ATHLETICS (SPORT)

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve

competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most
common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road
running, cross country running, and race walking. The simplicity of
the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment,
makes athletics one of the most commonly competed sports in the
world.

Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games

from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the
member clubs of the International Association of Athletics
Federations. The athletics meeting forms the backbone of the
modern Summer Olympics, and other leading international
meetings include the IAAF World Championships and World Indoor
Championships, and athletes with a physical disability compete at
the Summer Paralympics and the IPC Athletics World
Championships.

Etymology

The word athletics is derived from the Greek word "athlos" (ἄθλος),
meaning "contest" or "task." Initially, the term was used to describe
athletic contests in general – i.e. sporting competition based
primarily on human physical feats. In the 19th century in Europe,
the term athletics acquired a more narrow definition and came to
describe sports involving competitive running, walking, jumping
and throwing. This definition continues to be the most prominent
one in the United Kingdom and most of the areas of the former
British Empire. Furthermore, foreign words in many Germanic and
Romance languages which are related to the term athletics also
have a similar meaning.

In contrast to this, in much of North America athletics is

synonymous with athletic sports in general, maintaining a more
historic usage of the term. The word "athletics" is rarely used to
refer to the sport of athletics in this region.
History
Antiquity and Middle Ages
Athletic contests in running, walking, jumping, and throwing are
among the oldest of all sports and their roots are prehistoric.[1]
Athletics events were depicted in the Ancient Egyptian tombs in
Saqqara, with illustrations of running at the Heb Sed festival and
high jumping appearing in tombs from as early as of 2250 BC.[2]
The Tailteann Games were an ancient Celtic festival in Ireland,
founded around 1800 BC, and the thirty-day meeting included
running and stone-throwing among its sporting events.[3] The
original and only event at the first Olympics in 776 BC was a
stadium-length running event known as the stadion. This later
expanded to include throwing and jumping events within the
ancient pentathlon. Athletics competitions also took place at other
Panhellenic Games, which were founded later around 500 BC.[4]

The Cotswold Olimpick Games, a sports festival which emerged in

17th century England, also featured athletics in the form of
sledgehammer throwing contests.[5] Annually, from 1796 to 1798,
L'Olympiade de la République was held in revolutionary France,
and is an early forerunner to the modern summer Olympic Games.
The premier event of this competition was a running event, but
various ancient Greek disciplines were also on display. The 1796
Olympiade marks the introduction of the metric system into sport.[6]
Modern era
The Royal Military College, Sandhurst has claimed to be the first to
adopt this in 1812 and 1825, but without any supporting evidence.
The earliest recorded meeting was organised at Shrewsbury,
Shropshire in 1840 by the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. There
are details of the meeting in a series of letters written 60 years later
by C.T. Robinson, who was a pupil there from 1838 to 1841. The
Royal Military Academy at Woolwich held an organised competition
in 1849, but the first regular series of meetings was held by Exeter
College, Oxford from 1850.[7]
The first modern-style indoor athletics meetings were recorded
shortly after in the 1860s, including a meet at Ashburnham Hall in
London which featured four running events and a triple jump
competition.[8][9]

The Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) was established in England

in 1880 as the first national body for the sport of athletics and
began holding its own annual athletics competition – the AAA
Championships. The United States also began holding an annual
national competition – the USA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships – first held in 1876 by the New York Athletic
Club.[10] Athletics became codified and standardised via the English
AAA and other general sports organisations in the late 19th
century, such as the Amateur Athletic Union (founded in the US in
1888) and the Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques
(founded in France in 1889).
An athletics competition was included in the first modern Olympic
Games in 1896 and it has been as one of the foremost competitions
at the quadrennial multi-sport event ever since. Originally for men
only, the 1928 Olympics saw the introduction of women's events in
the athletics programme. Athletics is part of the Paralympic Games
since the inaugural Games in 1960. Athletics has a very high profile
during major championships, especially the Olympics, but
otherwise is less popular.

An international governing body, the International Amateur

Athletics Federation (IAAF), was founded in 1912; it adopted its
current name, the International Association of Athletics
Federations, in 2001. The IAAF established separate outdoor World
Championships in 1983. In modern times, athletes can receive
money for racing, putting an end to the so-called "amateurism" that
existed before.
The Comité International Sports des Sourds had been formed by
1922, to govern international deaf sports, including athletics.

