this month?
- ... that 2006 National Capital Marathon winner Amos Tirop Matui was disqualified and received financial compensation due to a misplaced barrier on the course?
- ... that Australian runner Michael Shelley lost his scholarship funding and suffered a broken leg in 2009, but went on to win a silver medal in the marathon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games?
- ... that Irene Kosgei, despite injuring her knee at a drinks station early in the women's marathon at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, edged compatriot Irene Mogaka to become the first Kenyan woman to win a Commonwealth marathon title?
| Archive |
Selected biography
Reginald Wyatt (born September 17, 1990) is an American hurdler. He is the current holder of the NFHS (United States High School) record in the 300 meters intermediate hurdles at 35.02, set while winning a preliminary race at the CIF California State Meet on June 5, 2009 at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California. Wyatt won the State Meet the following day, but his time of 36.71 was not destined to be record material after he also won the 400 metres in 46.13 earlier at the same meet.
In 2009, he won the USATF Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 50.02 and he ran 49.78, the fifth best high school time for 400 hurdles, while winning the United States Junior Olympics. At the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad he again lost to rival Wynne but still took home a bronze medal. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 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?
- ... 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 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?
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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Athletics by country | ||
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Annual awards in athletics and track and field | ||
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| Core program | |
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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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