The softball throw is a track and field event used as a substitute for more technical throwing events in competitions involving youth, Paralympic, Special Olympics and masters-level competitors.
The general rules for the softball throw parallel those of the javelin throw when conducted in a formal environment, [1] but the implement being thrown is a standard softball, which resembles the size of a standard shot but is considerably lighter.
The event was one of the standardized test events as part of the President's Award on Physical Fitness. [2] It is an official event for ages 9–12 in the Hershey Youth track and field program. [3] Other meets include it as a beginners event. It is a youth event for the World Dwarf Games. [4]
Certain divisions of the Special Olympics throw a softball, specified in the rules as having a 30 cm circumference. Some divisions do a similar ball throw using a tennis ball. [5]
While it is not in the official National championship program, it is often part of local senior competitions. [6] [7] [8] [9] Some competitions introduce a factor for accuracy. [10]
Although the softball is the most common implement still used in non-Olympic-style competitions, during the 20th century there were variations of the event that were contested at the highest levels of open women's track and field in the United States. They were typically only held in women's competitions. [11]
The baseball throw has been contested at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships from 1923 to 1957. The championship record is held by Babe Didrikson at 296 ft 0 in (90.22 m), set in 1931. [12] [11]
The basketball throw was considered an indoor track and field analogue to the softball and baseball throws. It was contested at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships from 1927 to 1969. The championship record of 135 ft 2 in (41.19 m) was set by Earlene Brown at the 1958 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. [13] [14]
Track and field 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.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a 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 can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
Stacy Renée Mikaelson known as Stacy Renée Dragila is a former American pole vaulter. She is an Olympic gold medalist and a multiple-time world champion.
Two sports have events that fall under the name of weight throw one being the track and field event and the other being the Scottish highland games events.
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Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. 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.
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Cory Ann McGee is an American professional middle distance runner and Olympian from Pass Christian, Mississippi. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games she finished 12th in the 1500-meters. She was the 2011 Pan American U20 Champion and 2011 USA Juniors Outdoor Champion in the 1500-meters. In May 2022 she ran a personal best of 4:00.34 in the 1500-meters to move to 16th place on the US fastest all-time list.
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