ATHLETICS

also called Track-and-field Sports, or Track And Field a variety of sport competitions in running, walking, jumping, and throwing or pushing events. Athletics is the oldest form of organized sports, having been a part of the Olympic Games from about 776 BC to AD 393, and also of other classical games. To the original running races of the Olympic Games were later added the sports of boxing and wrestling; and such athletic events as running, long (broad) jumping, discus throwing, and javelin throwing were combined with wrestling to form the ancient pentathlon. According to legend, the Irish Tailleann Games, involving athletics and other sports, date back to the 19th century BC. There are no reports of athletics from the suspension of the Olympic Games in the 4th century until the 12th century, and, in the period between that time and the 16th century, athletics were frequently banned by royal decree, as were other sports, because it was thought that they interfered with archery, which was a vital military activity. The revival of organized athletics began in England in the second half of the 19th century. In North America development came more slowly. The New York Athletic Club (NYAC), founded in 1868, gave athletics a big impetus in the United States and was a leader in the formation of the first national athletics association in the United States. In 1888 the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) became the governing body and sponsor of championships in the United States. Intercollegiate competition had begun in the United States under the supervision of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (ICAAAA). The succeeding organization, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), held its first championships in 1921 and continued thereafter. Disputes between the AAU and the NCAA over the regulation of amateurs, especially those in international competition outside the Olympic Games, led to the formation, in 1979, of The Athletics Congress (TAC), which was later renamed USA Track & Field (USATF). Between 1880 and 1920 national athletics associations were formed all over the world. An international governing body, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), was founded in 1912 and thereafter governed international competition and validated world records. Women in athletics first began to organize on a national level in 1917. The Fdration Sportive Feminine Internationale (FSFI) was formed in 1921 with groups from Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Spain, and the United States as cofounders. World championships began in 1922. In 1936 the IAAF became the governing body of women's athletics, and the FSFI was dissolved. In addition to a variety of continental games (such as the Pan-American Games and the Asian Games) held periodically, World Cup meets, which featured finals-only competition for national, hemispheric, and continental teams, were held every four years from 1977. The first official athletics world championships were instituted in 1983. Running, or track, events include the sprint races: 100, 200, and 400 metres; the middle-distance races: the 800- and 1,500-metre (the metric mile) races, and the 3,000-metre steeplechase run by men only; and the distance races: the 3,000-, 5,000-, 10,000-, 20,000-, 25,000-, and 30,000-metre races. Long-distance races also include the marathon. Cross-country is usually considered to be an off-season adjunct of track-and-field athletics. The walk races are 20 and 50 kilometres long. Relay races include the 400-metre (4 100) and the 1,600-metre (4 400) races. Hurdle races include the 110-, 200-, and 400-metre races for men and the 100-metre and 400-metre races for women. Field events include a variety of jumping eventshigh jump, long jump (broad jump), triple jump (hop-step-and-jump), and pole vaultand throwing (or pushing) events shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, and javelin throw. All world outdoor track records are validated by the IAAF. There are no official indoor world records. Records, kept from 1913 but going back in some cases to 1896, have been continually bettered, especially in the second half of the 20th century. By the mid-1990s, no major record standing in the 1970s remained unbroken. The mile record was long thought to have a physical limit, called the four-minute barrier; but, after Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom broke the barrier in 1954, the record was lowered 16 times by 1985. See also events under individual names. also called track-and-field sports, or track and field, a variety of competitions in running, walking, jumping, and throwing, or pushing, events. Although these contests are called track and field (or simply track) in the United States, they are generally designated as athletics elsewhere. This article covers the history, the organization, and the administration of the sports, the conduct of competitions, the rules and techniques of the individual events, and some of the sports' most prominent athletes. Track-and-field athletics are the oldest forms of organized sport, having developed out of the most basic human activitiesrunning, walking, jumping, and throwing. Athletics has become the most truly international of sports, with nearly every country in the world engaging in some form of competition. Most nations send teams of men and women to the quadrennial Olympic Games and to the official World Championships of track and field. There also are several continental and intercontinental championship meets held, including the European, Commonwealth, African, Pan-American, and Asian. Within the broad title of athletics come as many as two dozen distinct events. These events, generally held outdoors, make up a meet. The outdoor running events are held on a 400-metre or 440-yard oval track, and field events (jumping and throwing) either inside the track's perimeter or in adjacent areas. In many parts of the world, notably the United States, Canada, and Europe, the sport moves indoors during the winter; because of limited space, some events are modified and several are eliminated altogether. Also within the general scope of track-and-field athletics come separate but related competitions that are not contested on the track. Cross-country running competition is carried out on various types of countryside and parkland. Marathons and races of other long distances are run on roads, and the long-distance race walks are contested on measured road courses. The rules followed by all organized competitions are established and enforced by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and its member body from each nation. The IAAF also ratifies all world records. Additional reading Mel Watman (comp.), Encyclopedia of Track and Field Athletics, new ed. (1981), contains comprehensive information on the sport and its rules, records, and athletes. Historical works include Roberto Quercetani, A World History of Track and Field Athletics, 18641964 (1964), on the early period; and Wally Donovan, A History of Indoor Track & Field (1976). For current events, see Track & Field News (monthly); and Athletics Weekly. The history of records is traced in Roger Gynn, Guinness Book of the Marathon (1984); Bert Nelson (ed.), Olympic Track & Field: Complete Men's and Women's Olympic Track and Field Results, 18961976, Plus a Wealth of Other Olympic Esoterica (1979), continued with Olympic Track & Field, Vol. II (1987), covering the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games and the 1983 World Track and Field Championships; David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympics, rev. ed. (1988); and Cordner Nelson, Track's Greatest Champions (1986). For rules governing international track and field, see International Amateur Athletic Federation, Official Handbook (annual). Bert Nelson Events As many as 25 events may make up a men's meet; women compete in a few less. The men's track events at championship meets generally include the 100-, 200-, 400-, 800-, 1,500-, 5,000-, and 10,000-metre runs; the 3,000-metre steeplechase; the 110- and 400-metre hurdles; and the 400- and 1,500-metre relays. The field events usually include the high jump, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump; and the shot put and the discus, hammer, and javelin throws. The decathlon, combining 10 track and field events, is also included. Women run much the same schedule, with 100-metre instead of 110-metre hurdles. but do not compete in the steeplechase, pole vault, or hammer throw. They compete in the heptathlon rather than the decathlon, and both men and women run the marathon. Women walk up to 10,000 metres and men up to 50,000 metres. Running The sprints The relatively short sprint distances, ranging up to 400 metres, require a sustained top speed. Originally all sprinters started from a standing position, but in the 1880s the crouch start was invented, and it became a rule that sprinters must start with both feet and both hands on the track. The introduction of the adjustable starting block aided the quick start, critical in the sprints. The current record holder at 100 metres generally is considered to be the fastest human. Holding that title have been such champions as Eddie Tolan, Jesse Owens, Bobby Morrow, Bob Hayes, and Carl Lewis (all of the United States), Valeriy Borzov (U.S.S.R.), and Ben Johnson (Canada). Johnson set a record-breaking time of 9.83 seconds as he won the 1987 World Championships. Outstanding women sprint champions have included Fanny Blankers-Koen (The Netherlands), who won four gold medals in the 1948 Olympics, Wilma Rudolph (U.S.), who won three in 1960, Marita Koch (East Germany), who was a winner at all three sprint distances, and Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S.), who set world records at 100 and 200 metres in 1988. The 400 metres is run in lanes all the way; distance is equalized by a staggered start, the sprinters being spaced progressively farther up the track based on the distance their lane is from the inside edge. Outstanding in this event were Lee Evans (U.S.), whose 43.86 mark remained the world record 20 years after he set it in 1968, and Alberto Juantorena (Cuba), whose 44.26-second time in the 1976 Olympics was the fastest without the aid of high altitude. He also won the 800 metres, becoming the first man to win both events in the Olympics. Jarmila Kratochvilova (Czechoslovakia) also won such an unprecedented double victory in the 1983 World Championships for women.