Portal:Sport of athletics
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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Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least 3 km (1.9 mi). Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
In modern human society, long-distance running has multiple purposes: people may engage in it for physical exercise, for recreation, as a means of travel, as a competitive sport, for economic reasons, or cultural reasons. Long-distance running can also be used as a means to improve cardiovascular health. (Full article...)
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Athlete birthdays
7 August:
- Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian distance runner
- Khalid Boulami, Moroccan distance runner
- Douglas Lowe, British middle-distance runner
- Alberto Salazar, American distance runner and coach
- Dave Wottle, American middle-distance runner
8 August:
- Suzy Favor-Hamilton, American middle-distance runner
- Yekaterina Fesenko, Soviet hurdler
- Igor Lapshin, Soviet triple jumper
- Carol Lewis, American long jumper
- Viorica Viscopoleanu, Romanian long jumper
- Ronald Weigel, German race walker
- Anita Włodarczyk, Polish hammer thrower
9 August:
- Udo Beyer, German shot putter
- Ivan Fuqua, American sprinter
- Tyson Gay, American sprinter
- Manuela Machado, Portuguese distance runner
- John Rambo, American high jumper
- Lilyana Tomova, Bulgarian middle-distance runner
- Aleksey Voyevodin, Russian race walker
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
Related portals
More did you know
- ... that 1985 NCAA hurdling champion Thomas Wilcher won the Michigan High School Athletic Association team track & field championship three consecutive times, both as an athlete and a coach?
- ... that Charlie Fonville broke a 14-year-old shot put world record by almost twelve inches at the 1948 Kansas Relays but was not allowed to stay with the other athletes because he was African-American?
- ... that the Peachtree Road Race, held annually on July 4 (U.S. Independence Day) in Atlanta, Georgia, is the world's largest 10 kilometer road race with 55,000 runners participating in 2007?
- ... that Patrick Ivuti's photo finish victory in the 2007 Chicago Marathon, one of the five major marathons, was his first marathon victory?
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Pietro Paolo Mennea (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛːtro menˈnɛːa]; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed la Freccia del Sud ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a world record at 19.72 seconds in September 1979. This record stood for almost 17 years – the longest duration in the event history – and is still the European record. He is the only male sprinter who has qualified at four consecutive 200 metres Olympic finals: from 1972 to 1984. (Full article...)
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- ... that at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, Lorraine Ugen equalled the championship long jump record?
- ... 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 championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
- ... that at the 2022 British Athletics Championships, Daryll Neita became the first woman since 2010 to win both the 100- and 200-metre events?
- ... 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 when the Oakland Athletics promoted Bill McNulty to the major leagues, they needed forest rangers to find him?
- ... that the men's 100 metres event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships was run in heavy rain?
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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