The first organized international competitions for athletes with a

physical disability (not deaf) began in 1952, when the first
international Stoke Mandeville Games were organized for World War
II veterans.[11][12] This only included athletes in a wheelchair. The
first Paralympic Games were held in 1960. Competitions would over
time be expanded to include mainly athletes with amputations,
cerebral palsy and visual impairment, in addition to wheelchair
events.

Sports

The International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport's

governing body, defines athletics in five disciplines: track and field,
road running, race walking, cross country running, and mountain
running.[13] All forms of athletics are individual sports with the
exception of relay races. However, athletes' performances are often
tallied together by country at international championships, and in
the case of cross country the finishing times of the top athletes from
each team or country are combined to declare a team victor.

Track and field

A typical track and field stadium with an oval running track and a
grassy inner field

Track and field competitions emerged in the late 19th century and
were typically contested between athletes who were representing
rival educational institutions, military organisations and sports
clubs.[14] Participating athletes may compete in one or more events,
according to their specialities. Men and women compete separately.
Track and field comes in both indoor and outdoor formats, with
most indoor competitions occurring in winter, while outdoor events
are mostly held in summer. The sport is defined by the venue in
which the competitions are held – the track and field stadium.

A variety of running events are held on the track which fall into
three broad distance categories: sprints, middle-distance, and long-
distance track events. Relay races feature teams comprising four
runners each, who must pass a baton to their team-mate after a
specified distance with the aim of being the first team to finish.
Hurdling events and the steeplechase are a variation upon the flat
running theme in that athletes must clear obstacles on the track
during the race. The field events come in two types – jumping and
throwing competitions. In throwing events, athletes are measured
by how far they hurl an implement, with the common events being
the shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw. There are four
common jumping events: the long jump and triple jump are
contests measuring the horizontal distance an athlete can jump,
while the high jump and pole vault are decided on the height
achieved. Combined events, which include the decathlon (typically
competed by men) and heptathlon (typically competed by women),
are competitions where athletes compete in a number of different
track and field events, with each performance going toward a final
points tally.
The most prestigious track and field contests occur within athletics
championships and athletics programmes at multi-sport events.
The Olympic athletics competition and World Championships in
Athletics, and the Paralympic athletics competition and IPC World
Championships in Athletics, are the highest and most prestigious
levels of competition in track and field. Track and field events have
become the most prominent part of major athletics championships
and many famous athletes within the sport of athletics come from
this discipline. Discrete track and field competitions are found at
national championships-level and also at annual, invitational track
and field meetings. Meetings range from elite competitions – such
as those in the IAAF Diamond League series – to basic all-comers
track meets and inter-sports club meetings, which form the
grassroots of track and field.

Official world championship track and field events

Track Field Combined e
Spri Middl Long- Hurdles Rela Jum Thro vents
nts e- dista ys ps ws
dista nce
nce
60 m 800 m 5000 60 m 4×10 Long Shot Pentathlon
100 1500 m hurdles 0 m jum put Heptathlon
m m 10,00 100 m relay p Discu Decathlon
200 3000 0m hurdles 4×40 Tripl s
m m 110 m 0 m e throw
400 hurdles relay jum Ham
m 400 m p mer
hurdles High throw
3000 m jum Javeli
steeplec p n
hase Pole throw
vault

 Note: Events in italics are competed at indoor world

championships only
Road running
Road running competitions are running events (predominantly long
distance) which are mainly conducted on courses of paved or
tarmac roads, although major events often finish on the track of a
main stadium. In addition to being a common recreational sport,
the elite level of the sport – particularly marathon races – are one of
the more popular aspects of athletics. Road racing events can be of
virtually any distance, but the most common and well known are
the marathon, half marathon, 10 km and 5 km. The marathon is
the only road running event featured at the IAAF World
Championships in Athletics and the Summer Olympics, although
there is also an annual IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
The marathon is also the only road running event featured at the
IPC Athletics World Championships and the Summer Paralympics.
The World Marathon Majors series includes the five most
prestigious marathon competitions at the elite level – the Berlin,
Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City marathons.

