Athletics
Athletics is a sport that brings together many disciplines. The term athletics derives from the Greek word "athlon" which means competition or combat. In this set of sports practices, the aim is to overcome opponents in speed or resistance, either in distance or in greater height.
This sport is considered the oldest organized sport in the world. The first historical reference to athletics dates back to the year 776 B.C. C. in Greece, with a list of the winning athletes of a competition.
Within athletics there are various types of tests. This is something very complex since many sports arose due to athletics, for example: foot races (speed, medium distance, distance, hurdle races, cross country, relay...), jumps (long, high, triple jump, pole vault), throws (weight, javelin, hammer...), athletic march, and combined events. The latter are also known as the decathlon and, as its name suggests, it consists of ten tests: three throwing, three jumping and four running.
The discipline developed over the centuries, from the first tests to its regulation. The Olympic Games are the most prestigious international event seen by the entire planet. The Olympic Games have been held every four years since 1896 and athletics is the most important discipline in them. Since 1982, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which is the body responsible for regulating the discipline, has made its rules more flexible, ending the amateur period of the discipline. The first World Championships in Athletics were organized in 1983 and have taken place every two years since 1990.
Most athletics competitions are held inside a stadium and are divided into field and track. Track competitions (running and hurdling) take place on a 400-meter track, while field competitions take place in the space located inside the track.
Rise of athletics
Antiquity
Running, walking, throwing and jumping are natural movements in man and, in fact, the concept of athletic competitions dates back to very distant times, as some of the cave paintings from the Lower Paleolithic (6000 BC to 6000 BC) seem to show. 5500 BC) to the Neolithic showing an alleged rivalry between various runners, jumpers, and throwers. The most accurate sources were found in Egypt in the 17th century XV before our era, with the oldest written reference, referring to the foot race, found in the tomb of Amenhotep II (1438-1412 BC). At the same time, the Minoan civilization (Crete), also practiced racing, as well as javelin and discus throwing.
The first meetings in Greece took place in the 8th century BC. C. In them, the test called stadion stood out, which was a foot race of 197.27 meters, equivalent to 200 times the foot of Heracles. This is the oldest test on record, although it is assumed that it was practiced earlier. A short time later, more tests appeared, such as the double stadion or dualico, the middle-distance race or equipment and the long-distance race or dolic. All these tests are multiples of the distance of the stadion, which always begins with sprints, then middle-distance and long-distance races.
Combining running, jumping, throwing and wrestling, the pentathlon is another track and field discipline introduced to the Olympic program before the turn of the century VIII a. c.
Apart from the Olympic Games, there were other sporting events in different Greek polis, which were eclipsed by the former. No less than 38 Greek cities held their own Olympic Games (called isolympics to differentiate them from those held at Olympia) and 33 held Pythian Games.
The Roman civilization practiced athletics in two different versions from the year 186 B.C. The first is Etruscan-inspired (cursors), while the second is an adaptation of Greek disciplines (athletae). The Stadium of Domitian was built in the year 86 and dedicated himself to athletics in its Greek variant.
Ireland organized between the years 632 and 1169 games that included events unknown to the Greeks, such as pole vaulting, hammer throwing and a form of cross-country. These disciplines were introduced to Scotland in the IV century and modified to become the Highland Games.
Classical Period (Middle Ages to 19th century)
There are sources that tell us that races were already being held in England as far back as the XI century.The enthusiasm was such that local authorities reserved a space dedicated only to these contests in 1154 at Lord. In the histories of Havelock the Dane in 1275 there is a description of a stone thrower. On the other hand, according to historians, King Henry II of England had sports fields built in the vicinity of London for the practice of throwing the hammer, the bar and the pike and also for ball games. At the same time, the youth of London challenged each other in long races across the city.
In 1365, King Edward III enacted the first of a series of laws to ban virtually all sporting activities except archery which could continue to be practiced for military reasons. Running and jumping were on the list of the prohibited sports. However, the competitions continued, as evidenced by the renewal of the prohibitions, so that Henry VIII finally allowed foot races in London in 1510.
Henry VIII encouraged daily exercise, while theorists of the time, such as Thomas Elyot, placed great importance on sports in the curriculum. In the 16th century, athletic meetings are first described at the Cotswold Games, a kind of « "sports rally" organized in Gloucestershire and directly inspired by the heroes of ancient Greece.
Athletic competition was highly developed in the UK in the 17th century. The most popular sports then were the hammer throw, the high jump, the long jump and the foot race. With the rise of Puritanism, the Anglican Church wanted to abolish the sport, claiming that athletics competitions held throughout England often ended in fights and drunkenness. In reaction to Puritanism, King James I encouraged his subjects to take up sports after Sunday afternoon services.He also promoted sport by publishing the Book of Sports.
The first professional runners appeared in England at the end of the 17th century. These runners were itinerant and faced local champions in paid contests.
In Spain, the korrikolaris has been practiced since the Middle Ages.[citation needed] It is a long-distance foot race, carried out between two runners.
