Track and field athletics, commonly known as athletics or track and field,

is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing and jumping. The name
"athletics" is derived from the Greek word "athlos" meaning "contest".

History
The original and only event at the first Olympics in 776 BC was a stadium-length foot
race or "stade", run on a track.

There were several other "games" held in Europe in the classical era:

• Panhellenic Games:
o The Pythian Games (founded 527 BC) held in Delphi every four years
o The Nemean Games (founded 516 BC) held in Argolid every two years
o The Isthmian Games (founded 523 BC) held on the Isthmus of Corinth
every two years
• The Roman Games – Arising from Etruscan rather than purely Greek roots, the
Roman Games deemphasized footraces and throwing. Instead, the Greek
sports of chariot racing and wrestling, as well as the Etruscan sport of
gladiatorial combat, took center stage.
• The Tailteann Games (claimed foundation 1829 BC) – held near modern
Telltown in Ireland, this thirty-day meeting included foot races and stone-
throwing events

Other peoples, such as the Celts, Teutons and Goths who succeeded the Romans,
enjoyed athletic contests. However, these were often related to combat training. In the
Middle Ages the sons of noblemen would be trained in running, leaping and
wrestling, in addition to riding, jousting and arms-training. Contests between rivals
and friends may have been common on both official and unofficial grounds.

Annually, from 1796-1798, L'Olympiade de la République was held in revolutionary

France, and is an early forerunner to the modern summer Olympic Games. The
premier event of this competition was a footrace, but various ancient Greek
disciplines were also on display. The 1796 Olympiade also marks the introduction of
the metric system into sport.

In the 19th century the formal organization of the modern events accelerated - in
France, Germany, and Great Britain in particular. This included the incorporation of
regular sports and exercise into school regimes. The Royal Military College,
Sandhurst has claimed to be the first to adopt this in 1812 and 1825, but without any
supporting evidence. The earliest recorded meeting was organised at Shrewsbury,
Shropshire in 1840 by the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. There are details of the
meeting in a series of letters written 60 years later by C.T. Robinson, who was a pupil
there from 1838 to 1841. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich held an organised
competition in 1849, but the first regular series of meetings was held by Exeter
College, Oxford from 1850.[1]

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Running and racewalking events

Running events conducted on a track (generally 400 metres, except indoors):

Sprints are events up to and including the 400 metres. Events commonly contested
are:

• 50 metres (indoors only)

• 55 metres (indoors only)
• 60 metres (indoors only)
• 100 metres
• 200 metres
• 400 metres

Middle Distance Events are events longer than sprints and up to 3000 metres. Events
commonly contested are:

• 800 metres
• 1000 metres (uncommon)
• 1500 metres
• One mile[2]
• 3000 metres
• 3000 metres steeplechase

Long Distance Events are events over 3000 metres. Events commonly contested are:

• 5000 metres
• 10000 metres

Hurdles events require the runner to run over evenly spaced barriers during the race.
Events commonly contested are:

• 60 metres hurdles (indoors only)

• 100 metres hurdles (women)
• 110 metres hurdles (men)
• 400 metres hurdles

Relay races are events in which four athletes participate as a team, passing a metal
baton in between. Events commonly contested are:

• 4 x 100 metres relay

• 4 x 200 metres relay (high school & collegiate)
• 4 x 400 metres relay

Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals.
Typical medley relays include:

• Sprint Medley Relay (SMR): the four legs are 400 metres, two 200 metre legs,
800 metres; or alternately 200 metres, two 100 metre legs, 400 metres

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 • Distance Medley Relay (DMR): the four legs are 1200 metres, 400 metres,
800 metres, 1600 metres

Road Races are events conducted on open roads, sometimes finishing on a track.
Events commonly contested are:

• 10 km
• 20 km
• Half marathon (21.0975 km)
• Marathon (42.195 km). The marathon is the only common road-racing
distance run in major international athletics championships, such as the
Olympics.

Racewalking may be contested on either the track or on open roads. Events

commonly contested are:

• 10 km
• 20 km
• 50 km

Track And Field

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“Blue For The Win”

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