Runners in the popular National Marathon race in Washington,

D.C.

The sport of road running finds its roots in the activities of footmen:
male servants who ran alongside the carriages of aristocrats around
the 18th century, and who also ran errands over distances for their
masters. Foot racing competitions evolved from wagers between
aristocrats, who pitted their footman against that of another
aristocrat in order to determine a winner. The sport became
professionalised as footmen were hired specifically on their athletic
ability and began to devote their lives to training for the gambling
events. The amateur sports movement in the late 19th century
marginalised competitions based on the professional, gambling
model. The 1896 Summer Olympics saw the birth of the modern
marathon and the event led to the growth of road running
competitions through annual events such as the Boston Marathon
(first held in 1897) and the Lake Biwa Marathon and Fukuoka
Marathons, which were established in the 1940s. The 1970s
running boom in the United States made road running a common
pastime and also increased its popularity at the elite level.[15]

Ekiden contests – which originated in Japan and remain very

popular there – are a relay race variation on the marathon, being in
contrast to the typically individual sport of road running.

Cross country running

Competitors mid-race at a boys high school event in the United

States
Cross country running is the most naturalistic of the sports in
athletics as competitions take place on open-air courses over
surfaces such as grass, woodland trails, and earth. It is both an
individual and team sport, as runners are judged on an individual
basis and a points scoring method is used for teams. Competitions
are typically long distance races of 4 km (2.5 mi) or more which are
usually held in autumn and winter. Cross country's most
successful athletes often compete in long-distance track and road
events as well.

The Crick Run in England in 1838 was the first recorded instance
of an organised cross country competition. The sport gained
popularity in British, then American schools in the 19th century
and culminated in the creation of the first International Cross
Country Championships in 1903.[16] The annual IAAF World Cross
Country Championships was inaugurated in 1973 and this remains
the highest level of competition for the sport. A number of
continental cross country competitions are held, with
championships taking place in Asia, Europe, North America and
South America. The sport has retained its status at the scholastic
level, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States. At the
professional level, the foremost competitions come under the
banner of the IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings.
While cross country competitions are no longer held at the
Olympics, having featured in the athletics programme from 1912–
1924, it has been present as one of the events within the modern
pentathlon competition since the 1912 Summer Olympics. One
variation on traditional cross country is mountain running, which
incorporates significant uphill and/or downhill sections as an
additional challenge to the course. Fell running and Orienteering
are other competitive sports similar to cross country, although they
feature an element of navigation which is absent from the set
courses of cross country.

Racewalking
A track-side judge monitoring technique at the 1912 Summer
Olympics.
Racewalking is a form of competitive walking which is usually
contested on courses on open-air roads, although running tracks
are also occasionally used. Racewalking is the only sport in
athletics in which judges monitor athletes on their technique.
Racewalkers must always have a foot in contact with the ground
and their advancing leg must be straightened, not bent at the knee
– failure to follow these rules results in disqualification from the
race.

Racewalking finds its roots in the sport of pedestrianism which

emerged in the late 18th century in England. Spectators would
gamble on the outcome of the walking competitions. The sport took
on an endurance aspect and competitions were held over long
distances or walkers would have to achieve a certain distance
within a specified time frame, such as Centurion contests of
walking 100 miles (160 km) within 24 hours.[17] During this period,
racewalking was frequently held on athletics tracks for ease of
measurement, and the 1908 Summer Olympics in London saw the
introduction of the 3500-metre and 10-mile walks. Racewalking was
briefly dropped from the Olympic programme in 1928, but the
men's 50 kilometres race walk has been held at every Olympic
Games but one since 1932. The men's 20 kilometres race walk was
added to the Olympic athletics schedule in 1956 and the women's
event was first held in 1992. The most common events in modern
competition are over 10 km, 20 km and 50 km on roads, although
women's 3 km and men's 5 km are held on indoor tracks.

The highest level racewalking competitions occur at the IAAF World

Championships in Athletics and at the Summer Olympics, although
the sport also has its own separate major competition – the IAAF
World Race Walking Cup – which has been held since 1961. The
IAAF World Race Walking Challenge forms the primary seasonal
competition – athletes earn points for their performances at ten
selected racewalking competitions and the highest scoring walkers
are entered into that year's IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final.