In the rest of the world, one of the oldest medieval races outside the British Isles was held in Rome in the mid-century XV. The program reproduced that of the Greek athletes and the athletes competed in the Greek style, that is, naked. The Olympiad of the Republic was a sports competition held in 1796, 1797 and 1798 in Paris. The queen test of this attempt to rehabilitate the Olympic Games was a foot race. This event marked the transition between the sport of the Old Regime and modern sport, as evidenced by the use of the metric system in sport for the first time. Furthermore, also for the first time in the sport, the races were timed using two marine war watches.
19th century
The first modern athletics meeting in England was held in 1825 on Newmarket Road, near London. Numerous events were still missing, but influenced by Lord's Cricket Ground events held since 1826 and by Tara in Ireland (1829), the program expanded. The first 100 yards hurdle was held at Eton College in 1837. In 1849, the British Army set up meetings for the London Armory at Woolwich. In 1850 a silver bugle was offered as a prize to the winner of the greatest number of tests. Captain Wilmot won the 1850 edition, and the first running track in England was created that same year. Exeter College, Oxford held its first meeting in 1850, which in 1856 would become the first Oxford University meeting. The first athletics meeting between Oxford and Cambridge was held in 1864. first version of a national athletics federation. All professional athletes and also workers and artisans were automatically excluded from it so that only gentlemen could belong to it. Professional careers were carried out outside these rigid tests and, however, they brought together a large audience. To open athletics to the less favored social classes, the Amateur Athletic Association was created in 1886.
In France, foot races had prizes in kind from 1853. In the mid-1880s, and in keeping with the social vision of the sport in England, George St. Clair and Ernest Demay launched a campaign of "purification » of French athletics and achieved a ban on these professional races. In response, the Union of Professional Athletics Societies was created in Paris. in his will to fight against the professionalization of sport. The USFSA, which is responsible for the renewal of the Olympic Games, imposed this vision as a competition model for a long time. In 1888 he organized the first French athletics championship with four events on the programme: 100m, 400m, 1500m and 120m hurdles. René Cavally won two titles in 1888 over 100 and 400 m.
In the rest of the world, the United States was a major center of athletic development. The Olympic Club in San Francisco was founded in 1860, and the New York Athletic Club was founded in 1868. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association was founded in 1876, and organized the first competition on American soil. Germany was influenced in 1874 by a group of English students from the University of Dresden who imported the English tests.
Germany organized its first national championship in 1891. The Australian championship was held in 1893, after having organized an Inter Colonial Meet in Sydney on 31 May 1890.
In Belgium, the first national championship held in 1889 was limited to two events: the 100 meters and the mile.
With the beginnings of electrical timing in 1892 in England and the renewal of the Olympic Games, athletics entered the modern era.
Modern era of athletics
From amateurism to professionalism
While amateur sport gradually became organized, many professional races were held on both sides of the Atlantic. Historic encounters that pitted the best American and British clubs of the XIX century. On the other hand, inspired by the steeplechase test, bets on races were established in certain Athletics races, played mainly on grass tracks of some racetracks. In the image of the great boxing duels, the North American promoters hired the today's top athletes to challenge other champions in paid head-to-head matches.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the architect of the creation of the modern Olympic Games whose first edition was held in 1896 in Athens, where, of course, athletics figured among the tests. He then tried, among other things, to put an end to the practice of money in sport, especially athletics, in favor of the amateur "sports spectacle." Just created in 1912, the International Athletics Federation establishes in its Constitution the principle of amateurism, in the image of the creed of the International Olympic Committee that protects the purity of amateur competition over the professional career.
American Jim Thorpe was one of the first athletes penalized for violating the amateurism rule. Shortly after winning two Olympic titles at the 1912 Games, he was banned for life and forced to return his medals for receiving compensation from a local baseball team. Another athlete found guilty of brown amateurism, Frenchman Jules Ladoumègue was also banned for life by the French Federation, which made an example of him, in response to the growing power of professional sport in France. Soccer turned professional around this same period. The reaction of the French public was unequivocal: it boycotted athletics, which then faced a serious crisis in France during the 1930s.
For more than half a century, amateurism remained the fundamental norm of competitive athletics. Many specialists did not hesitate later to abandon their disciplines to join professional teams, such as American football or baseball clubs in the United States, or rugby teams in Europe.
In 1982, the IAAF abandoned the traditional concept of amateurism, becoming aware of the time and resources necessary to train and maintain elite athletes. Starting in 1985, funds were allocated specifically for athlete training.
Today, athletes are freelance workers. Its main income comes in part from the fees received at the various meetings, based on their results. Additional income comes from sponsors and patrons, and varies depending on the popularity of the athlete. On the other hand, some athletes receive a remuneration from their club. Thus, in the United States, the Santa Monica Track Club has as a rule to reward some of its holders, such as Carl Lewis. The remuneration of an elite athlete is random and depends on the state of form and performance. Recently, veritable "joints" of careers have been created that integrate the best athletes and coaches; such as the management system of African long-distance runners or the structure of the HSI, a true multinational speed racing company from the United States.
