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.
Patrick "Pat" O'Callaghan was an Irish athlete and Olympic gold medallist. He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal under the Irish flag rather than the British flag. In sport he then became regarded as one of Ireland's greatest-ever athletes.
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.
Peter O'Connor was an Irish track and field athlete who set a long-standing world record for the long jump and won two Olympic medals in the 1906 Intercalated Games.
A team representing just Ireland has competed at the Summer Olympic Games since 1924, and at the Winter Olympic Games since 1992. The Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) was formed in 1922 during the provisional administration prior to the formal establishment of the Irish Free State. The OFI affiliated to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in time for the Paris games. For many sports, the team represents the entire island of Ireland, which comprises both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. From the first modern-era games in 1896 until the 1920 games, Ireland was represented by the Great Britain and Ireland team.
Representation of the island of Ireland at the British Empire Games has varied:
The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britain and Ireland. Its role changed to support regional athletic clubs within England alone. This role was effectively taken over by England Athletics in 2005 and the Amateur Athletic Association of England was absorbed into that organisation. It is now concerned with the development of young athletes and has taken on the role of safeguarding the history of the sport and still awards trophies to elite athletes.
Cycling Ireland or CI is the operating name of the national governing body of the sport of cycling in the island of Ireland. Formally the body is a charitable company limited by guarantee, the Irish Cycling Federation.
The National Athletic and Cycling Association, from 1990 the National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland was a federation of sports clubs in the island of Ireland practising athletics or bicycle racing or both. It existed from 1922 to 2000, though for most of the period it was not the sole governing body in Ireland for either sport. Its refusal to recognise the partition of Ireland got it expelled from the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Clubs formerly in the NACAI are now affiliated to Athletics Ireland or Cycling Ireland, each formed by the merger of the NACAI with rival bodies respectively affiliated to the IAAF and the UCI.
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.
Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking.
The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Jamaica. The association is based in Kingston. As of December 2020, the president of the association is Garth Gayle, JP. He succeeded Dr. Warren Blake who was elected interim president in November 2011 after the sudden death of Blake's predecessor Howard Aris, and re-elected in November 2012.
The St. Lucia Athletics Association (SLAA) is the national governing body for athletics in Saint Lucia, inclusive of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. The Athletics Association was formerly known as the St. Lucia Amateur Athletics Association. The organisation was founded in 1977 to promote Track and Field in Saint Lucia. In 1978 the SLAA became an affiliate member of the world governing body for athletics, then called the International Amateur Athletics Federation, and now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The Grenada Athletic Association (GAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Grenada.
The Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Barbados.
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.
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.
John James Keane was an Irish Gaelic footballer, track athlete and sports administrator. His championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned five seasons from 1898 until 1902.
The Irish Amateur Athletic Association or IAAA was a governing body for athletic sports in Ireland between 1885 and 1923.
