Athletics is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. In British English the term "Athletics" is synonymous with American "Track and Field" and includes all jumping events. In all countries other than the United States, Athletics is the official term for this sport with 'track' and 'field' events being subgroups of athletics events. In the United States, the term 'athletics' is often used in place of the umbrella term 'sport'.
Michael Lawrence Marsh is a retired American sprinter, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 m.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members, but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
Race walking, or racewalking, 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. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. 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).
John Lee Gray Jr. is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the nineteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the 1984 Summer Olympics, fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He held the US indoor record at 1:45.00 till February 2019.
Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. 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.
Fortune Everett Gordien was an American discus thrower and shot putter who set four world records in the discus throw. He competed in this event at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics and placed third, fourth and second, respectively. At the 1955 Pan American Games he won a gold medal in the discus and a silver in the shot put.
Stephanie Brown Trafton is an American track and field athlete who won the discus throwing gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is thus one of only three American women to have ever won the event.
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olympics, World Athletics Championships, Pan American Games, NACAC Championships, or an IAAF Continental Cup, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.
Kara Estelle Winger is an American track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She is the American record holder in the javelin throw with a distance of 68.11 m.
The sports under the umbrella of athletics, particularly track and field, use a variety of statistics. In order to report that information efficiently, numerous abbreviations have grown to be common in the sport. Starting in 1948 by Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, Track & Field News became the leader in creating and defining abbreviations in this field. These abbreviations have also been adopted by, among others, World Athletics; the world governing body, various domestic governing bodies, the Association of Track and Field Statisticians, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, the Associated Press, and the individual media outlets who receive their reports. These abbreviations also appear in Wikipedia.
Irene Romona Obera is an American track and field athlete, specializing in sprinting events. Over an extended career, she has set numerous world records and has won numerous world championships. She is currently a member of the W70 world record holding 4x100 metres relay team. She also holds the current American record in the W60 and W75 100 metres and the W75 200 metres.
Shamier Little is an American track and field sprinter specializing in the 400 metres hurdles. As a 20-year-old college sophomore at Texas A&M University, Little was the 2015 US champion. She then went on to win the silver medal in her signature event at the 2015 and 2023 World Championships. In July 2021, she became the fifth fastest woman of all time at the event.
Serene Ross is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Her personal record of 60.06 m is a former American record for the discipline.
Lynn Graham is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the shot put. Graham was the Pan American Games gold medalist in 1971. She won six national titles in the shot put and one in the discus. Her lifetime personal record is 16.18 m, set in Garden Grove, California on May 28, 1971.
Ryan Crouser is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus. He specializes in the shot put, in which he is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-time World Champion. He holds the world record in the shot put, both indoors and outdoors. He set the outdoor world record at 23.56 meters in May 2023, improving upon his previous record of 23.37 m from July 2021. He has held the indoor record of 22.82 m since January 2021.
Chase Foster Jackson is an American track and field athlete specializing in throwing events. She won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in women's shot put, which made her the first American woman to win a shot put world title at the World Athletics Championships. She won on the first attempt which, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, made her the first woman's shot put world champion to win on the first attempt.
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1968. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced in 2020 to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
The USATF Masters Indoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national indoor championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1975. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced from 2020 onwards to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
