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.
Patrick O'Callaghan was an Irish athlete and double Olympic gold medallist. He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal under the Irish flag rather than the British flag.
The European Athletic Association is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 members and is headquartered in Lausanne.
Peter O'Connor was an Irish track and field athlete who set a long-standing world record for the long jump and won two Olympic medals in the 1906 Intercalated Games.
A team representing Ireland as an independent state or polity has competed at the Summer Olympic Games since 1924, and at the Winter Olympic Games since 1992.
Representation of the island of Ireland at the British Empire Games has varied:
The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britain and Ireland. Its role changed to support regional athletic clubs within England alone. This role was effectively taken over by England Athletics in 2005 and the Amateur Athletic Association of England was absorbed into that organisation. It is now concerned with the development of young athletes and has taken on the role of safeguarding the history of the sport and still awards trophies to elite athletes.
Cycling Ireland or CI is the operating name of the national governing body of the sport of cycling in the island of Ireland. Formally the body is a charitable company limited by guarantee, the Irish Cycling Federation.
The National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA or N.A. and C.A.), from 1990 the National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland (NACAI or NACA(I)) was a federation of sports clubs in the island of Ireland practising athletics or bicycle racing or both. It existed from 1922 to 2000, though for most of the period it was not the sole governing body in Ireland for either sport. Its refusal to recognise the partition of Ireland got it expelled from the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Clubs formerly in the NACAI are now affiliated to Athletics Ireland or Cycling Ireland, each formed by the merger of the NACAI with rival bodies respectively affiliated to the IAAF and the UCI.
Scottish Athletics, stylised as scottishathletics, is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Scotland. As such it is responsible for organising annual championships, maintaining rules for competition and ratifying records. It also selects teams for international competition, and coordinates courses for those aspiring to coach or officiate at meetings. Scottish Athletics is a member of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, and part of UK Athletics, the national governing body for the sport in the United Kingdom. It was established as a limited company on 1 April 2001, when it succeeded the Scottish Athletics Federation (SAF), which had in turn succeeded the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association that had organised the sport since its inception in February 1883.
Athletics Canada or AC is the national governing body for athletics in Canada, which includes track and field, cross-country running, road running, and race walking. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Athletics Canada is a non-profit organization. The organization is led by an elected board of directors, with a head chair, currently Helen Manning.
Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking.
The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Jamaica. The association is based in Kingston. As of December 2020, the president of the association is Garth Gayle, JP. He succeeded Dr. Warren Blake who was elected interim president in November 2011 after the sudden death of Blake's predecessor Howard Aris, and re-elected in November 2012.
The St. Lucia Athletics Association (SLAA) is the national governing body for athletics in Saint Lucia, inclusive of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. The Athletics Association was formerly known as the St. Lucia Amateur Athletics Association. The organisation was founded in 1977 to promote Track and Field in Saint Lucia. In 1978 the SLAA became an affiliate member of the world governing body for athletics, then called the International Amateur Athletics Federation, and now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The Saint Kitts & Nevis Amateur Athletic Association (SKNAAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The Grenada Athletic Association (GAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Grenada.
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.
John James Keane was an Irish Gaelic footballer, track athlete and sports administrator. His championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned five seasons from 1898 until 1902.
The American Invasion was an 1888 sports tour of the Northeastern United States by Irish athletes under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It raised American awareness of the GAA but failed as a fundraising venture.
The Irish Amateur Athletic Association or IAAA was a governing body for athletic sports in Ireland between 1885 and 1923.
