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.
World Athletics is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, racewalking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge are the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a further four years.
Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. This is assessed by race judges. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups. For international events the first age group is 35 to 39. Men as old as 105 and women in their 100s have competed in running, jumping and throwing events. Masters athletes are sometimes known as "veterans" and the European Masters Championships, for instance, is known as "Eurovets." This and other high level events including biennial World Championships cater largely to elite-level athletes, but many masters athletes are novices to athletics and enjoy the camaraderie offered by masters competition at the local, National and International level. Most National governing bodies for track and field hold annual Masters championships. Prestigious National meets such as the Penn Relays and the United States Olympic Trials put on exhibition events for top masters athletes. Masters athletics is growing Internationally with over 6000 athletes competing at recent World Championships. World; National and Regional records are maintained for each age group.
Albania participated in the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August 2021. The sport of athletics at these Games is split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. A total of 48 events will be held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany, from 6 to 12 August 2018. The championships were part of the first European Championships with other events happening in the United Kingdom.
Betsy Saina is a Kenyan athlete in long distance running.
Kosovo participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was represented by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (KOK/OKK) with a delegation of eight people, including three men and five women. Most of them were awarded places in their respective sporting events through wild card entries and Tripartite Commission invitations. Two Kosovar athletes, on the other hand, qualified directly for the Olympics on merit: judoka Nora Gjakova and Majlinda Kelmendi, the lone returning Olympian on the team after representing Albania four years earlier in London. The world's top-ranked judoka in her weight category and the frontrunner for the country's first Olympic medal, Kelmendi was selected to become Kosovo's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
Albania competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's eighth appearance at the Olympics after its debut in 1972. The National Olympic Committee of Albania sent a total of six athletes to the Games, three per gender, who competed in three sports.
The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland from 2 to 12 August 2018. Around 1,500 athletes competed at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin, whilst at the same time more than 3,000 took part in the other championships in Glasgow. Each European Championship will be organised by the respective federation and host city.
Poland competed at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, United Kingdom, from 4–13 August 2017.
The cycling competitions of the 2018 Asian Games were held at two venues in Subang and two venues in Jakarta from 20 August to 31 August 2018. Road bicycle racing was held around the road of Subang from 22 to 24 August 2018, while track cycling was contested at the Jakarta International Velodrome from 27 to 31 August 2018, mountain biking was contested at Khe Bun Hill in Subang on from 20 to 21 August 2018, and BMX racing was contested at the Pulomas International BMX Center on 25 August 2018.
Belgium competed at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, between 7 and 12 August 2018. A delegation of 34 athletes were sent to represent the country.
The 2018 European Athletics Youth Championships was the second edition of the biennial, continental athletics competition for European athletes aged fifteen to seventeen. It was held in Győr, Hungary from 5 to 8 July at the Olympic Sport Park.
Andorra are competing at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, from 6-12 August 2018. A delegation of 1 athletes was sent to represent the country.
Armenia are competing at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, from 6-12 August 2018. A delegation of 2 athletes were sent to represent the country.
Belarus competed at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, from 6–12 August 2018. A delegation of 38 athletes were sent to represent the country.
Denmark are competing at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany, from 6–12 August 2018. A delegation of 11 athletes were sent to represent the country.
Albania is set to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Initially scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the nation's ninth appearance at the Olympics, which started with its debut in 1972.