Athletes with a disability

Competitor in a wheelchair race at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.

Athletes with a physical disability have competed at separate

international events since 1952. It is governed by IPC Athletics, and
is one of the sports at the Summer Paralympic Games since
1960.[11][12]
Competiors at elite level competitions, are classified by disability, to
arrange athletes with a similar disability in the same event. A
classified T12 athlete for example, is a track athlete with a visual
impairment.

 F = Field athletes
 T = Track athletes

 11–13 – Visual impairment. Compete with a sighted guide.

 20 – Intellectual disability
 31–38 – Cerebral palsy
 41–46 – Amputation, and others (including athletes with
dwarfism)
 51–58 – Wheelchair

In wheelchair racing athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs.

Most major marathons have wheelchair divisions and the elite
racers consistently beat the runners on foot.

Occasionally, athletes with a disability excel to compete with able

bodied athletes. Legally blind Marla Runyan ran in the 2000 and
2004 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 1500 metres at the
1999 Pan American Games. Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee, has
achieved the "A" qualifying standard, making him eligible for the
2012 Olympics. At the 2011 World Championships Pistorius
successfully made it to the 400 metres semi-final round and won a
silver medal as part of South Africa's 4x400 metres relay team. In
Masters athletics it is far more common to make an accommodation
for athletes with a disability. Blind Ivy Granstrom set numerous
Masters world records while being guided around the track.

Venues
Professional athletics almost exclusively takes place in one of three
types of venue: stadiums, set courses on grass or woodland, and
road-based courses. Such venues ensure that events take place in a
relatively standardised manner, as well as improving the safety of
athletes and enjoyment for spectators. At a more basic level, many
forms of athletics demand very little in terms of venue
requirements; almost any open space or area of field can provide a
suitable venue for basic running, jumping and throwing
competitions.

Track and field stadia

A typical layout of an outdoor track and field stadium

A standard outdoor track is in the shape of a stadium, 400 metres
in length, and has at least eight lanes 1.22 m in width. Older track
facilities may have nonstandard track lengths, such as 440 yards
(402.3 m) (common in the United States). Historically, tracks were
covered by a dirt running surface. Modern All-weather running
tracks are covered by a synthetic weather-resistant running
surface, which typically consists of rubber (either black SBR or
colored EPDM granules), bound by polyurethane or latex resins.
Older tracks may be cinder-covered.

A standard indoor track is designed similarly to an outdoor track,

but is only 200 metres in length and has between four and eight
lanes, each with width between 0.90 m and 1.10 m.[18] Often, the
bends of an indoor track will be banked to compensate for the small
turning radius. However, because of space limitations, indoor
tracks may have other nonstandard lengths, such as 160-yard
(146.3 m) indoor track at Madison Square Garden used for the
Millrose Games. Because of space limitations, meetings held at
indoor facilities do not hold many of athletics events typically
contested outdoors.
Cross country courses

A cross country race taking place at a snowy park in the United

States.

There is no standardised form of cross country course and each

venue is significantly defined by the environment it contains – some
may be relatively flat and featureless, while others may be more
challenging with natural obstacles, tight turns, and undulating
ground. While a small number of purpose-built courses exist, the
vast majority of cross country running courses are created by
cordoning a specific area within any open natural land, typically a
park, woodland or greenspace near a settlement.[19]

At the elite and professional level, courses must be looped and each
lap must be between 1750 m and 2000 m in length. Severe
obstacles such as deep ditches, high barriers and thick
undergrowth not normally present; the course should be able to be
completed whilst remaining on foot throughout. In order to
maintain the sport's distinction from road running, the usage of
unnatural or macadamised surfaces is generally kept to a minimum
or avoided entirely.[19]
Due to the fact that the majority of races take place on areas of
grass, soil, mud or earth, weather conditions can significantly affect
the difficulty of cross country courses, as snow and rain reduces
traction and can create areas of standing water.

Road courses

A typical road running course on the inner-city roads of Toronto

The surface of road races is highly important and the IAAF dictate
that the courses must be along man-made roads, bicycle paths or
footpaths. Courses set along major roads of cities are typical of road
running events, and traffic is usually cordoned off from the area
during the competition. While soft ground, such as grass, is
generally avoided, races may start and finish on soft ground or
within a track and field stadium. Road racing courses come in two
primary types: looped and point-to-point. Courses may be
measured and designed to cover a standardised distance, such as
10 km (6.2 mi), or they may simply follow a set route between two
landmarks.[20]

Road running courses over 5 km usually offer drinks or

refreshment stations for runners at designated points alongside the
course and medical professionals are present at the courses of
major races due to the health risks involved with long-distance
running.[20]
Elite road walks are conducted on closed loop courses (usually
loops of 2,000 or 2,500 meters). Refreshment stations are also
present over long distance walking competitions, with drinks being
available on every lap for races longer than 10 km.[21]

Organizations
Since its foundation in 1912, the international governing body for
athletics has been the International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF). It was initially known as the International
Amateur Athletics Federation but changed later its name to reflect
that the sport had moved away from amateurism towards
professionalism in the late 1970s. The IAAF has 213 member
nations and territories, which are divided into six continental areas
(or area associations).[22] The six association areas are for Asia,
Africa, Europe, Oceania, North America and South America. The
sports within athletics do not have their own independent governing
bodies at either international or continental level and, instead, all
fall under the athletics authorities.[23]

Map of the six continental federations of the IAAF

 AAA – Asian Athletics Association

 CAA – Confederation of African Athletics

 CONSUDATLE – South American Athletics Confederation

 NACACAA – North America, Central America and

Caribbean Athletic Association
  EAA – European Athletics Association

 OAA – Oceania Athletics Association

National level athletics organisations are responsible for the

regulation of the sport within their respective countries and most
major competitions have some form of permit or approval from their
national body.

Competitions
Athletics competitions can be broadly divided into three types:
international championships, national championships, and annual
meetings and races. Athletics at international championships, or
Games, represent the pinnacle of competition within the sport, and
they are contested between athletes representing their country or
region. The organisation of these competitions is usually overseen
by either a world, continental, or regional athletics governing body.
Athletes gain entry into these competitions by earning selection
from their national athletics governing body, which is generally
done by assessing athletes via their past achievements or
performances at a national selection event. National championships
are annual competitions endorsed by a national governing body
which serve the purpose of deciding the country's best athlete in
each event. Annual one-day meetings and races form the most basic
level of competition and are the most common format of athletics
contests. These events are often invitational and are organised by
sports organisations, sports promoters, or other institutions.

Competitions typically feature only one of the sports within

athletics. However, major outdoor international athletics
championships and athletics competitions held as part of multi-
sport events usually feature a combination of track and field, road
running and racewalking events
International championships
Olympic Games

The athletics competition underway at the main stadium of the

2008 Summer Olympics

The modern Summer Olympics was the first event at which a global
athletics competition took place. All the four major sports within
athletics have featured in the Olympic athletics programme since its
inception in 1896, although cross country has since been dropped.
The Olympic competition is the most prestigious athletics contest
and, in addition to this, many athletics events are also among the
most prominent competitions at the Summer Olympics as a whole.
A total of 47 athletics events are held at the Olympics, 24 for men
and 23 for women. The events within the men's and women's
programmes are either identical or have a similar equivalent, with
the sole exception being that men contest the 50 km race walk.

Paralympic Games
The Summer Paralympics include athletes with a physical
disability. Track and field, and road events have featured in the
Paralympic athletics programme since its inception in 1960. The
Paralympic competition is the most prestigious athletics contest
where athletes with a physical disability compete.
Athletics at the Paralympic Games also include wheelchair racing
where athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs. Athletes with a
visual impairment compete with a sighted guide. At the 2012
Summer Paralympics in London, for the first time at an
international athletics event, the guides will receive medals,[24] such
as the pilots in cycling, and the guides at the Paralympic Winter
Games have done for a while.

