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 race walking.
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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Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
Runners at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal (from Cross country running) -
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (from Track and field) -
The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet at the University of Minnesota in September 2007 (from Cross country running) -
A high school student attempting to high jump while using the Fosbury Flop technique (from Track and field) -
Carl Lewis, one of the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile (from Track and field) -
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The finish of a women's 100m race (from Track and field) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
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A children's cross country competition in Čakovec, Croatia (from Cross country running) -
An ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
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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 Gordon Indoor Track features an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (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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Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Race walking) -
Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
A graph of the world record progression in the men's 100 metres (from Track and field) -
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The start of a typical cross country race, as an official fires a gun to signal the start (from Cross country running) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
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) -
A racewalker "flying" (entirely out of contact with the ground, a rule violation) (from Race walking) -
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (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) -
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 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics (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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Selected article
Tartan track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the use of mercury.
Because the "Tartan" product was widely successful in its time, the name Tartan has been used as a genericized trademark for description of an all-weather running track.[original research?]
Athletic Polymer Systems, a subsidiary of MCP Industries, Inc., manages the installation of Tartan-branded running track. (Full article...)
| More selected articles |
Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
28 July:
- Mark Boswell, Canadian high jumper
- Barbara Ferrell, American sprinter
- Karl-Friedrich Haas, German sprinter
- Attila Horváth, Hungarian discus thrower
- Gerhard Stöck, German javelin thrower and shot putter
- Eva Wilms, German shot putter and pentathlete
29 July:
- Sally Gunnell, British hurdler
- Mikaela Ingberg, Finnish javelin thrower
- Maricica Puică, Romanian middle-distance runner
30 July:
- Petra Felke, German javelin thrower
- Robert Korzeniowski, Polish race walker
- Abdoulaye Seye, Senegalese sprinter
- Shin Geum-Dan, North Korean 400/800 runner
- Daley Thompson, British decathlete
31 July:
- Emil Hirschfeld, German shot putter
- Brimin Kipruto, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Irina Nazarova, Soviet sprinter
- Peter Rono, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- Tore Sjöstrand, Swedish steeplechase runner
1 August:
- Romain Barras, French decathlete
- Hal Connolly, American hammer thrower
- Liliana Năstase, Romanian heptathlete
- Sidney Robinson, British distance runner
- Natalya Shikolenko, Belarusian javelin thrower
- Igor Spasovkhodskiy, Russian triple jumper
2 August:
- Jillian Camarena-Williams, American shot putter
- Reyes Estévez, Spanish middle-distance runner
- Ernie Harper, British distance runner
- Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Antoinette Nana Djimou, French heptathlete
- Sueo Ōe, Japanese pole vaulter
- Mariya Ryemyen, Ukrainian sprinter
- Craig Virgin, American distance runner
3 August:
- Gamze Bulut, Turkish middle-distance runner
- Waldemar Cierpinski, German distance runner
- Juan Carlos Higuero, Spanish middle-distance runner
- Bettine Jahn, German hurdler
- Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak, Polish steeplechase runner
- Thomas Munkelt, German hurdler
- Rui Silva, Portuguese middle-distance runner
- Yelena Soboleva, Russian middle-distance runner
- Lasse Virtanen, Finnish distance runner
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
Sara Simeoni (born 19 April 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics and twice set a world record in the women's high jump. (Full article...)
In August 1978, she set the new world record with 2.01 m in Brescia (this jump stood as a national record until Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 in June 2007). Later in the same month she equalled it at Prague while winning the European title. In 1980, Simeoni set a new Olympic record of 1.97 m, when winning gold in Moscow.[1] Simeoni was the only woman athlete not from a Communist country able to win an athletics gold medal in Moscow.
Simeoni struggled to regain her form in the following years, with a series of tendon injuries. At 1984 Olympics, Simeoni carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in Los Angeles. Here, she cemented her reputation as one of the greatest female high jumpers ever, in a thrilling duel with West German Ulrike Meyfarth. Simeoni managed to reach the 2 meters measure for the first time since 1978. Meyfarth, however, replied with a notable 2.02 m jump, and Simeoni won a silver medal.
Simeoni's other titles include two bronze medals at the European Championships and 25 national titles. Her jump of 2.01 m was the Italian record for women for 29 years. On 8 June 2007, Antonietta Di Martino jumped 2.02 m, establishing the new Italian record for women.
Sara Simeoni is widely considered one of the best Italian female athletes ever. She is married to her coach Erminio Azzaro.[1] Their son Roberto Azzaro is also a high jumper.[2]
| 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 Libania Grenot was the first woman in three decades to successfully defend the European 400-metres title?
- ... 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 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?
- ... that Ireland won the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, receiving their first European gold medal in athletics since 1998?
- ... that Femke Bol's time of [[2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships –
- ... that Justyna Święty-Ersetic "snatch[ed] gold in the dying strides" of the women's 400 metres at the 2018 European Athletics Championships?
- ... that Nahuel Carabaña turned around mid-race at the 2022 European Athletics Championships to help an injured competitor?
World records
Topics
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Records in athletics | |||||||||||
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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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Sources
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sara Simeoni". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ^ Roberto Azzaro. iaaf.org