The globalization of athletics
During the first half of the 20th century, athletics was essentially the prerogative of the United States and the nations of Western Europe such as the United Kingdom, France or the Nordic countries stood out in the resistance tests. Since 1930, African-American athletes excelled over Europeans in sprints, such as Eddie Tolan, the first black Olympic champion in the 100 m in 1932. After World War II, some athletes from European colonies came to prominence in their new adopted country, while some southern hemisphere nations emerged globally, such as New Zealand. In 1950, communist countries invest in Olympic sports to reaffirm their existence and demonstrate their power. The world of sport is then bipolar and there are two rival blocks: the Western countries and the Eastern Bloc countries. The 1960s and 1970s are characterized by the rise of Caribbean nations, such as the Jamaican sprinters, but above all by the arrival of runners from Black Africa and North Africa in the medium and long distance. The Ethiopian Abebe Bikila is the pioneer, becoming the first African to win the Olympic marathon (in 1960), while France has already fielded long-distance runners from the Maghreb countries since the 1920s. Alain Mimoun won the marathon four years before Bikila.
Since the 1980s, athletics has become more and more universal and follows the global geopolitical evolution. The number of national federations and the number of licenses are increasing significantly in developing countries. On the contrary, the practice of sports competition stagnates in developed countries, partly due to its level of demand in terms of training, and also due to the growing diversity of the sports and leisure offer. Today, the Track and field is the most universal competitive sport. Recently, athletes from nations with small populations have risen to the top of the sport. During the 2003 World Championships, Kim Collins, a sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis, won the 100 m event. In more general terms, the success of most athletes from the Caribbean area is due to the fact that they study at universities in the United States that offer better training conditions than their countries of origin.
Since the mid-1990s, some athletes, mostly Africans, have opted for expatriation and change of nationality. Thus, in 1995, the 800 m runner Wilson Kipketer can be considered as a forerunner, by choosing Danish nationality. The IOC banned him from competing in the 1996 Olympics, but the former Kenyan was later imitated by several of his compatriots. In 2003, Stephen Cherono became a naturalized Qatari and is now called Saif Saaeed Shaheen. Another example, the Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat chose in 2005, to continue his career, US citizenship. This brain drain, justified by athletes due to the lack of recognition in their countries of origin, is above all a way to enter into lucrative contracts with federations or sponsors. Currently, states of the Persian Gulf, such as Qatar or Bahrain, they offer good financial conditions to their new citizens and promise young athletes to finance their education and guarantee their future.
Contests
The term athletics encompasses a variety of activities grouped into two main categories: outdoor and indoor track and field, including: running, jumping, throwing, combined events, and outside events. stadium as some track events, the marathon, cross country, road races and other foot races of steady and variable distance.
| Careers | March | Balance | Launching | Combined tests | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed races | Medium fund | Fund | Balance | Relays | ||||
| 60 m 100 m 200 m 400 m | 800 m 1500 m 3000 m | 5000 m 10 000 m Field through Half marathon Marathon | 60 m fence 100 m 110 m fence 400 m fence 3000 m | 4 x 100 m 4 x 400 m | 20 km 50 km | Length Triple jump Height Pértigue | Weight Disco Hammer Jabalina | Pentathlon Heptatlon Decatlon |
Foot racing
The race on foot is a process of terrestrial locomotive that allows the moving on foot quickly in many animal species. In humans there are general aspects of career movements although there are individual variations in technique.
As a sport it forms a set of athletic disciplines, where it is sought to determine which of the competitors runs a certain distance in the shortest time. The races are divided into three categories: speed, background and background. The speed races consist of distances up to 400m, from medium to 3000m and from background between 5000m and 42195m. In addition, running anglicism is used to refer to the sport-recreational practice of this activity of background or greater distances.
.gif)
Sprints
Sprint races in athletics consist of covering a short space of land not exceeding 400 meters in the shortest possible time.
The distances of the speed races in official championships vary depending on whether they are indoors or outdoors. Competitions of 60, 200 and 400 meters are held on the indoor track, while 100, 200 and 400 meters are held outdoors. meter dash. Competitions are also held on other distances outside of the official championships, such as the 50-meter dash, the 100-yard dash or the 300-meter dash, among others.
Athletes who perform these tests usually wear special shoes with spikes on the bottom of the sole, known as spiked shoes. The purpose of the nails is that these are nailed into the tartan increasing traction. Depending on the test that is carried out, the size and shape of the nails varies, normally the longer the distance, the shorter the nails, even if the body leans forward. These can be adjusted according to the characteristics or tastes of each athlete. At the moment of the starting shot, when the competitor pushes forward; the starter allows for greater boost and more power for essential starting in such short strokes
The 100m is the shortest race on the outdoor calendar. It is also one of the oldest as traces of this race have been found in the XV century BC. C, if we base ourselves on Homer and the Greek poets. The original distance started by the British was 110 yards (100.52 m) and then 100 yards (91.44 m) until the meter became the official standard. At the turn of the century, the journalist George Prade defined the 100 m as "the aristocracy in motion". According to him, little training is necessary to obtain good results, since speed is innate in the athlete. The current 200 m race is similar to the length of the stadium in Ancient Greece. ("Stadion" literally means the length of the stadium). The English mile derives from it and originally ran over 220 yards. Long run in a straight line, the 200 m curvy 400 m track was officially recognized in 1958. Specialists in this event must combine the basic speed of a 100 m sprinter with an acceleration capacity estimated at 130- 140 m.
