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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Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (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) -
The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (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) -
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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) -
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) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (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) -
A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Racewalking) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
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Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
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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) -
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A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (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) -
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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
Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, the dominant step patterns are the 3-step for high hurdles, 7-step for low hurdles, and 15-step for intermediate hurdles. Hurdling is a highly specialized form of obstacle racing, and is part of the sport of athletics. In hurdling events, barriers known as hurdles are set at precisely measured heights and distances. Each athlete must pass over the hurdles; passing under or intentionally knocking over hurdles will result in disqualification.
In track races, hurdles are normally 68–107 cm (27–42 in) in height, depending on the age and sex of the hurdler. Events from 50 to 110 meters are technically known as high hurdles races, while longer competitions are low hurdles races. The track hurdles events are forms of sprinting competitions, although the 400 m version is less anaerobic in nature and demands athletic qualities similar to the 800 meters flat race.
A hurdling technique can also be found in the steeplechase, although in this event athletes are also permitted to step on the barrier to clear it. Similarly, in cross country running athletes may hurdle over various natural obstacles, such as logs, mounds of earth, and small streams – this represents the sporting origin of the modern events. Horse racing has its own variant of hurdle racing, with similar principles. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
10 June:
- Laimutė Baikauskaitė, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Damian Kallabis, German steeplechase runner
- Burglinde Pollak, German pentathlete
- Vilmos Varjú, Hungarian shot putter
- Andrey Yepishin, Russian sprinter
11 June:
- Sebastian Bayer, German long jumper
- Jacques Freitag, South African high jumper
- Kim Gallagher, American middle-distance runner
- Karl Hein, German hammer thrower
- Vera Komisova, Soviet hurdler
- Christophe Lemaitre, French sprinter
- Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Yuriy Sedykh, Soviet hammer thrower
- Reiko Tosa, Japanese distance runner
12 June:
- Ajayi Agbebaku, Nigerian triple jumper
- Ray Barbuti, American sprinter
- Ron Freeman, American sprinter
- Fernand Gonder, French pole vaulter
- Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian distance runner
- Julius Kariuki, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Inger Miller, American sprinter
- Jérôme Romain, Dominican triple jumper
- Gwen Torrence, American sprinter
- Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian any-distance runner
13 June:
- Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian distance runner
- Will Claye, American triple jumper
- Michel Jazy, French middle- and long-distance runner
- Joseph Keter, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Svetlana Krivelyova, Russian shot putter
- Dallas Long, American shot putter
- Romain Mesnil, French pole vaulter
- Paavo Nurmi, Finnish middle- and long-distance runner
- Rudolf Povarnitsyn, Soviet high jumper
- Lennart Strand, Swedish middle-distance runner
- Venelina Veneva, Bulgarian high jumper
14 June:
- Erick Barrondo, Guatemalan race walker
- Trevor Barry, Bahamian high jumper
- Tonie Campbell, American hurdler
- Arthur Duffey, American sprinter
- Ivan Gubijan, Yugoslavian hammer thrower
- Danny McFarlane, Jamaican sprinter and hurdler
- Richard Stebbins, American sprinter
15 June:
- Marina Azyabina, Russian hurdler
- Vilma Bardauskienė, Soviet long jumper
- Yuliya Nesterenko, Belarusian sprinter
- Peter Norman, Australian sprinter
- Igor Paklin, Soviet high jumper
- Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czechoslovakian discus thrower
16 June:
- Randy Barnes, American shot putter
- Ralph Mann, American hurdler
- Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower
Related portals
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| Archive |
Selected biography
Saif Saaeed Shaheen (Arabic: سيف سعيد شاهين), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He was, for 19 years, the world record holder for 3000 metre steeplechase. He is a two time World Champion in the event. His older brother Abraham Cherono is also a steeplechase runner.
He was the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world junior record two years later. He won the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games for Kenya but switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003. That year he became world champion in the event, although a dispute with the Kenyan Athletics Federation meant he was ineligible to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He set a world record of 7:53.63 minutes in Brussels just ten days after the Olympic final, and later defeated that year's Olympic champion, Ezekiel Kemboi, at the 2004 World Athletics Final in Monaco.
In the 2006 season he took the 3000 metres silver medal at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and also set a number of Asian records. He completed a 5000 m/steeplechase double at the 2006 IAAF World Cup. Serious injuries ruled him out from late 2006 to 2008. He returned in 2009 and 2010 but failed to reach the same level of performance and retired from the sport. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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?
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- ... 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 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?
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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| World events | |||||||||||
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| Americas |
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| Community |
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International youth athletics | |||||||||
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| World | |||||||||
| 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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| 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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