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. In British English the term "Athletics" is synonymous with American "Track and Field" and includes all jumping events.
Robert S. Garrett was an American athlete, as well as investment banker and philanthropist in Baltimore, Maryland and financier of several important archeological excavations. Garrett was the first modern Olympic champion in discus throw as well as shot put.
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.
Lillian Copeland was an American track and field Olympic champion athlete, who excelled in discus, javelin throwing, and shot put, setting multiple world records. She has been called "the most successful female discus thrower in U.S. history". She also held multiple titles in shot put and javelin throwing. She won a silver medal in discus at the 1928 Summer Olympics, a gold medal in discus at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and gold medals in discus, javelin, and shot put at the 1935 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine.
Eric Otto Valdemar Lemming was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912 Olympics in a wide variety of events, which mostly involved throwing and jumping. He had his best results in the javelin throw, which he won at the 1906–1912 Games, and in which he set multiple world records between 1899 and 1912. His last record, measured at 62.32 m, was ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations as the first official world record.
Lemuel Clarence "Bud" Houser was an American field athlete. He won Olympic gold medals in the discus throw in 1924 and 1928 and in the shot put in 1924.
Eugene G. Oberst was an American football player, track and field athlete, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. Oberst was born the youngest of eleven children. A native of Owensboro, Kentucky, he played football at the University of Notre Dame in the 1920s under coach Knute Rockne, and competed in track and field as a javelin thrower. He won the Olympic bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Games in Paris. Oberst served as the head football coach at Washington and Lee University (1929–1930), Canisius College (1931–1932), and John Carroll University (1946).
Stephen Andrew Seymour was an American physician and track and field coach and athlete, who in the 1948 London Olympics won America's first silver medal in the javelin throw, a feat that to-date would be repeated only in the 1952 Olympics. Setting the American javelin record in 1945 and 1947, Seymour is regarded by track and field historians as America's original javelin technician.
Dorothy Lucille Dodson was a distinguished American track and field athlete whose career spanned the late 1930s through late 1940s; Dodson's specialty was the throwing events. From 1939 to 1949—with the exception of 1940—Dodson participated in every U.S. AAU Outdoor National Championships.
Thomas Paul Pukstys is a former American track and field athlete who was a javelin thrower. Pukstys was a six-time U.S. javelin champion, and represented the United States at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.
Arthur Wood Tuck was an American track and field athlete. In 1919, he singlehandedly won the Oregon state high school track and field team championship for Redmond High School. He later competed for the University of Oregon track and field team and represented the United States in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Belgium.
Vadim Bavikin is a USSR-born Israeli javelin thrower.
Leander James 'Lee' Talbott was an American track and field athlete, tug of war competitor, and wrestler from Kansas City, Missouri. He attended the Mercersburg Academy and was a weight thrower first at Cornell University in 1907 and then at Penn State in 1909. He was a member of the Kansas City Athletic Club, and he competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics as a member of the Irish American Athletic Club. In his prime, Talbott stood 6' 6" inches and weighed 220 lbs.
James Milton Courtright was a Canadian track and field athlete and Vice Principal of Queen's University. His athletic career included participating in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney, Australia, where he captured the gold medal in the javelin throw.
Niklas Bo Arrhenius is an American-Swedish track and field athlete who competes and coaches in the discus throw and shot put. He represented Sweden in the discus at 2008 Summer Olympics, was a four-time competitor at the World Athletics Championships, and competed at five consecutive editions of the European Athletics Championships from 2006 to 2016. At the Swedish Athletics Championships he won seven national titles in discus, and was an eight-time champion in the shot put.
John Kenneth Doherty was an American decathlon champion, college track and field coach, author and longtime director of the Penn Relays. While a student at the University of Michigan, Doherty won the American decathlon championship in 1928 and 1929 and won the bronze medal in the event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He later served as a track coach at Princeton University (1929–1930), the University of Michigan (1930–1948), and the University of Pennsylvania (1948–1957). He was also the meet director for the Penn Relays from 1956 to 1969 and of the first dual track meet between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1959. He was also a published author of works on track coaching, and his Track & Field Omnibook was regarded as "the track coach's bible" from the 1970s through the 1990s. Doherty has been inducted into at least six athletic halls of fame, including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and athletic halls of fame at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
John Flint Hanner was an American track and field athlete and coach. He qualified for the 1920 Summer Olympics, won the first NCAA javelin championship in 1921 and later worked as the track coach at Fresno State University for 35 years. He was also one of the founders and the long-time director of the West Coast Relays.
Brittany Borman is an American track and field athlete who competes primarily in the discus and the javelin throw. She is a four-time NCAA Track and Field Champion, winning the javelin in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and the discus in 2010. In 2012, she won the US Olympic Trials in the javelin and represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also represented the US at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Leif Hilding Arrhenius is a professional American-Swedish athlete competing in the shot put and discus throw. He represented Team Sweden at two World and three European Championships. In addition, he is the 2011 U.S. Collegiate Indoor Champion.
Aubrey Lewis was an American football player and track athlete who was the first African American to be captain of a Notre Dame Fighting Irish athletic team and a member of the first Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent training program to include black people.
