Athletics (in the US also known as track and field or track and field athletics) is a collection of sport events, which can roughly be divided into running, throwing and jumping.
Athletic events are usually organised around a 400 m running track, on which most of the running events take place. All of the field events, jumping and throwing, take place in the field in the centre of the running track.
Many athletic events have an ancient origin and were already conducted in competitive form by the ancient Greeks. Athletics was included in the Olympic Games in 1896 and has been part of the program ever since. An international governing body, the IAAF was founded in 1912. The IAAF established separate outdoor World Championships in 1983. The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) was the governing body in the United States until it collapsed under pressure from advancing professionalism in the late 1970's. A new governing body called The Athletics Congress (TAC) was formed, it was later renamed USA Track and Field (USATF or USA T&F). An additional, less structured organization, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) also exists in the USA to promote road racing. Both organizations allow athletes to receive money for racing putting an end to the "shamateurism" that existed before.
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2 World Records 3 See also |
Men and women do not compete against each other and often times their events differ.
Events
This is not an exhaustive list of events. There are many variations not listed. For example, running events have many variations: races of unusual length (e.g. 300m) or using imperial measures.World Records
| Event | Performance | Athlete | Date, Place |
| 100 m | 9.78 | Tim Montgomery (U.S.) | Sept. 14, 2002, Paris, France |
| 200 m | 19.32 | Michael Johnson (U.S.) | Aug. 1, 1996, Atlanta, Ga. |
| 400 m | 43.18 | Michael Johnson (U.S.) | Aug. 26, 1999, Seville, Spain |
| 800 m | 1:41.11 | Wilson Kipketer (Denmark) | Aug. 24, 1997, Cologne, Germany |
| 1,000 m | 2:11.96 | Noah Ngeny (Kenya) | Sept. 5, 1999, Rieti, Italy |
| 1,500 m | 3:26.00 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) | July 14, 1998, Rome, Italy |
| 2,000 m | 4:44.79 | Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) | Sept. 7, 1999, Berlin, Germany |
| 3,000 m | 7:20.67 | Daniel Komen (Kenya) | Sept. 1, 1996, Rieti, Italy |
| 5,000 m | 12:39.36 | Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) | June 13, 1998, Helsinki, Finland |
| 10,000 m | 26:22.75 | Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) | June 1, 1998, Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 20,000 m | 56:55.6 | Arturo Barrios (Mexico) | March 30, 1991, La Flčche, France |
| 25,000 m | 1:13:55.8 | Toshihiko Seko (Japan) | March 22, 1981, Christchurch, N.Z. |
| 30,000 m | 1:29:18.8 | Toshihiko Seko (Japan) | March 22, 1981, Christchurch, N.Z. |
| 3,000 m Steeplechase | 7:55.72 | Brahim Boulami (Morocco) | Aug. 16, 2002, Zürich, Switzerland |
| 110 m Hurdles | 12.91 | Colin Jackson (U.K.) | Aug. 20, 1993, Stuttgart, Germany |
| 400 m Hurdles | 46.78 | Kevin Young (U.S.) | Aug. 6, 1992, Barcelona, Spain |
| High Jump | 2.45 | Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) | July 27, 1993, Salamanca, Spain |
| Pole Vault | 6.14 | Sergey Bubka (Ukraine) | July 31, 1994, Sestriere, Italy |
| Long Jump | 8.95 | Mike Powell (U.S.) | Aug. 30, 1991, Tokyo, Japan |
| Triple Jump | 18.29 | Jonathan Edwards (U.K.) | Aug. 7, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden |
| Shot Put | 23.12 | Randy Barnes (U.S.) | May 20, 1990, Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Discus | 74.08 | Jürgen Schult (E.Ger.) | June 6, 1986, Neubrandenburg, E.Ger. |
| Hammer | 86.74 | Yury Syedikh (U.S.S.R.) | Aug. 30, 1986, Stuttgart, W.Ger. |
| Javelin | 98.48 | Jan Zelezný (Czech Rep.) | May 25, 1996, Jena, Germany |
| Decathlon | 9026 (10.64, 8.11, 15.33, 2.12, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92, 4.80, 70.16, 4:21.98) | Roman Sebrle (Czech Rep.) | May 27, 2001, Götzis, Austria |
| 20,000 m Walk | 1:17:21 | Jefferson Pérez (Ecuador) | Aug. 23, 2003, Paris, France |
| 30,000 m Walk | 2:01:44.1 | Maurizio Damilano (Italy) | Oct. 3, 1992, Cuneo, Italy |
| 50,000 m Walk | 3:40:57.9 | Thierry Toutain (France) | Sept. 29, 1996, Héricourt, France |
