HISTORY

In order to find the origins of the Athletics, we would have to go very far back in history
because Athletics Is one of the world’s oldest sporting events. In fact, Olympic Games as we
know it today developed from the ancient track and field events that being held in Ancient
Greece; we need to go back about 2800 years.
In the year776 BC in the ancient Olympia in Greece the first Olympic Games were held and
during that game, only one, to use modern day terminology, track and field event was held and
that was the Stadion Footrace and the winner of that event and the first ever Olympic winner was
Koroibos .Athletics or rather some of the aspects of athletics were present at the Panhellenic
Games that were held in Greece and from there the ideas and the main concepts of the Athletics
spread to Italy around the year 200 BC.
It was created alongside religious events and celebrations for the Greek Gods where men (no
women were allowed) could show off their athletic abilities. From there it spread to the Romans
who continued the games until the Christian Emperor Theodosius 1(the first) banned them in
394A.D. because of their ties to pagan beliefs. Around 1,700 years later, these ancient Olympic
games were no longer allowed in the region. The religious elements of the festivals clashed with
the beliefs of the Christian emperor of the time.
Although the sport was still practiced to some extent, it would take nearly another 1,500
years until track and field would make a huge comeback in the late 1800s. After the period of
Classical Antiquity (in which the sport was largely Greco-Roman influenced) new track and
field events began developing in parts of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages. The stone put and
weight throw competitions popular among Celtic societies in Ireland and Scotland were
precursors to the modern shot put and hammer throw events. One of the last track and field
events to develop was the pole vault, which stemmed from competitions such as the Fierljeppen
contests in the Northern European Lowlands in the 18th century.
While track and field has a long and storied history, it did not gain great popularity and take
off until the 1860s. In 1866, England held its first championships for men amateurs. No financial
compensation was provided to the winners, setting precedent for the modern-day Olympics and
basis for the sport. Track and field began to modernize around the time of the first modern day
Olympic Games in 1896. Modern day track and field events take place around a 400m track and
the remaining field events are usually occurring at the same time inside the track. Track and field
as we know it today began developing in the 19th century when first competitions in track and
field took places. In that time, those track and field competitions primary were organized by
educational institutions, sport clubs and some military organizations. The events organized by
these institutions were actually the one that included the hurdle races.
During those period, first national athletics associations have been established and shortly
after that First national competitions took place. Among the first associations who organized
such competitions was Amateur Athletic Association of England who in 1880 organized the
annual AAA Championship. Even before England, the New York Athletic Club from the United
States organized the first USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship back in 1876.
 During the next couple of decades, the development of the track and field, or rather, the
athletics in general, put the Athletics on the path of becoming the most important aspect of the
Olympic Games for every game in the future. In 1912, the second milestone in the development
of the Athletics occurred when the International Amateur Athletic Federation of IAAF was
founded and as such it became the international governing body for track and field. The officials
of the IAAF of that time emphasized the importance of the amateurism for the athletics and it
became of the basic principle on which IAAF will continue to operate.
Up until the early 1920’s, track and field were only a male sport. Women became part of
the athletics only after women’s sport movement organized Women’s World Games back in
1921. However, women for the first time participated in track and field competitions at the
Olympic Games back in 1928 Summer Olympic Games. After athletics gained more media
coverage and since it became appealing for big companies the amateur statues of the athletes
were dropped in favor of the professionalism. Officially, in 1982, International Amateur Athletic
Federation abandoned the notion of amateurism and it became the organization of professional
athletes. Following that, the next year in which the first IAAF World Championship in Athletics
was held and from that moment, the popularity of athletics and athletes continued to grow and
today they are among the most respected athletes in any sport. By 2008, the number of Olympic
track and field events had grown from these original 12 to a total of 47 events. This evolution
occurred due to at least two factors.
First, many events were added over time, such as relays, javelin and cross-country.
Combined events, such as the decathlon (10 total events) and pentathlon (5 total events) were
also included. Some events were discontinued, but more were added than removed during this
period. Several mind-blowing performances, particularly by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, put track and
field squarely back in the public spotlight leading to a bright upward trajectory for track and
field.

TYPES OF ATHLETICS
There are two (2) types of athletics:
1. Track
2. Field
Track
Events include:
a. Sprints (60m, 100m, 200m, 400m)
b. Middle Distance (800m, 1500m, 3000m)
c. Long Distance (5000m, 10000m)
d. Hurdles (60m, 100m, 110m, 400m, Steeplechase)
e. Relays (4*100m, 4*400)
f. Cycling
 g. Swimming