World Championships
The IAAF World Championships in Athletics is the primary global
athletics championships held by IAAF. The biennial competition
was first held in 1983 and now features an event programme which
is identical to the Olympics. Thus, road running, racewalking and
track and field are the sports which feature at the competition.
Cross country running has its own discrete global championships –
the IAAF World Cross Country Championships – which has been
held annually since 1973. The IAAF World Indoor Championships
in Athletics is a biennial athletics championships which features
solely indoor track and field events. The foremost separate road
running event is the annual IAAF World Half Marathon
Championships (formerly World Road Running Championships).
While not having official world championship status, the biennial
IAAF World Race Walking Cup fulfils a similar role for the sport of
racewalking. Outdoor track and field is the only sport in athletics
that does not have a its own distinct global championship which is
separate from other types of athletics, although the IAAF
Continental Cup (a quadrennial competition between continental
teams) is composed entirely of outdoor track and field events.

Other world championships include the IAAF World Junior and

World Youth Championships in Athletics, which are for athletes
under-19 and under-17, respectively. World Masters Athletics
conducts the World Masters Athletics Championships for athletes in
5 year age divisions over the age of 35. The now defunct IAAF World
Road Relay Championships served as the global event for ekiden
marathon relay races.

Elite athletes with a physical disability compete at the IPC Athletics

World Championships.

Commonwealth Games
Athletics is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth
Games competition. It has been a Commonwealth Games sport
since the inaugural edition of the event's precursor, the 1930
British Empire Games. It is a core sport and must be included in
the sporting programme of each edition of the Games.

[edit] Universiade

Main article: Athletics at the Universiade

Athletics is one of the sports at the biennial summer Universiade

competition. It has been one of the event's competed sports since
the inaugural edition.
Culture and media

Ancient Greek pottery showing the javelin and the discus throw

Athletics, and its athletes in particular, has been artistically

depicted since ancient times – one of the surviving instances
include runners and high jumpers in the motifs of Ancient Egyptian
tombs dating from 2250 BC. Athletics was much respected in
Ancient Greece and the events within the ancient pentathlon
provided inspiration for large statues such as the Discobolus and
Discophoros, and for motifs on countless vase and pottery works.
Aristotle discussed the significance of the pentathlon in his treatise
Rhetoric and reflected on the athlete aesthetic of the period: "a body
capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily
strength...This is why the athletes in the pentathlon are most
beautiful".[25]

Films about athletics are overwhelmingly focused on running

events: the 1962 film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
(based on the book of the same name) explores cross country
running as a means of escape. Chariots of Fire, perhaps one of the
most well-known athletics films, is a fictionalised account of Eric
Liddell and Harold Abrahams's chase for sprint gold medals at the
1924 Olympics. Track and field has been the subject of American
films such as Personal Best (1981) and Across the Tracks (1991).
Biopics are found within the genre, including Prefontaine (regarding
Steve Prefontaine) and Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951) featuring
Burt Lancaster as Thorpe. Documentaries are also common with
examples such as 2007 film Spirit of the Marathon, which follows
runners' preparations for the 2005 Chicago Marathon.

Running commemorative coin

Books on the subject are predominantly non-fiction, and tend

towards the forms of training manuals and historical accounts of
athletics. The story of the four-minute mile has been a particularly
popular subject, spawning books such as The Perfect Mile and
3:59.4: The Quest to Break the Four Minute Mile.

Athletics journalism has spawned a number of dedicated

periodicals including Athletics Weekly and Race Walking Record,
both of which were first published in England in the early 1940s,
and Track & Field News which was first published in the United
States in 1948. Runner's World has been in print since 1966 and
the Track & Field Magazine of Japan (Rikujyo Kyogi Magazine) is
another long-running publication.

Athletics events have been selected as a main motif in numerous

collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek
Running commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the
2004 Summer Olympics. In the obverse of the coin, a modern
athlete figure appears in the foreground, shown in the starting
position, while in the background two ancient runners are carved in
a manner that gives the appearance of a coin that is "worn" by time.
This scene originally appeared on a black-figure vase of the 6th
century BC.
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Etymology
 History
o 1 Antiquity and Middle Ages
o 2 Modern era
 Sports
o 1 Track and field
o 2 Road running
o 3 Cross country running
o 4 Racewalking
 Athletes with a disability
 Venues
o 1 Track and field stadia
o 2 Cross country courses
o 3 Road courses
 Organizations
 Competitions
o 1 International championships
 1 Olympic Games
 2 Paralympic Games
 3 World Championships
 4 Commonwealth Games
 5 Universiade
 Culture and media.