For the Major League Baseball team, see Oakland Athletics.

     

Athletics (in the US also known as track and field or track and field athletics) is a collection of sport events, which can roughly be divided into running, throwing and jumping.

Athletic events are usually organised around a 400 m running track, on which most of the running events take place. All of the field events, jumping and throwing, take place in the field in the centre of the running track.

Many athletic events have an ancient origin and were already conducted in competitive form by the ancient Greeks. Athletics was included in the Olympic Games in 1896 and has been part of the program ever since. An international governing body, the IAAF was founded in 1912. The IAAF established separate outdoor World Championships in 1983. The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) was the governing body in the United States until it collapsed under pressure from advancing professionalism in the late 1970's. A new governing body called The Athletics Congress (TAC) was formed, it was later renamed USA Track and Field (USATF or USA T&F). An additional, less structured organization, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) also exists in the USA to promote road racing. Both organizations allow athletes to receive money for racing putting an end to the "shamateurism" that existed before.

Table of contents
1 Events
2 World Records
3 See also

Events

This is not an exhaustive list of events. There are many variations not listed. For example, running events have many variations: races of unusual length (e.g. 300m) or using imperial measures.

Men and women do not compete against each other and often times their events differ.

World Records

Men
EventPerformanceAthleteDate, Place
100 m9.78Tim Montgomery (U.S.)Sept. 14, 2002, Paris, France
200 m19.32Michael Johnson (U.S.)Aug. 1, 1996, Atlanta, Ga.
400 m43.18Michael Johnson (U.S.)Aug. 26, 1999, Seville, Spain
800 m1:41.11Wilson Kipketer (Denmark)Aug. 24, 1997, Cologne, Germany
1,000 m2:11.96Noah Ngeny (Kenya)Sept. 5, 1999, Rieti, Italy
1,500 m3:26.00Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco)July 14, 1998, Rome, Italy
2,000 m4:44.79Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco)Sept. 7, 1999, Berlin, Germany
3,000 m7:20.67Daniel Komen (Kenya)Sept. 1, 1996, Rieti, Italy
5,000 m12:39.36Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia)June 13, 1998, Helsinki, Finland
10,000 m26:22.75Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia)June 1, 1998, Hengelo, Netherlands
20,000 m56:55.6Arturo Barrios (Mexico)March 30, 1991, La Flčche, France
25,000 m1:13:55.8Toshihiko Seko (Japan)March 22, 1981, Christchurch, N.Z.
30,000 m1:29:18.8Toshihiko Seko (Japan)March 22, 1981, Christchurch, N.Z.
3,000 m Steeplechase7:55.72Brahim Boulami (Morocco)Aug. 16, 2002, Zürich, Switzerland
110 m Hurdles12.91Colin Jackson (U.K.)Aug. 20, 1993, Stuttgart, Germany
400 m Hurdles46.78Kevin Young (U.S.)Aug. 6, 1992, Barcelona, Spain
High Jump2.45Javier Sotomayor (Cuba)July 27, 1993, Salamanca, Spain
Pole Vault6.14Sergey Bubka (Ukraine)July 31, 1994, Sestriere, Italy
Long Jump8.95Mike Powell (U.S.)Aug. 30, 1991, Tokyo, Japan
Triple Jump18.29Jonathan Edwards (U.K.)Aug. 7, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden
Shot Put23.12Randy Barnes (U.S.)May 20, 1990, Los Angeles, Calif.
Discus74.08Jürgen Schult (E.Ger.)June 6, 1986, Neubrandenburg, E.Ger.
Hammer86.74Yury Syedikh (U.S.S.R.)Aug. 30, 1986, Stuttgart, W.Ger.
Javelin98.48Jan Zelezný (Czech Rep.)May 25, 1996, Jena, Germany
Decathlon9026 (10.64, 8.11, 15.33, 2.12, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92, 4.80, 70.16, 4:21.98)Roman Sebrle (Czech Rep.)May 27, 2001, Götzis, Austria
20,000 m Walk1:17:21Jefferson Pérez (Ecuador)Aug. 23, 2003, Paris, France
30,000 m Walk2:01:44.1Maurizio Damilano (Italy)Oct. 3, 1992, Cuneo, Italy
50,000 m Walk3:40:57.9Thierry Toutain (France)Sept. 29, 1996, Héricourt, France
4x100 m Relay37.40Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis (U.S.)Aug. 8, 1992, Barcelona, Spain
4x200 m Relay1:18.68Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard, Carl Lewis (U.S.)April 17, 1994, Walnut, Calif.
4x400 m Relay2:54.20Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson (U.S.)July 22, 1998, New York City
4x800 m Relay7:03.89Peter Elliott, Garry Cook, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe (U.K.)Aug. 30, 1982, London, England
4x1,500 m Relay14:38.8Thomas Wessinghage, Harald Hudak, Michael Lederer, Karl Fleschen (W.Ger.)Aug. 17, 1977, Cologne, W.Ger.
4x110 m Hurdles Relay54.40University of Tennessee (U.S.)May 22, 1981, Knoxville, Tenn.
Marathon2:04:55Paul Tergat (Kenya)Sept. 28, 2003, Berlin, Germany