The 400 m has its origins in the double stadium (384 m), a test carried out in ancient times. Run in the United Kingdom as a quarter of a mile (440 m), the test is considered sustained speed, insofar as it requires, in addition to physical strength, resistance to fatigue, and optimal management of race pace. Athletes who run the 400m fall into two categories, pure sprinters, with characteristics of 400m runners, and endurance athletes, with characteristics of 800m runners.
Middle-distance racing
Mid-distance races They are those that are carried out over a distance greater than 400 meters, they owe their name to the fact that they are disputed in intermediate distances between those of speed and those of the background (from more than 400 to 3000 m). Of all the events recognized by the IAAF, only the 800m and 1500m are on the program of the Olympic Games or World Championships.
The 800 m was originally run over a distance of 880 yards or half a mile (804.67 m). It is an event with the characteristics of the extended speed of long sprints and the endurance of cross-country events. Athletes perform the first quarter turn in their own lane as in the 400m, before rejoining the rope after 100m of running. Competitors must demonstrate, in addition to their physical ability, a tactic of anticipation and skill.
The 1500 m, of European tradition, is supposed to have begun around 1890 in France, a probable evolution from British one-mile events. It requires in the competitors a certain resistance, a tactical sense of the race and both speed and resistance in the last lap.
The British mile (1,609.32m) is close to 1,500m and is to date the only IAAF-recognized discipline defined by a non-metric length. Other middle distance races are the 1,000m, 2,000m, and 3,000m.
Long distance (background)
Races that are longer than 3000m are considered long distance events. Among the most difficult long-distance races are marathons along with cross country. The latter are carried out on a rough and natural terrain. The marathon race is invariably run on a 21km 42km course.
Distance racing
The distance races are tests whose distance is greater than 3000 meters. There are references to endurance events that took place around 1740 in London, when an athlete ran the distance of 17,300 m in one hour.
The 5,000 m is an adaptation of the three miles (4,828 m) and the 10,000 m, six miles (9,656 m) run by the British. These events are held entirely on the track at the athletics stadium. Resistance to fatigue and pain, associated with a good final acceleration are necessary qualities for long distance runners.
Road Races
These races have as a common point that they take place outside the athletics stadium, generally along roads or between the streets of cities and towns.
The marathon was not on the program of the Ancient Olympic Games, but its legend points to the various stories in Greek mythology, such as the story of the soldier Pheidippides, who ran the distance between the battlefield and the city of Athens, where he took the news of the victory. In 1895, the Frenchman Michel Bréal convinced his friend Pierre de Coubertin to take advantage of the myth and adapt it to the modern Olympic Games. Thus, in the first Games of 1896, twenty-four competitors met in a Marathon. The Greek shepherd Spiridon Louis became the first winner of this new test. At the London Games in 1908, the British royal family wanted the race to start at Windsor Castle and finish in front of the royal box at the Olympic Stadium. The course measured precisely 42.195 kilometers and later became the official marathon distance. This endurance race is held on a hard road, especially through the streets and on a flat course.
Some competitions take place over intermediate distances, such as the 21.097 km half marathon. The ultrafondo designates the long-distance foot race, that is, all distances greater than the 42.195 km of the marathon. Applies to solo races and the following races or "raids": 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour, 6 day, ultra-trail, stage raids, 100km and stage races.
Cross Country
Cross country is a long-distance race played on varied terrain. Although this test is not currently Olympic, it was in three Olympic Games from Stockholm 1912 to Paris 1924, and it was competed in two modalities: individual and team. The distance ranges from 3 to 15 km, depending on age groups and sex. The first such race was held in Ville d'Avray in 1898, between the teams of France and England. Other disciplines such as nature races take place in forests, mountains, deserts or in any natural environment.
Huddling Races
Obstacle races do not seem to have an ancient origin as there are no references to it in antiquity. The first appearances in history are in British lands inspired by horse trials with obstacles.
In the modern history of track and field, the first competitions were held over a distance of 120 yards (109.72 meters) with ten obstacles of 3 feet 6 inches (1.06 m) 110 meters with hurdles, which is the height that it is still used today for the men's category and 100 for women. The 110 meter hurdles, like the 100 meter hurdles, its women's equivalent, is a speed test consisting of ten hurdles that must be jumped at a distance of 9.14 m for men and 8.50 m for women. These distances and heights vary according to the age category of the competition.
The 400-meter hurdles are the evolution and standardization of the 440-yard hurdles event whose first reference dates back to 1860 in Oxford. The 400 meter hurdles is one of the most technical and complicated races in athletics, as it requires the physical capacity of a sprinter, control of the pace of the race, control of the stride and good technique for passing obstacles.
