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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.
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα and ἄθλος. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
Athletics is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America 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. Outside of Canada and the United States, Athletics is the official term for this sport with 'track' and 'field' events being subgroups of athletics events.
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throwing, and discus throwing, followed by the stadion and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day. The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
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 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.
Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda is a Panamanian former long jumper. He was Olympic champion, having won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and remains Panama's first and only Olympic gold medalist. He was world champion in the long jump in 2007. He represented his country at three consecutive Olympics, from 2004 to 2012, and competed at four World Championships in Athletics from 2005 to 2011.
An octathlon is a combined event competition consisting of eight different sports or contests.
At the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, 36 athletics events were contested – 18 for boys and 18 for girls – on 17–19 and 21–23 August 2010. The events took place in Bishan Stadium, Singapore. Athletes born between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 1994, were eligible to compete. Continents selected their athletes through Youth Continental Championships.
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.
Combined events at the Summer Olympics have been contested in several formats at the multi-sport event. There are two combined track and field events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's decathlon and a women's heptathlon.
Javier Arturo Mc Farlane Olazábal is a Peruvian track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 110 metres hurdles and long jump. He holds the Peruvian National Record for 110 metres hurdles with 13.52 seconds.
The French Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Fédération française d'athlétisme, which serves as the French national championships for the sport. The three-day event is typically held in early or mid-summer and the venue varies on an annual basis. It is open to adults of all ages and is thus referred to as the senior or élite championships.
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.
The New Zealand Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by Athletics New Zealand, which serves as the national championship for the sport in New Zealand. It usually takes place over a three-day period from Friday to Sunday. Typically organised in the Southern Hemisphere summer months of February or March, the competition was inaugurated in 1887 as a men-only event, with women's events being added to the programme from 1926 onwards.
The South African Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Athletics South Africa, which serves as the national championship for the sport in South Africa.
The South Pacific Athletics Championships were an international athletics competition between island nations of the South Pacific Ocean. The championships was contested on three occasions: it was first held in 1976, had its second edition in 1978, then its final edition in 1984. Ten nations won medals at the competition during its lifetime. The competition emerged as a single-sport championship following in the footsteps of the region's multi-sport event established in 1963: the South Pacific Games. The athletics competition declined with the emergence of the South Pacific Mini Games in 1981, which was a smaller-scale event with athletics as its core sport.
The West African Athletics Championships is an international athletics competition between West African nations, organised by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA).