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) -
A javelin throw athlete (from Track and field) -
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Shaul Ladany (centre), in 1969 (from Racewalking) -
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) -
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s. (from Track and field) -
An Ancient Greece vase from 600 BC depicting a running contest (from Track and field) -
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) -
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition (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) -
A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium (from Track and field) -
The 100 m final at the 2008 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 women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships (from Track and field) -
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Oscar Pistorius running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics (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) -
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The New York State Federation Championship cross country meet in November 2010 (from Cross country running) -
The Gordon Indoor Track sports an 80-yard sprint straight, and the track is 220 yards in length. (from Track and field) -
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) -
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia (from Track and field) -
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950 (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) -
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Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, one of the first modern track and field stadiums (from Track and field) -
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Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race (from Track and field) -
Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event (from Track and field) -
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event (from Track and field) -
The finish of a women's 100 m race (from Track and field)
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Selected article
The use of performance-enhancing drugs (doping in sport) is prohibited within the sport of athletics. Athletes who are found to have used such banned substances, whether through a positive drugs test, the biological passport system, an investigation or public admission, may receive a competition ban for a length of time which reflects the severity of the infraction. Athletes who are found to have banned substances in their possession, or who tamper with or refuse to submit to drug testing can also receive bans from the sport. Competitive bans may also be given to athletes who test positive for prohibited recreational drugs or stimulants with little performance-enhancing effect for competitors in athletics. The sports body responsible for determining which substances are banned in athletics is the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Typically, any athlete who tests positive for banned substances after having served a previous ban receives a lifetime ban from the sport of athletics. Many high-profile sportspeople to receive doping bans have come from the sport of athletics, with significant past cases concerning Ben Johnson, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery. Furthermore, a number of athletes who underwent state-sponsored doping programmes in East Germany and the Soviet Union between the 1950s and 1980s were competitors in athletics, but the quality of the international anti-doping work was so poor that only one East German athlete ever tested positive. Following allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia, the IAAF suspended the country's athletes from competition, including the 2016 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)
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Selected picture
Athlete birthdays
27 April:
- Gudrun Berend, German hurdler
- Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter
- Johnny Kuck, American shot putter
- Con Leahy, Irish jumper
- Luz Long, German long jumper
- Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian distance runner
- Ron Morris, American pole vaulter
- Nina Ponomaryova, Soviet discus thrower
- John Rimmer, British steeplechase runner
- Seppo Räty, Finnish javelin thrower
28 April:
- Ethel Catherwood, Canadian high jumper
- Dainis Kūla, Soviet javelin thrower
- Roman Rasskazov, Russian race walker
- Art Shaw, American hurdler
- Henry Stallard, British middle-distance runner
29 April:
- Rob Druppers, Dutch middle-distance runner
- Taoufik Makhloufi, Algerian middle-distance runner
- Dorothy Manley, British sprinter
- Jim Ryun, American middle-distance runner
- Sofia Sakorafa, Greek javelin thrower
- Larisa Turchinskaya, Russian heptathlete
- Attila Zsivóczky, Hungarian decathlete
30 April:
- Daniela Costian, Romanian-Australian discus thrower
- Margit Papp, Hungarian pentathlete
1 May:
- Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish distance runner
- Lornah Kiplagat, Kenyan-Dutch distance runner
- Mikhail Krivonosov, Soviet hammer thrower
- Ollie Matson, American sprinter
- Bryshon Nellum, American sprinter
- Michelle Perry, American hurdler
- Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
- Marina Stepanova, Soviet hurdler
- John Svanberg, Swedish distance runner
- Archie Williams, American sprinter
2 May:
- Tim Benjamin, British sprinter
- James Dillion, American discus thrower
- Bill Horr, American discus thrower
- Taťána Kocembová, Czechoslovakian sprinter
- Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter
3 May:
- Jamie Baulch, British sprinter
- Edmund Black, American hammer thrower
- Mary Cain, American middle-distance runner
- Kathy Cook, British sprinter
- Jörg Drehmel, German triple jumper
- Vasily Rudenkov, Soviet hammer thrower
- Anastasiya Shvedova, Belarusian pole vaulter
- Dai Tamesue, Japanese hurdler
- Allan Wells, British sprinter
Related portals
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- ... 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 |
Selected biography
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Wilson Kosgei Kipketer (born 12 December 1972) is a Danish former middle distance runner. He is the second fastest of all time over 800 meters, setting the world record and breaking his own record two more times all in 1997. He dominated the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a three-year period and running 8 of the 17 currently all-time fastest times. He won gold medals in three successive editions of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Though unable to compete in the 1996 Olympics near the peak of his career, he earned silver in 2000 and bronze in 2004. Kipketer's 800 meters world record stood for almost 13 years. It was surpassed on 22 August 2010, when David Rudisha beat it by 0.02 seconds, running 1:41.09. Rudisha would eventually go on to further lower the 800m world record to the first and only sub one minute 41 second run. Kipketer still currently holds the indoor world record for the 800 metres.
Kipketer represented both Sparta and KIF during his running career. (Full article...)
| More selected biographies |
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 for the first time this century, this year's British Athletics Championships were not broadcast on live television?
- ... 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 the women's race at today's New York City Marathon will feature two of the medalists from this year's Olympic marathon?
- ... that Marthe Yankurije, who dropped out of school during her fourth year of secondary school, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics?
- ... 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?
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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| 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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| National |
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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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