The 3000m hurdles combine endurance with hurdles. It seems to have its beginning in a bet between students, in reference to the British equestrian sport very popular at the end of the XIX century. The athletes have to cover a distance of 3,000 m on the track, and also cross different non-retractable obstacles and one estuary per lap. Recently, the 3000m hurdles were opened to women's participation and the event first appeared for women on the Olympic program in 2008.
Relays
_(514592022).jpg)
The objective is to cover the distance as quickly as possible with the possession of a wooden or metal cylinder called a witness and transmitted from one athlete to another in certain areas called transition zones.
Relay races have their origins in ancient societies, where the speed and endurance of runners to carry messages from one city to another were very important. But in the United States, the discipline gained popularity in an organized charity race by New York firefighters.
The tests in the official IAAF competitions are the 4×100 m and 4×400 m and consist of four athletes per team. The specialists in these races must combine the physical capacity of the athlete with the sense of anticipation and coordination for the delivery of the baton. The two relay races in their current form made their first Olympic appearance in 1912.
The relay events have their own world championships for teams.
Ekiden is a form of six-person marathon, developed in the 1980s, first in Japan. Other types of relays are also carried out over other distances on indoor tracks, or like the Swedish relay.
Athletic march
The track walk is a test of British origin that dates back to the 18th century. Six-day marches were held between 1775 and 1800, arousing great popular enthusiasm. The first walking championship took place in 1866 over seven miles, and 1908 marks the beginning of this discipline in the program of the Olympic Games over 3,500 m. Athletic walking is a sport discipline in which you must always walk, never run; that is, at least one foot must be in contact with the ground (to the naked eye), while the supporting leg must be straight (not bent at the knee) from the moment the foot touches the ground until the same pass through the vertical of the bust.
The official distances are established today in distances of 20 km and 50 km, with state and regional competitions being held in various distances that can be less or greater, such as the 100 km walk. They are also popular carried out over a certain time, mainly 1 hour or 2 hours walk.
Jumps
Jumps are Movements that consist of rising from the ground or another surface with momentum to fall in the same place or in another.
Pole Vault
Pole vaulting dates back to ancient Greek societies, but was developed in the late 18th century in Germany during gymnastics competitions. We find traces of this event in the Celtic Tailtean Games of the IX century. Around 1850, members of the Cricket Club of Ulverston in the UK decided to set up the pole vault event. The pole vault consists of crossing a crossbar with the help of a pole, without making it fall, after a dash of about thirty meters. Over the centuries, the technique of jumping and the materials have improved a lot. The bamboo poles used in the 1900 games were replaced by fiberglass poles in 1956, and later by carbon fiber poles that are used today. The test was included in the first Olympic Games in 1896 and was not included in the calendar for women until the Sydney Games in 2000.
Long jump
The long jump has existed in all competitions since ancient times. The Greeks already included it in the program of the ancient Games. The discipline developed in Anglo-Saxon countries in the mid-19th century. The long jump consists of jumping from the nearest "starting plate", after a sprint run.
Triple jump
The triple jump is a variant of the long jump. Also born on Irish soil, the test was developed in America. As its name indicates, the triple jump is to carry out a series of three jumps after the impulse: first on one foot, then a second jump, always in the same conditions as the first, and is completed as in length.
High jump
The high jump is of Celtic and Germanic origin. It was already practiced in the Celtic Tailtean Games of the IX century. the canals of the city of Augsburg. It first entered competition in 1840 and was regulated in 1865. The rule is, after gaining momentum, to jump over a horizontal bar as high as possible without knocking it over. Taking off is done on one foot. The jumping technique has developed greatly during the 20th century. The scissors and the roller were widely used by athletes until the arrival in 1968 of the Fosbury style, used by all vaulters today.
Launches
The first organized competitions in history were the Olympic Games started by the Greeks in 776 BC. C.... Athletics, which include the discus, javelin, hammer and shot puts, have been part of the modern Olympic Games since their first edition in 1896. The throw takes place in the area within an oval. Mirón's Discus Thrower, symbolized by his famous sculpture of the discus thrower in the Pentathlon, comes to us from an early age as a true history of ancient throwing. The very principle of throwing is inspired by the ancestral gesture of the hunter.
Put put
The shot put originates from Greek mythology, where Homer describes stone throwers. The first official event was held in the United States in 1876. The weight thrown is 16 pounds (7,257 kilograms), a line located on the throwing area that cannot be passed by the pitcher.
Discus Throw
The discus throw is the athletic event best described by the Greeks. The techniques for throwing and the different discs are explained in the Iliad. The solo was a disc with a hole through which a string passed, while the disc was flat, made of stone or bronze. The discipline developed in the United States in the late 19th century. In 1907, the weight of the male discus was set at 2 kg and a diameter of 22 cm.
