Introduction
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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...)
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The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (déka, meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "contest" or "prize"). Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
Traditionally, the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the person who wins the decathlon. This began when Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "Sir, you are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.
The event is similar to the pentathlon held at the ancient Greek Olympics, and also similar to a competition called an "all-around", which was contested at the United States amateur championships in 1884. Another all-around was held at the 1904 Summer Olympics. The modern decathlon first appeared at the 1912 Games.
In modern athletics, the 10 events are: 100 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 110 metre hurdles, long jump, high jump, pole vault, discus throw, javelin throw, and shotput. The current official decathlon world record holder is French athlete Kevin Mayer, who scored a total of 9,126 points at the 2018 Décastar in France. (Full article...)
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Athlete birthdays
12 July:
- Yarelis Barrios, Cuban discus thrower
- Otis Davis, American sprinter
- Andrey Mikhnevich, Belarusian shot putter
- Bruny Surin, Canadian sprinter
- Juha Väätäinen, Finnish distance runner
- Andrae Williams, Bahamian sprinter
13 July:
- Hjalmar Andersson, Swedish distance runner
- Rod Dixon, New Zealand middle- and long-distance runner
- Helena Fibingerová, Czechoslovakian shot putter
- Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper
- Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler
- Jonni Myyrä, Finnish javelin thrower
- Ineta Radēviča, Latvian long jumper
- Raúl Spank, German high jumper
- Andrei Tivontchik, German pole vaulter
- Viktor Tsybulenko, Soviet javelin thrower
14 July:
- Amy Acuff, American high jumper
- Judi Brown, American hurdler
- Yvonne Buschbaum, German pole vaulter
- Marlene Mathews, Australian sprinter
- Oleksandr Pyatnytsya, Ukrainian javelin thrower
- Willie Steele, American long jumper
- Mike Stulce, American shot putter
- Heinz Weis, German hammer thrower
15 July:
- Enrique Figuerola, Cuban sprinter
- Hector Hogan, Australian sprinter
- Serhiy Lebid, Ukrainian distance runner
- Éloyse Lesueur, French long jumper
- Natalya Sadova, Russian discus thrower
- Toshihiko Seko, Japanese distance runner
- Erik Wilén, Finnish sprinter and hurdler
16 July:
- Lee Barnes, American pole vaulter
- Tatyana Biryulina, Soviet javelin thrower
- Svetlana Feofanova, Russian pole vaulter
- Uwe Hohn, German javelin thrower
- Steve Hooker, Australian pole vaulter
- Natalya Lisovskaya, Soviet shot putter
- Kellie Wells, American hurdler
- Gerd Wessig, German high jumper
17 July:
- Davis Kamoga, Ugandan sprinter
- Moses Mosop, Kenyan distance runner
- Rashid Ramzi, Moroccan-Bahraini middle-distance runner
18 July:
- David Hemery, British hurdler
- Ernst Larsen, Norwegian steeplechase runner
- Alvah Meyer, American sprinter
- Kathrin Neimke, German shot putter
- Dan O'Brien, American decathlete
- Mack Robinson, American sprinter
- Petra Schersing, German sprinter
- Shirley Strickland, Australian sprinter and hurdler
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Selected biography
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...)
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- ... 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?
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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 |
---|---|---|---|
Olympic Games | 1896 | World games | ![]() |
World Championships | 1983 | World championships | |
World Indoor Championships | 1985 | ||
European Championships | 1934 | Continental championships | ![]() |
European Indoor Championships | 1966 | ||
South American Championships | 1919 | ![]() | |
Asian Championships | 1973 | ![]() | |
African Championships | 1979 | ![]() | |
Ocenian Championships | 1990 | ![]() |
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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