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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Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
The current race walking contests at the Summer Olympics are the 20 kilometres race walk (men and women) and the marathon race walk mixed relay, the latter set to debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The 50 kilometres race walk (men only) was discontinued after the 2020 Summer Olympics. The biennial World Athletics Championships also features both 20 and 50 kilometer events, the 50 km walk for women being contested until 2019. The 50 km race walk was replaced by the 35 kilometres race walk as standard championship discipline in 2022. The IAAF World Race Walking Cup, first held in 1961, is a stand-alone global competition for the discipline and it has 10 kilometres race walks for junior athletes, in addition to the Olympic-standard events. The IAAF World Indoor Championships featured 5000 m and 3000 m race walk variations, but these were discontinued after 1993. Top-level athletics championships and games typically feature 20 km racewalking events. (Full article...)
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Athlete birthdays
10 August:
- Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, Kenyan marathon runner
- Edward Gourdin, American long jumper
- Kalevi Kotkas, Finnish high jumper and discus thrower
- Lauri Lehtinen, Finnish distance runner
- Bill Nieder, American shot putter
- Arthur Porritt, New Zealand sprinter
11 August:
- Andy Bloom, American shot putter and discus thrower
- Yuriy Krymarenko, Ukrainian high jumper
- Vanderlei de Lima, Brazilian distance runner
- Paul Martin, Swiss middle-distance runner
- Charley Paddock, American sprinter
- Oleg Protsenko, Soviet triple jumper
- Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter
12 August:
- Alexis Copello, Cuban triple jumper
- Pam Kilborn, Australian hurdler and long jumper
- Brigitte Kraus, German middle-distance runner
- Charles Moore, American hurdler
- Tetyana Samolenko, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Nijolė Sabaitė, Soviet middle-distance runner
- Sherone Simpson, Jamaican sprinter
- Austra Skujytė, Lithuanian heptathlete
13 August:
- Tomoe Abe, Japanese distance runner
- Géo André, French hurdler and high jumper
- Tony Jarrett, British hurdler
- Mariya Savinova, Russian middle-distance runner
- Marian Woronin, Polish sprinter
14 August:
- Yamilé Aldama, Cuban-Sudanese-British triple jumper
- Fabrizio Donato, Italian triple jumper
- Christopher Koskei, Kenyan steeplechase runner
- Igor Nikulin, Soviet hammer thrower
15 August:
- Brahim Boutayeb, Moroccan distance runner
- Stanislav Jungwirth, Czechoslovakian middle-distance runner
- Dietmar Mögenburg, German high jumper
- Georgios Roubanis, Greek pole vaulter
- Natallia Sazanovich, Belarusian heptathlete
- Naoto Tajima, Japanese long- and triple jumper
16 August:
- Hasely Crawford, Trinidadian sprinter
- Nuría Fernández, Spanish middle-distance runner
- Leevan Sands, Bahamian triple jumper
- Wang Hao, Chinese race walker
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?
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Selected biography
Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late 1980s, she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style.
Griffith Joyner was born and raised in California. She was athletic from a young age and began running at track meets as a child. While attending California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she continued to compete in track and field. While still in college, she qualified for the 100 m 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott. She made her Olympic debut four years later, winning a silver medal in the 200 meter distance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. At the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials, Griffith set a new world record in the 100-meter sprint. She won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics. (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?
- ... 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 the women's race at today's New York City Marathon will feature two of the medalists from this year's Olympic marathon?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in an unprecedented double victory?
- ... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that when the Oakland Athletics promoted Bill McNulty to the major leagues, they needed forest rangers to find him?
- ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in a championship record of 52.49 seconds?
World records
Topics
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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