Hammer Throw
Traces of hammer throwing have been found in ancient Celtic legends dating back to 829 BC. C, and during the Middle Ages, where the true blacksmith's hammer replaced the rustic arts of Antiquity. Like other throwing disciplines, the hammer has evolved over the centuries, both in shape and weight. Today, for men, the steel ball weighs 7,257 kilograms (16 lb) and is connected to a steel cable with a handle. Authorized to compete only since 1995, women throw a 4kg hammer
Javelin Throw
The javelin, a hunting tool used by ancient civilizations, and also a weapon used by many ancient armies, is at the origin of the discipline of javelin throwing. Hercules is considered to have been one of the first javelin throwers. The test was included in the program of the Ancient Olympic Games. Around 1780, the Scandinavians adopted and developed the discipline. The javelin even became a symbol of national independence in Finland. The markings have been steadily increasing over the centuries, so much so that the javelin has been redesigned several times in the 1980s to control safety and reduce flight time. Despite these measures, incidents continue to occur today. In 2007, athletes Roman Šebrle and Salim Sdiri were accidentally hit by a javelin during meetings.
Combined tests
The combined tests require all the qualities necessary for the practice of athletics. Since Ancient Greece, multidisciplinary competitions have been held to reward the most complete man.
The decathlon was born in the 19th century in several European countries before the Irish exported the idea to the United States. They experimented with a championship, in English "all around championship", which consisted of ten successive athletics tests. Avery Brundage, future president of the International Olympic Committee, has won the US national contest three times. Contested in two days, the decathlon consists of four races (100 m, 400 m, 110 m hurdles and 1500 m), three jumps (long, high and pole), as well as three throws (weight, discus and javelin). Each performance is converted into points on a scale and the sum of these points determines the ranking.
The first women's combined events were first held in 1928 in the form of the pentathlon. Two additional events were added in the early 1980s, giving birth to the heptathlon. The latter consists of three races (100 m hurdles, 200 m and 800 m), two jumps (length and height) and two throws (javelin and weight).
Track features
Rink and contest areas
The athletics stadium has to comply with certain rules to make official the competitions and the results that take place there. All facilities are regulated by the IAAF (dimensions, slope and design). Outdoor athletics competitions take place in stadiums that have a 400-meter long oval track. This distance has evolved over the years. At the 1896 Games the track was 333.33 m; at the 1900 Games in Paris over 500 meters and the 536.45 m (one-third mile) in St. Louis in 1904. In 1912 the distance was 383 m; then again it was 500 m at the 1924 Olympics.
The athletics track consists of two parallel straight lines and two identical curves, and must have between 6 and 8 "lanes" 1.22 m wide, and a pit adaptable to the 3000 m obstacle course (the estuary). Indoors, the length of the track is 200 meters and the curve can be increased up to 18 degrees maximum. The number of "lanes" should be between 4 and 6. You need a track in a straight line that is located in the center of the room. The texture of the running track has evolved over the years, being at first dirt, later grass around the turn of the century, and then ash, a kind of clay. The 1960s were characterized by the appearance of synthetic surfaces. In 1967, the 3M company created the first polyurethane tracks. The tartan first appeared at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. The red color of the track was chosen for its resistance to UV rays (ultraviolet from the sun).
The throwing areas are made up of a throw zone delimited by a circle made with an iron band, whose diameter varies according to the discipline (2,135 m for the weight and hammer and 2.50 m for the discus), and whose coating can be concrete or asphalt. The javelin throw is carried out on a track similar to the synthetic track. Its minimum length is 36 meters and the width is 4 m. Athletes must not step on the throwing line or circle under the risk of seeing their throw invalidated by the judges. The falling sectors are generally made of grass so that the thrown element can leave a mark in order to measure the distance. It is delimited by white lines that form a certain angle (29° for the javelin and 34°9 for the other elements that are thrown). The jumping areas are made of synthetic material. The long jump and triple jump have a track 40 m long and 1.22 m wide, ending in a reception pit (9 m long and 2.75 m wide) filled with fine sand. The starting plates are fixed to the ground and covered with plasticine to check if an athlete has stepped on it when jumping. The high jump area measures 20×20 m in order to install the vault. Finally, the pole vault has a 40 m long and 1.22 m wide impulse corridor, ending in a landing bench.
Materials and equipment
| Tests | Men | Women | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight of the elements | |||||||||||||
| Weight | 7,260 kg | 4 kg | |||||||||||
| Disco | 2 kg | 1 kg | |||||||||||
| Jabalina | 0,800 kg | 0,600 kg | |||||||||||
| Hammer | 7,260 kg | 4 kg | |||||||||||
| Height of the fences | |||||||||||||
| 100 m | - | 0.84 m | |||||||||||
| 110 m fence | 1,067 m | - | |||||||||||
| 400 m fence | 0.914 m | 0,762 m | |||||||||||
| 3000 m | 0.914 m | 0,762 m | |||||||||||
An athletics competition requires, due to its high number of tests, important equipment. For races (from 60 to 400 m) the presence of starting blocks is mandatory, if possible connected with a control system false starts. They allow greater momentum and exits without slipping. In addition, the starting posts must indicate the "lanes" assigned to the athletes. To approve marks, the IAAF requires the presence of an anemometer to measure and record wind speed, and a fully automatic timing system to the hundredth of a second.
