Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to two miles. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1500 m came about as a result of running 3+3⁄4 laps of a 400 m outdoor track or 7+1⁄2 laps of a 200 m indoor track, which were commonplace in continental Europe in the 20th century.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, twenty-three athletics events were contested. Altogether, 117 athletes from 15 nations competed. A total of 68 medals were awarded. In many countries, due in part to the conflation of the Olympic Games and the World's Fair in Paris, the media discussed only the athletics events under the "Olympic" name while ignoring the incredible variety of other sports featured at the time.
The 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris were the first Olympics at which Canadian athletes participated. Two Canadians participated, although not as a national team. Canada's Olympians were George Orton and Ronald J. MacDonald. Orton was the first Canadian to win a medal, finishing first in the 2500-metre steeplechase. He later finished third in the 400-metre hurdles and fifth in the 4000-metre steeplechase. Orton, who was at school at the University of Pennsylvania, had accompanied a United States delegation to the games.
John Thomas Rimmer was a British athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rimmer won the AAA Championships in 4 miles (6.4 km) at the 1900 AAA Championships. He was born in Birkdale, Merseyside. With two, he jointly held the record for the most Olympic titles in athletics by a British athlete.
The men's 3,200 metres steeplechase was held for the only time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The competition was held on July 17, 1908, and July 18, 1908. The races were held on a track of 536.45 metres=1⁄3 mile in circumference. There were six heats of the first round, with the winners of those heats competing in the final.
Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and race walking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions but it was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics.
The men's 200 metres was a sprinting event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 22, 1900, well after most of the rest of the athletics events. The 1900 Games were the first time the 200 metres was contested. The races were held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Eight athletes from seven nations competed. The event was won by Walter Tewksbury of the United States. Norman Pritchard of India took silver while Australian Stan Rowley earned bronze.
The men's 1500 metres was a middle-distance running event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 15, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Nine athletes from six nations competed. The event was won by Charles Bennett of Great Britain, the nation's first medal in the brief history of the event.
The men's 400 metres hurdles was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. This event was held for the first time at the Olympics. The competition took part on July 14 and July 15, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Five athletes from four nations competed in the longest of the three hurdling events. The event was won by Walter Tewksbury of the United States. Henri Tauzin of France earned silver, while George Orton of Canada took bronze.
The men's 4000 metres steeplechase was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was one of the first two times that a steeplechase race was held at the Olympics, with the 2500 metres version held one day earlier. The 4000 metres steeplechase was held on July 16, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Eight athletes from five nations competed in the longer of the two steeplechase events. The three medallists from the 2500 metre steeplechase also competed in the 4000. The only one among them to win a second medal was Sidney Robinson, who added a bronze medal to the silver he had won earlier. The gold medal was won by John Rimmer of Great Britain, which completed a medal sweep with Rimmer, silver medalist Charles Bennett, and Robinson.
The men's 5000 metres team race was the final track and field event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was the first time that a team race was held at the Olympics. It was held on July 22, 1900. Two teams competed: Racing Club de France from France and Amateur Athletic Association of England from multiple nations. Each team had five athletes. The AAA team won the competition, despite Rowley being injured and unable to finish.
The steeplechase is an obstacle race in athletics which derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing. The foremost version of the event is the 3000 metres steeplechase. The 2000 metres steeplechase is the next most common distance. In youth athletics, a distance of 1000 metres is occasionally used for steeplechase races.
The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the horse racing steeplechase.
Sidney John Robinson was an early twentieth century English middle-distance athlete who specialised in the steeplechase.
The men's 2590 metres steeplechase was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the only time the event was held at the 2590 metre distance, though the 1900 Summer Olympics had featured a similar event in the 2500 metre steeplechase. The competition was held on August 29, 1904. 7 athletes from 2 nations competed. Jim Lightbody of the United States won the first of his three gold and four overall medals in the 1904 Games. Irishman John Daly took silver, with Lightbody's countryman Arthur L. Newton earning bronze.
Hermann Wraschtil was an Austrian track and field athletes who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Alexander Grant was a Canadian/American track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
The steeplechase at the Summer Olympics has been held over several distances and is the longest track event with obstacles held at the multi-sport event. The men's 3000 metres steeplechase has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1920. The women's event is the most recent addition to the programme, having been added at the 2008 Olympics. It is the most prestigious steeplechase track race at elite level.
The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime.
Lamecha Girma is an Ethiopian athlete who specialises in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and won silver medals at the 2019, 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships. Lamecha also won a silver in the 3,000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the world indoor record holder for the 3,000 metres, which was set in February 2023. In June 2023 at the Meeting de Paris of the Diamond League, he broke the world record for the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase.
