Athletics is the group of sports that brings together running, jumping and throwing.
Athletics events can take place on the field, on the street or in the stadium, individually or by relay of athletes.
The marathon, considered one of the most important Olympic competitions and which closes the event, is one of the athletics tests.
Athletics has been consecrated as an Olympic sport since the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, and is considered the base sport.
See also the meaning of Olympics.
History of Athletics
Athletics is the oldest sporting event in the world, and comes from natural human behavior. Because after learning to walk, we learn to run and jump.
The origin of athletics as a sport occurs in the first Olympiad, held in Ancient Greece in 776 a. Ç. But there are signs that the Egyptians and Chinese played very similar modalities before.
The Roman invasion of Greece weakened the Olympic Games, and with this, the athletics format was gradually left aside.
In a modern format, with events that involved several athletics modalities, the sport returned to be practiced at the end of the 19th century, motivated by the military academies. In 1880 athletic competitions were registered in the United States, England and some countries in Europe.
With the first Olympics of the Modern Era, in Athens 1896, the practice of athletics was consolidated and popularized all over the world.
In 1912 the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) is founded.
Athletics Modalities
Each modality has its own rules, such as distances to go, weight of shots, height of jumps and so on.
The track where the races take place is oval, measures 400 meters and has 09 lanes.
Among the Olympic modalities of athletics, there are the following:
Speed Tests
- 100, 200 and 400 meters dash: They are played inside the stadium on oval lanes, with each athlete running in their own lane.
- 100 female, 110 male, and 400 meters with hurdles: They take place inside the stadium, on the oval track, with equipment between the lanes that are the obstacles to be jumped.
- Relay: race event in groups, with four athletes each, who rotate a stick every 100 meters. The pole exchange zone, in the relays, measures 20 centimeters.
Middle-bottom and bottom tests
In the middle and long distance events, the athlete does not need to run in his lane during the entire course. Usually they run in line in lane 1.
Marathon
It is played on the street and has a route of 42.19 km.
Athletic march
In athletic walking, the athlete is required to keep one foot on the floor at all times, and the knee of the moving leg cannot bend until completing the stride. After three warnings from the judges, the athlete is disqualified from the race.
Triple jump
After an impulse run, the athlete takes three jumps until reaching the final distance in the sandbox.
Long jump
The athlete runs a distance on the track to gain momentum and jump as far as possible from a given point.
High jump
The athlete runs to gain momentum and jump over a slat, which determines the height of the jump. With each successful jump, the bar is over 3 cm and a new round is made. The one who jumps the highest wins without dropping the bar.
Pole vault
A jump over the slat, but with the aid of a flexible face of 4 to 5 meters. At each round in which the athletes were successful in passing the bar, the bar over 5cm.
Shot put
Test held inside the stadium, in which the weight must be thrown as far as possible. The men's ball weighs 7.26 kg, and the women's 4 kg.
Discus throw
A metal plate measuring 219 to 221 mm in diameter and weighing 2 kg is launched, in the male modality. In the female, it weighs 1kg with 180 to 192mm in diameter on the plate.
The launching area in which the athlete stands is 2.50 meters in diameter.
javelin throw
They are darts of at least 260 cm, weighing 800g, for males, launched between two lines 90 cm apart. In women's competitions, the dart is 220 cm long and weighs 600g.
Hammer throw
An iron ball attached to a wire handle, weighing 7.36 kg and 1.2 meters, is thrown.
heptathlon
Exclusively for women, there are seven athletic disciplines played over two days: 100 meters with hurdles, 200 and 800 meter run, shot put, javelin throw, high jump and in distance.
Decathlon
Men's race with ten athletics modalities that take place in two days: 100, 400 and 1500 meter race meters, 110 meters with barrier, shot put, javelin and discus, high jump, pole and in distance.
See too: Paralympics