For the high jump and the pole vault, landing mats and poles with their corresponding supports are necessary. The bars can be made of wood, metal or fiberglass. Cleats must always be mounted fixed to the mobile uprights of the jumpers. The different types of elements to throw - weights, discs, hammers and javelins - must strictly respect the weight and dimensions according to different ages and sexes. The "control" used in the relay races must not exceed 50 grams and 30cm. Boards should be used to inform athletes and spectators of the marks achieved.
The typical clothing of an athlete consists of a jersey, a shorts and racing shoes (nails). Those used by a sprinter do not have a heel or plantar arch, and have 9 crampons that must not exceed 9 mm in length, in the case of speed, the length varies depending on the test in which they are going to be used.
Judges and Rules
Judges
An athletics test is made up of various judges in charge of guaranteeing the proper functioning of the tests and the validity of the marks, ensuring the consistent application of international regulations.
For the races, the referee-judge coordinates the jury so that the different rules of the competitions are respected. The starter is responsible for ensuring the correct start of the races, especially in the placement of the athletes or in the positioning at the start. He also watches for any false start, expelling the athlete when fouled. The race commissioners must notify the judge of any interference with the regulations during the development of the races, especially in cases of invasion of the next "lane" in speed races, poor crossing of obstacles, pushing, or poor transfer of the "batten". ». The finish judges determine the classification of the athletes after crossing the line with the first part of the body (shoulder or torso). The jury of the race is seconded by the official timekeepers who necessarily have to have a tool for automatic measurement to one hundredth of a second and an anemometer.
The jumping and throwing contests are also supervised by the referee. He is assisted by at least five judges responsible for verifying the mark and the validity of the test and measuring to the centimeter of the athlete's mark. A test is valid when the judge raises a white flag, invalid if it is a red flag. At the end of the tests, the judge will establish a final classification and will accompany the winners to the podium.
Competition Rules
The IAAF has enacted strict and rigorous competition rules to ensure fair competition in events. In an official competition, the first athlete must be registered and signed up at the secretariat to receive her number. He has a "warm-up zone" for that purpose and must report to the "call zone" at a set time. Next, he must head to the testing area with the other competitors. Athletes must wear their regulatory equipment recognized by their federation. This equipment must not be offensive and must not make it difficult to be seen by the judges. An athlete has the opportunity to participate barefoot or wear shoes on both feet.
In sprint races, athletes run in the "lane" assigned to them from one end of the event to the other and must necessarily start from the starting blocks, where a starter gives the following starting orders: "to your stations" and "ready"?, before firing the pistol when the runners are stationary. Competitors must not change "lane" or interfere with the inside line, especially in the curves.
Beginning at 800 meters, athletes start in a standing position, without the second command. During the race, they must not hinder or push. For the relay, the athletes must respect the transmission zones marked on the track and carry the baton to the finish line. In steeplechase races, runners must deliberately go over the hurdles and not the other way around.
In the high jump and pole vault, the uprights of the bar must be fixed, and the order of the competitors requires a toss. Each contestant has a time limit and has three attempts per height to clear it. The classification is made considering the final height reached. In the long jump and triple jump, all athletes also have three attempts, then the top eight places have an additional three attempts. The jump is validated by the judges if the jumper does not "bite" the line in his attempt and leaves the receiving pit ahead of the footprint left in the sand.
In international competitions, an athlete is a representative of a federation. In the case of change of nationality or dual nationality, he cannot represent his new country for at least three years from the date on which he last represented the first federation. An athlete may be subjected to doping control at the end of a test. In the case of a relay, all members must submit to control. Samples are sent to a WADA accredited laboratory. The approval of a brand and a record is subject to the presence of the results of the examination of these samples in the file. Later, if an athlete admits to using banned substances during the period the record was set, the record is removed from the record tables. The competitor has the right to appeal. The appeal must be submitted by a representative of the athlete or by the athlete himself.
International Organization: IAAF
AAA - Asian Athletic Association
CAA - African Confederation of Athletics
CONSUDATLE – South American Athletic Confederation
NACAC – Association of Athletics of North America, Central America and the Caribbean
EAA – European Athletics Association
OAA – Oceania Athletics Association
In 1912, immediately after the Stockholm Games, the International Association of Athletics Federations was born; At the time, it brought together 17 members of the International Association of Athletics Federations. It also ensures the validation of world records and the organization of international competitions. Since 1999, the Senegalese Lamine Diack has been the president of this institution whose headquarters are located in Monaco.
The IAAF is divided into six continental regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, Central America and northern South America) governed by their own institution. The European Athletics Association was created in 1970 and as of 2016 consists of 51 members. A total of 214 national federations are affiliated with the IAAF.
Main competitions
International Championships
These international competitions are held every four years. They consist of the Olympic Games, the World Championships, and the Continental Championships, and are organized by the IAAF, the IOC, or the continental federation (for example, the European Athletics Federation). Only three athletes per country can compete. To select the best athletes, many countries have applied the system of minimums, established according to a program of marks.
