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.
Canada competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 37 competitors, all men, took part in 30 events in 7 sports.
The men's 10 miles walk race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. This was the only time the event was held. The competition was held on Thursday, July 16, 1908, and on Friday, July 17, 1908. The competition was held in two rounds. There were two heats in the first round, with the top four in each heat advancing to the final. 25 race walkers from eight nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
The men's 200 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which has appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympics since the 1900 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 10, 1912, and on July 11, 1912. 61 runners from 19 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games. Another American, Donald Lippincott, took silver. Great Britain earned its first medal in the 200 metres with Willie Applegarth's bronze.
The men's 800 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held from Saturday, July 6, 1912, to Monday, July 8, 1912. Forty-seven runners from 16 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ted Meredith of the United States, the nation's third consecutive victory in the 800 metres. Mel Sheppard became the first man to win two medals in the event, coming in second to miss out on defending his 1908 gold. Ira Davenport completed the United States sweep, the second time the Americans had swept the 800 metres podium.
The men's 1500 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912, and on Wednesday, July 10, 1912. Forty-five runners from 14 nations competed, including the Olympic champion from 1908, Mel Sheppard. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
The men's 5000 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 10000 metre event replaced the 5 mile race held at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912, and on Wednesday, July 10, 1912. Thirty-one long-distance runners from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
The men's 10,000 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 5000 metres replaced the 5 mile race held at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Sunday, July 7, 1912, and on Monday, July 8, 1912. Thirty runners from 13 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
The men's 110 metres hurdles was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Thursday, July 11, 1912, and on Friday, July 12, 1912. 22 hurdlers from 10 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Fred Kelly of the United States, the fifth of five consecutive victories for the nation in the first five Olympic Games. It was also the fourth of four consecutive podium sweeps for the Americans in the event.
The men's 4 × 100 meters relay was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics program. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 4 × 400-meter relays marked the first relays of equal legs in the athletics program. The competition was held on Monday, July 8, 1912, and on Tuesday, July 9, 1912. NOCs could enter 1 team of 4 athletes, with up to 2 reserves.
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 4 × 100 metre relay marked the first relays of equal legs in the athletics programme. The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912, and on Monday, July 15, 1912. Twenty-eight runners from seven nations competed. NOCs could enter 1 team of 4 athletes, with up to 2 reserves.
The men's triple jump, also known as the hop, step, and jump, was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Monday, July 15, 1912. Twenty athletes from eight nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Gustaf Lindblom of Sweden, the nation's first medal in the men's triple jump. Georg Åberg and Erik Almlöf also medaled for Sweden, completing a sweep—previously accomplished twice by the United States in 1900 and 1904.
The men's pole vault was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912, and on Thursday, July 11, 1912. Twenty-five pole vaulters from eleven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. It was the second straight Games in which more than 3 medals were awarded in the event. The event was won by Harry Babcock of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive victory in the event. Fellow Americans Frank Nelson and Marc Wright tied for second and were both awarded silver; normally, this would have constituted a medal sweep. However, bronze medals were awarded to the three men tied for fourth place. This put both Canada and Sweden on the podium for the second consecutive Games and awarded the United States a total of four medals in the 1912 pole vault.
The men's two handed shot put was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the only appearance of the event at the Olympics, along with the other two handed throws. The format of the event was such that each thrower threw the shot three times with his right hand and three times with his left hand. The best distance with each hand was summed to give a total. The three finalists received three more throws with each hand. The competition was held on Thursday, July 11, 1912. Seven shot putters from five nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
The men's team cross country was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition was held on Monday, July 15, 1912.
The men's 400 metre breaststroke was a swimming event held as part of the swimming competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1904. The competition was held from Monday July 8, 1912 to Friday July 12, 1912.
The men's 3 kilometres walk event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on the track on Friday, August 20, 1920, and on Saturday, August 21, 1920. Twenty-two race walkers from twelve nations competed.
The men's 10 kilometres walk event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, August 17, 1920, and on Wednesday, August 18, 1920. Twenty-three race walkers from 13 nations competed.
The men's 10 kilometres walk event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was the only racewalking event at this Games. After 1924, the 10 kilometre walk would not be held again until 1948. The competition was held from Wednesday, July 9, 1924, to Sunday, July 13, 1924. The races were held on the track which was as for all other events of 500 metres in circumference. Twenty-five race walkers from 13 nations competed.
Racewalking events at the Summer Olympics have been contested over a variety of distances at the multi-sport event. There were three race walking events in the 2020 Summer Olympics: a men's and a women's 20 kilometres race walk, and a men's 50 kilometres race walk. The races were held in a final-only format.