Women
EventPerformanceAthleteDate, Place
100 m10.49Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S.)July 16, 1988, Indianapolis, Ind.
200 m21.34Florence Griffith Joyner (U.S.)Sept. 29, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor.
400 m47.60Marita Koch (E.Ger.)Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia
800 m1:53.28Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia)July 26, 1983, Munich, W.Ger.
1,000 m2:28.98Svetlana Masterkova (Russia)Aug. 23, 1996, Brussels, Belgium
1,500 m3:50.46Qu Junxia (China)Sept. 11, 1993, Beijing, China
2,000 m5:25.36Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland)July 8, 1994, Edinburgh, Scotland
3,000 m8:06.11Wang Junxia (China)Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing, China
5,000 m14:28.09Jiang Bo (China)Oct. 23, 1997, Shanghai, China
10,000 m29:31.78Wang Junxia (China)Sept. 8, 1993, Beijing, China
20,000 m1:05:26.6Tegla Loroupe (Kenya)Sept. 3, 2000, Borgholzhausen, Germany
25,000 m1:27:05.8Tegla Loroupe (Kenya)Sept. 21, 2002, Mengerskirchen, Germany
30,000 m1:45:50.0Tegla Loroupe (Kenya)June 7, 2003, Warstein, Germany
100 m Hurdles12.21Yordanka Donkova (Bulgaria)Aug. 20, 1988, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
400 m Hurdles52.61Kim Batten (U.S.)Aug. 11, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden
High Jump2.09Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria)Aug. 30, 1987, Rome, Italy
Pole Vault4.82Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia)July 13, 2003, Gateshead, England
Long Jump7.52Galina Chistyakova (U.S.S.R.)June 11, 1988, Leningrad, U.S.S.R.
Triple Jump15.50Inesa Kravets (Ukraine)Aug. 10, 1995, Göteborg, Sweden
Shot Put22.63Natalya Lisovskaya (U.S.S.R.)June 7, 1987, Moscow, U.S.S.R.
Discus76.80Gabriele Reinsch (E.Ger.)July 9, 1988, Neubrandenburg, E.Ger.
Hammer75.97Mihaela Melinte (Romania)May 13, 1999, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Javelin71.54Osleidys Menéndez (Cuba)July 1, 2001, Rethymno, Greece
Heptathlon7291 (12.69, 1.86, 15.80, 22.56, 7.27, 45.66, 2:08.51)Jackie Joyner-Kersee (U.S.)Sept. 23-24, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor.
5,000 m Walk20:02.60Gillian O'Sullivan (Ireland)July 13, 2002, Dublin, Ireland
10,000 m Walk41:56.23Nadezhda Ryashkina (U.S.S.R.)July 24, 1990, Seattle, Wash.
4x100 m Relay41.37Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Göhr (E.Ger.)Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia
4x200 m Relay1:27.46LaTasha Jenkins, LaTasha Colander-Richardson, Nanceen Perry, Marion Jones (U.S.)April 29, 2000, Philadelphia, Pa.
4x400 m Relay3:15.17Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina (U.S.S.R.)Oct. 1, 1988, Seoul, S.Kor.
4x800 m Relay7:50.17Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya (U.S.S.R.)Aug. 5, 1984, Moscow, U.S.S.R.
Marathon2:15:25Paula Radcliffe (U.K.)April 13, 2003, London, England

See also