| 4x100 m Relay | 37.40 | Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis (U.S.) | Aug. 8, 1992, Barcelona, Spain |
| 4x200 m Relay | 1:18.68 | Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard, Carl Lewis (U.S.) | April 17, 1994, Walnut, Calif. |
| 4x400 m Relay | 2:54.20 | Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson (U.S.) | July 22, 1998, New York City |
| 4x800 m Relay | 7:03.89 | Peter Elliott, Garry Cook, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe (U.K.) | Aug. 30, 1982, London, England |
| 4x1,500 m Relay | 14:38.8 | Thomas Wessinghage, Harald Hudak, Michael Lederer, Karl Fleschen (W.Ger.) | Aug. 17, 1977, Cologne, W.Ger. |
| 4x110 m Hurdles Relay | 54.40 | University of Tennessee (U.S.) | May 22, 1981, Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Marathon | 2:04:55 | Paul Tergat (Kenya) | Sept. 28, 2003, Berlin, Germany |
| Event | Performance | Athlete | Date, Place |
| 100 m | 10.49 | Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S.) | July 16, 1988, Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 200 m | 21.34 | Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S.) | Sept. 29, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor. |
| 400 m | 47.60 | Marita Koch (E.Ger.) | Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia |
| 800 m | 1:53.28 | Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia) | July 26, 1983, Munich, W.Ger. |
| 1,000 m | 2:28.98 | Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) | Aug. 23, 1996, Brussels, Belgium |
| 1,500 m | 3:50.46 | Qu Junxia (China) | Sept. 11, 1993, Beijing, China |
| 2,000 m | 5:25.36 | Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland) | July 8, 1994, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 3,000 m | 8:06.11 | Wang Junxia (China) | Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing, China |
| 5,000 m | 14:28.09 | Jiang Bo (China) | Oct. 23, 1997, Shanghai, China |
| 10,000 m | 29:31.78 | Wang Junxia (China) | Sept. 8, 1993, Beijing, China |
| 20,000 m | 1:05:26.6 | Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) | Sept. 3, 2000, Borgholzhausen, Germany |
| 25,000 m | 1:27:05.8 | Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) | Sept. 21, 2002, Mengerskirchen, Germany |
| 30,000 m | 1:45:50.0 | Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) | June 7, 2003, Warstein, Germany |
| 100 m Hurdles | 12.21 | Yordanka Donkova (Bulgaria) | Aug. 20, 1988, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria |
| 400 m Hurdles | 52.61 | Kim Batten (U.S.) | Aug. 11, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden |
| High Jump | 2.09 | Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) | Aug. 30, 1987, Rome, Italy |
| Pole Vault | 4.82 | Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) | July 13, 2003, Gateshead, England |
| Long Jump | 7.52 | Galina Chistyakova (U.S.S.R.) | June 11, 1988, Leningrad, U.S.S.R. |
| Triple Jump | 15.50 | Inesa Kravets (Ukraine) | Aug. 10, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden |
| Shot Put | 22.63 | Natalya Lisovskaya (U.S.S.R.) | June 7, 1987, Moscow, U.S.S.R. |
| Discus | 76.80 | Gabriele Reinsch (E.Ger.) | July 9, 1988, Neubrandenburg, E.Ger. |
| Hammer | 75.97 | Mihaela Melinte (Romania) | May 13, 1999, Clermont-Ferrand, France |
| Javelin | 71.54 | Osleidys Menéndez (Cuba) | July 1, 2001, Rethymno, Greece |
| Heptathlon | 7291 (12.69, 1.86, 15.80, 22.56, 7.27, 45.66, 2:08.51) | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (U.S.) | Sept. 23-24, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor. |
| 5,000 m Walk | 20:02.60 | Gillian O'Sullivan (Ireland) | July 13, 2002, Dublin, Ireland |
| 10,000 m Walk | 41:56.23 | Nadezhda Ryashkina (U.S.S.R.) | July 24, 1990, Seattle, Wash. |
| 4x100 m Relay | 41.37 | Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Göhr (E.Ger.) | Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia |
| 4x200 m Relay | 1:27.46 | LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry, Marion Jones (U.S.) | April 29, 2000, Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 4x400 m Relay | 3:15.17 | Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina (U.S.S.R.) | Oct. 1, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor. |
| 4x800 m Relay | 7:50.17 | Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya (U.S.S.R.) | Aug. 5, 1984, Moscow, U.S.S.R. |
| Marathon | 2:15:25 | Paula Radcliffe (U.K.) | April 13, 2003, London, England |