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.
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge are the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a further four years.
Track and field 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.
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.
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter, and can include weather conditions of rain, sleet, snow or hail, and a wide range of temperatures.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the 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 only can participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot receive any USATF medal, prize money or score for a team.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture. In the infancy of many sports, the Home Nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though some continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis.
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.
The English Schools' Athletics Championships are annual national athletics competitions organised by the English Schools' Athletic Association ESAA for students in England aged 12–18 for track and field, cross country and race walking.
David Bishop is an international middle-distance running athlete representing Great Britain, and was an All-American at the University of New Mexico. He was the 2013 UK National 3000m Champion and was the 2007 British University (BUCS) 3000m Indoor Champion, whilst he attended the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.
Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. 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.
Athletics Canada or AC is the national governing body of athletics in Canada, which includes track and field, cross-country running, road running, and race walking.
Neil McMenemy was Scotland's national triple jump champion twice during the 1990s. The Scottish Association of Track Statisticians report that he has made the most appearances for Scotland at indoor internationals by a male athlete. Analysis provided by the Scottish Association of Track Statisticians in April 2017 shows that he has made the most appearances for Scotland at triple jump in international competition ; more than any other athlete, male or female.
Athletics has a long history in Wales, with many events recognised today codified during the Victorian period. The first amateur athletic clubs in Wales were formed in the 1870s, while the first championships began in the early 20th century. Wales began competing as a country in international athletic events in the 1920s and has since produced a notable number of world class sportspeople including many medal winning Commonwealth, World, Olympic, Paralympic and European champions. Wales competes in the Commonwealth Games under its own flag but at the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team.
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.
Jade Louise Lally is a British track and field athlete. She won a bronze medal for England in the women's discus at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and represented Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Her personal best is 65.10m set at the New South Wales Open Championships (AUS) on 27th February 2016.
The European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition between the European running clubs that are the reigning national champions for their country. It is often abbreviated to the name ECCC Cross Country. It is traditionally held on the first Sunday of February.
The International Cross Country Union (ICCU) was the first major international sports governing body for cross country running. Created in 1903, it launched the International Cross Country Championships that same year. Originally a grouping for contests between the four Home Nations of the British Isles, the body was symbolic of the increasing co-operation of the older national bodies found in those nations.
The Nordic Junior Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition for athletes under-20 from the Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Athletes must be 19 years of age or younger by December 31 of the year the championship is held. Finland and Sweden have chosen to set a lower age limit of 18, except for athletes competing in relay races only. Norway, Denmark and Iceland have chosen not to have a lower age limit.
Nordic Athletics is an international governing body for the sport of athletics in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It is responsible for organising Nordic competitions between the nations, as well as collating Nordic records for the best performances by athletes of the nations, and holding congresses on the sport for technical rules, coaching and sport administration. Membership of the regional body is composed of the five national athletics bodies. The group also serves to influence the International Association of Athletics Federations and European Athletics in regards to Nordic issues.
