Contests of running, walking, jumping, and throwing are called track and field in the United States and athletics in most other countries. They are the oldest and most widespread form of organized sport. Nearly every country in the world takes part in some track and field events. The sport is a major part of the Summer Olympic Games. Track meetsTrack and field competition occurs in contests known as meets. Events may be held indoors or outdoors. Most meets, however, take place in an outdoor stadium with a grass infield surrounded by an oval track. Typically, a meet between schools or clubs lasts one day. Conference meets last two days, while national championships last three or four days. The World Championships and the Olympics range over eight days. The larger meets have a series of qualifying rounds to reduce the number of competitors in the final rounds. EventsThe events in a meet are normally classified as “track” or “field.” Track events include those in which competitors race against each other. All the other events—the jumps and throws—are classified as field events. The track used for outdoor running events measures 400 meters (440 yards) and is divided into lanes. Races are run over various distances that are measured in the metric system. The only race that is still popular but is not measured in meters is the mile. Track events start at the firing of a gun and are timed to an accuracy of 1/100 second. The competitor whose chest reaches the finish line first is the winner. Field events are held either on the infield or in nearby areas. Running eventsShort-distance track racers, called sprinters, start with their feet against blocks and their hands on the track. This position helps the runners to get a quick start, which is critical in the sprints. Sprinters compete at distances of 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters. The holder of the men's 100-meter world record is known informally as the World's Fastest Human. More endurance is needed for the middle- and long-distance races. Middle-distance races are run at 800 and 1,500 meters. Long-distance runners compete at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. The 3,000-meter race is sometimes considered middle-distance and sometimes long-distance. The longest race is the marathon. It celebrates the memory of a Greek soldier who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC to proclaim a great military victory. Modern marathoners cover a distance of 26 miles 385 yards, or 42,195 meters, mostly on roads. Cross-country running is a long-distance competition that is run on various types of countryside and parkland. Teams of runners compete against each other in relay races. Four teammates take turns running while carrying a stick called a baton. Only the baton covers the entire distance of the race. Results depend on sure-handed baton passing as well as sure-footed running. In a 4 × 100-meter relay, each runner covers 100 meters. The 4 × 400 meter-meter relay is also a standard event. The hurdling events combine sprinting with getting over ten evenly spaced obstacles that block the lane. The obstacles are called hurdles. They are designed to fall over if the hurdler fails to clear them. Race distances are 110 meters and 400 meters for men and 100 meters and 400 meters for women. Men face higher hurdles than women. For both men and women, higher hurdles are used in the shorter races. The steeplechase is a 3,000-meter race combining long-distance running and hurdling. Competitors must clear 28 sturdy hurdles and seven water jumps. Runners are allowed to hurdle in the usual way or to step onto the hurdles to clear them. Walking eventsWalking events cover long distances of 20,000 and 50,000 meters (20 and 50 kilometers). Women walk only the 20,000-meter distance. Race walkers must keep at least one foot in contact with the walking surface at all times, and the supporting leg must be straight. Jumping eventsJumping events include the high jump, the pole vault, the long jump, and the triple jump. They are classified as either vertical jumps or horizontal jumps. The high jump and the pole vault are called vertical jumps because height is the goal. The object of the high jump is to clear a thin bar balanced over two vertical poles. Most modern jumpers go over head first, with the back to the bar. Like high jumpers, pole vaulters also must clear a horizontal crossbar. The difference is that the vaulter carries a long, flexible pole. The vaulter takes a running start, plants the pole in a boxlike socket, and hoists the body high into the air, up and over the bar. In both the high jump and the pole vault, the competitor is given three tries at each height. Three consecutive misses result in the competitor being out of the event. The long jump and the triple jump are called horizontal jumps because distance determines the winner. In the long jump, formerly called the broad jump, the jumper makes a high-speed approach from a runway, plants a foot on the takeoff board, and leaps into the air, landing in a sandpit. The triple jump, once called the hop, step, and jump, consists of three actions. Like a long jumper, a triple jumper uses a takeoff board. The jumper first executes a hop by landing on the same foot from which he took off. Then he takes a step, lands on the other foot, and concludes with a jump into the sand pit. Throwing eventsThe four standard throwing events—shot put, hammer, discus, and javelin—involve the use of objects that are hurled for distance. Throws must land in clearly defined areas, called sectors, to be valid. Valid throws are measured from the point where the object first hits the ground. Shot-putters, hammer throwers, and discus throwers must stand within a circle to make their throws. They twist and turn their bodies to add power to the throw. The shot is a heavy metal ball. Shot-putters are among the largest and strongest athletes in track and field. The hammer is a metal ball connected by a strong wire to a handle. The hammer thrower swings the hammer around and then lets go. The discus is a plate-shaped disk that is launched in a spinning flight. Many people consider the discus throw to be the classic field event. The ancient Greek poet Homer wrote of it as early as the 8th century BC. The javelin throw has its origins in spear-throwing contests of the ancient Olympics. The javelin is a spearlike object of metal or wood that the thrower releases at the end of a run. It measures about 81/2 feet (2.6 meters) long for men and 7 feet (2.1 meters) for women. Combined eventsThe decathlon and the heptathlon are tests of all-around athletes. They take two days to complete. In the Olympics, men compete in the decathlon and women in the heptathlon. Decathletes compete in ten events: the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500-meter run. Heptathletes compete in seven events: the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin, and 800-meter run. Points are awarded in each event and added up to determine overall winners. History and organizationPeople in many cultures, over many thousands of years, have held footraces and other athletic contests. The first records of the ancient Olympic Games held in Greece date from 776 BC, but the Games had probably begun 500 years earlier. They continued until a Roman emperor stopped them in AD 393. The sport as practiced today developed in England. Practice fields were established in London in 1154. Organized amateur footraces were held in England as early as 1825. The first meet in North America was held near Toronto, in what is now Canada, in 1839. The sport started becoming popular in the United States with the creation of the New York Athletic Club in the 1860s. The club helped form the National Association of Amateur Athletes of America in 1879 to organize national championships. In 1888 the Amateur Athletic Union took over as the main national organization. With the coming of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, track and field events became global and standardized. In 1912 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was founded. This organization sets the rules of competition and approves all world records. In addition to governing track and field competition in the Olympics, the IAAF began holding its own World Championships in 1983 and World Indoor Championships in 1987. Amateur athletic federations of individual countries conduct their own national championships as well. Track and field was once strictly for men, but now almost all events are open to women. People with mental or physical disabilities can compete in their own track and field events through organizations such as the Special Olympics and the International Paralympic Committee. |