Rules of Various Track Events

100 metres:
1. Runners must remain in their assigned lane for the entire race. If a runner crosses into
another runner's lane and is caught, officials will disqualify him from the race.
2. Runners may not obstruct other runners' paths with any parts of their bodies.
3. Although the International Association of Athletics Federations proposed instant
disqualifications for false starts in 2008, as of 2009 runners are still allowed a warning
"false start." Upon the second false start, a runner is disqualified.
4. Runners wear special shoes with short spikes that must not exceed 9mm (.35 inches).
200 metres:
1. Testing positive for a substance banned by the IAAF will result in a disqualification from
the race. Any achievement by the athlete during that race will be nullified.
2. If the runner false starts once in an Olympic 200-meter race, a race official will present
him with a red card and he will be disqualified from the race, according to the IAAF.
3. A runner cannot run inside the inner-most lane of the track and must refrain from
stepping on the inner-most line of the track that separates the track from the infield.
Swimming:
1. In swimming, there are no "false start" warnings. Any swimmer who dives into the pool
before the starting signal is automatically disqualified. 
2. The swimmer must stay in the same lane for the entire duration and all turns must be made
using physical contact off of the wall and swimmers cannot touch or push-off the bottom
of the pool.
3. At least some part of the swimmer's body must touch the wall at each turn and the end of
the race. The swimmer's head has to break the surface of the water at most 15 meters into
the race.

Field
Events include:
1. Jumps (Long, Triple, High Jumps and Pole Vault)
2. Throws (Shot put, Discus Throw, Hammer Throw, Javelin Throw)
3. Combined (Pentathlon, Heptathlon, Decathlon)

Rules of Various Track Events

Long Jump:
 1.  Each athlete is entitled to 3 jumps the best of which is recorded as the jump. No
jumps are included in the three jumps.
2. If an athlete places any part of the take off foot over the edge of the take off area
closest to the pit, it is deemed a No jump.
3. In the event of an athlete stopping short of the back edge of the take off area, then
the athlete is entitled to repeat the run up without penalty.
4. The sand in the landing pit and the take off area must be levelled after each jump.

Triple Jump:

1. You have a foul if: a. You fail to initiate the attempt within one minute b. The
takeoff foot extends beyond the foul line, or you run beyond the foul line extended
to the sides
2. The athlete must execute a hop (take off and land on the same foot), step and
jump. If either foot touches the ground out of this order, it is a fault.
3. No marks shall be placed on the runway but a competitor may place marks
alongside the runway.
4. To be legal, the jump must end in the pit.
5. When jumping, the athlete must land on the same foot used to take-off (Hop).

High Jumps:

1. Take-off must be made with one foot only.

2. Dislodging of the bar or breaking the plane near the edge of the bar before clearing will
not be counted as successful jump.
3. Take-off must be made with one foot only.
4. Dislodging of the bar or breaking the plane near the edge of the bar before clearing will
not be counted as successful jump.

Pole Vault:

1. Each competitor has three tries to clear the height; if cleared, the jumper advances to the
next height and will again, have three more attempts.
2. If a competitor fails to clear all three attempts, they are out and their highest height is
recorded; if a competitor fails to clear any bar throughout the entire competition, they
will receive a ?NH? which stands for ?no height?.
3. Competitors also have the option of passing a height. For instance, if a vaulter misses
their first jump, they have the option of passing on to the next height, but with only two
attempts instead of three. Correspondingly, if a vaulter misses two jumps in a row, they
can also pass to the next height but with only one attempt left. Once a competitor reaches
their third miss, they are out.
Shot Put:

1. Once the athlete's name is called, they have 60 seconds to release the shot
The shot must be placed close to the neck and resting on the shoulder, while keeping it in
that position the entire time until it is released. No padding or extra equipment is
necessary.
2. The shot must be released above the height of the shoulder with one hand.
3. The athlete is permitted to touch the inside surface of the stop board; however neither the
top nor the outside of the circle or stop board can be touched or passed.
4. The competitor must exit the circle from the back

Discus Throw:

1. During the course of throw, the athletes are prohibited from touching the top of the rim.
However, they can touch the inner part of the rim.
2. An athlete cannot touch the ground beyond the circle.
3. If the athlete leaves the circle before the landing of the disc on the ground, then it will be
considered as a foul throw
4.  If the discus lands on or outside of the sector lines the throw is determined to be foul.
5. The competitor must exit the circle from the back

Javelin Throw:

1. Holding the javelin must be done at the grip part and should always be maintained above
the shoulder level.
2. For valid throw, the javelin must lie before the specified zone and its tip should hit the
ground.
3. Holding the javelin must be done at the grip part and should always be maintained above
the shoulder level. For valid throw, the javelin must lie before the specified zone and its
tip should hit the ground.

Hammer Throw:

1. Before the starting of preliminary swinging, an athlete is allowed to put the head of
hammer either inside or outside the circle.
2. It is not a foul if before the starting of preliminary swing, the thrower puts his hammer on
ground but if after preliminary swing, the head of the hammer touches ground or the
hammer is dropped by the athlete, then it will be counted as a foul.
3. While being in the air, if the hammer breaks then it will not be counted as foul, provided
the athlete has played under correct rules and regulations.