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.
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.
Michael Anthony Powell is an American former track and field athlete, the holder of the long jump world record, and a two-time world champion as well as two-time Olympic silver medalist in the event. His world record of 8.95 m, set on August 30, 1991, has never been broken.
Dwight Phillips is an American former athlete and a four-time world champion in the long jump. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in the event. His personal best of 8.74 meters, set in 2009, makes him the joint fifth best jumper of all time.
Tianna Bartoletta is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and short sprinting events. She is a two-time Olympian with three gold medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she placed fourth in the 100m race then won her first gold by leading off the world record-setting 4 × 100 m relay team. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won two more golds, first with a personal best to win the long jump then again leading off the victorious 4 × 100 m relay team.
Elexis LaVelle "Lex" Gillette is a blind Paralympic athlete from Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States competing in T11 (track) and F11 (field) events for the United States.
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olympics, World Athletics Championships, Pan American Games, NACAC Championships, or an IAAF Continental Cup, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.
Christian Taylor is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the triple jump and has a personal record of 18.21 m, which ranks 2nd on the all-time list.
Will Claye is an American track and field athlete of Sierra Leonean descent who competes in the long jump and triple jump. He won a bronze medal in 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the gold medals at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Claye won a bronze medal in long jump and a silver medal in triple jump. He repeated his silver medal in the triple jump four years later. His personal best of 18.14 m, set at the Jim Bush Southern California USATF Championships in Long Beach on June 29, 2019, ranks him as the No. 4 triple jumper of all time.
Jeffrey Henderson is an American track and field athlete who competes in the long jump and 100-meter dash. He has a personal record of 8.52 m for the long jump by winning the 2015 Pan Am Games gold medal. At the long jump at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Henderson captured gold for Team USA, its first in the event since 2004. Henderson added a silver medal at the 2019 outdoor world championships. Other top results include becoming the 2014, 2016 and 2018 USA Outdoor national long jump champion.
Marquis Dendy is an American track and field athlete, primarily known for horizontal jumping events. He is the 2015 National Champion in the Long jump. His winning jump, of 8.68 m, though wind aided at +3.7mps, his first jump of the competition, was the longest jump in the world under any conditions in over 5 years. He grew up in Middletown, Delaware.
Jenna Elizabeth Prandini is an American track and field athlete who has competed in both sprinting and long jump. She is a two-time national champion at 200 meters, and a two-time Olympian in 2016 and 2020. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of the United States 4x100 m relay team, and won a gold medal with the US 4x100 m relay at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Jarrion Lawson is an American sprinter and long jumper. He placed third in the men's long jump at the 2012 World Junior Championships. Competing for the Arkansas Razorbacks, he won five individual NCAA championship titles and one relay title between 2014 and 2016; he won three events at the 2016 NCAA outdoor championships, a triple previously accomplished only by Jesse Owens.
Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He holds personal bests of 9.76 seconds for the 100 m, which made him the 6th fastest all-time in the history of 100 metres event, and 19.85 for the 200 m. Coleman is the world record holder for the indoor 60 meters with 6.34 seconds. He was the Diamond League champion in 2018 and 2023 and the world number one ranked runner in the men's 100 m for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Chris Benard is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He holds a personal record of 17.48 m, set in 2016. Bernard represented Team USA 9-times at 2 Summer Olympics, 4 World Athletics Championships, & 3 NACAC Championships.
Noah Lyles is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200 m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time in the event. He is a one-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion.
The USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, formerly known as the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships, is an annual outdoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field (USATF) which serves as the national championship for American athletes aged under 20. The competition is also used for American national team selection for the IAAF World U20 Championships in even-numbered years and the Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in odd-numbered years.
Stanley Grant Holloway is an American professional hurdler and sprinter. He is a three-time world champion, 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist in the 110 meters hurdles and the second-fastest man in history at the event with a personal best of 12.81 seconds, set at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 26, 2021. In the 60 meters hurdles, Holloway is the 2022 Belgrade and 2024 Glasgow World Indoor champion and the world indoor record holder with a time of 7.27 seconds set at the 2024 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.
JuVaughn Krishna Harrison is an American high jumper and long jumper. He won the silver medal in the high jump at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Jasmine Moore is an American athlete. She won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in both the long jump and the triple jump event. In 2022, she became the first American woman to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in both the long jump and the triple jump.