Olympic Games
The main athletics competition is held every four years during the Olympic Games. Athletics is considered the "king" sport of the Olympic Games. It has been present since 1896 during the revival of the Olympic Games due to the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin. It is also one of the five sports that have always featured in the Olympic Games, and is the one that includes the largest number of events. Twelve titles awarded in the first revamped games, the total number of events scheduled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics rose to 47. Women were first allowed to compete in the 1928 Games, and it was against Coubertin's will. Competitions are usually held at the Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies take place.
World Championships
Long deprived of the global attention that always regarded Olympic competition as the supreme event in world athletics, athletics devoted its great momentum to holding its first World Championships in Helsinki in August 1983, an idea of its then president Primo Nebiolo. This event provides a world champion in each discipline. From 1591 it became a biannual competition. Apart from this event, cross country has its own world championship held annually during the winter. The event, in the form of a long cross and a short cross, recognizes the best individual athletes and the best team.
The World Indoor Athletics Championships also take place every two years, alternating with competition held outdoors. The first edition was held in 1585 in Paris, under the name of World Indoor Games, but the official title of Indoor World Championships was given for the first time in 1587 in Indianapolis. In addition, in 1614 the first edition of the World Relay Championship was held in Nassau, Bahamas.
Continental Championships
Continental federations organize their own championships to reward their best athletes. The European Championships are organized every four years by the European Athletics Association between the Olympic cycle. The first edition took place in 1934 in Turin and the last one was held in 2010 in Barcelona. Since 1966, the indoor track championship has been organized every two years. The other associations also organize their own outdoor competition, such as the African championship or the Asian championship. The World and/or European Cross Country, Walking, Half Marathon and Marathon Championships aim at team classification.
Meetings
In addition to the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the national championships, athletics can also be practiced in the form of international meetings called “meetings”. They are based on public companies or private sponsors, and work through a program in which some tests are reduced. Participating athletes are invited by the organizers. Meetings are organized at international, national and regional levels, and use the system of awards and bonuses based on performance. There are numerous athletic meetings and they are ordered by levels, depending on the prestige of the competition. The Diamond League circuit is the most prestigious series of meetings, because it brings together the best athletes of the year and enjoys significant media coverage (retransmission open television) and important prizes. Since 2010, the test consists of 14 meetings around the world. The athletes who manage to accumulate the highest number of points in all these meetings are awarded the Diamond Trophy plus a cash prize.
Other meetings, apart from the Diamond League, are the IAAF World Challenge, which takes place from May to September each year and consists of one day of competition in fifteen different parts of the world with cash prizes in each of them for different events; there are also combined event championships, marathons, indoor track meetings, and athletic march circuits.
The IAAF grants special status to a list of indoor athletics championships. In 2016, the World Indoor Circuit began to be played.
National and inter-club championships
Each country has its own championships to determine the best athletes in each discipline. The national championships also serve as a qualifying test for future international competitions. In the United States, the "U. S. trials” sees the best American athletes compete. In speed, the selection system is usually unforgiving, as some finals are on the same level as the world finals.
Other skills
Team competitions are also organized, often called "Cup". These include the IAAF Continental Cup, which brings together teams from the continents, the Marathon World Cup or the Walking World Cup. At the continental level, the European Track Athletics Cup is a team event that has brought together the eight best teams on the continent since 1965. Contested over two days, it recognizes the best European nations in terms of female and male brands and allows, In short, reflect the real sporting value of a country. The European Cup has been held every year since 1993, and is organized by the European Athletics Association (EAA).
"International meets" are the matches between national teams in a virtually complete athletic program. Some of these tests were the big competitions from the post-war period to the first edition of the World Championships, especially during the non-Olympic years. The meetings between the teams of the United States and the Soviet Union were often considered the great event of the track season. Other international competitions, the Commonwealth Games, the Mediterranean Games, or the Games of the Francophonie often derive from historical or political organizations. The Universiade, the Goodwill Games (now deprecated) are multi-sport competitions organized on the model of the Olympic Games.
Big names in athletics
In 2000, the book published by the French sports newspaper España nairo, 100 champions in a century of sport, established a classification of the 100 athletes of the century, in which athletics was the most represented sport. On the other hand, in 1999, the IAAF names the athletics champions of the XX century. Among men, the American Carl Lewis surpassed his compatriot Jesse Owens, while the Dutch Fanny Blankers-Koen was awarded among the women. In 2012 that same institution created the Hall of Fame.
Men
Among sprinters, the American Carl Lewis is, without a doubt, the athlete who has marked the discipline due to the breadth of his track record. With his nine Olympic titles (including four in the long jump) and eight world championships, he has managed to maintain his dominance for nearly two decades. Jesse Owens secured his place in sports history by winning four Olympic titles in the 1936 Games. Other renowned sprinters include Ray Ewry, Alvin Kraenzlein, Jim Hines, Tommy Smith, Valeri Borzov, Pietro Mennea and more recently, Butch Reynolds, Frankie Fredericks, Donovan Bailey, Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt
The Flying Finns, a nickname given to athletes such as Paavo Nurmi, Ville Ritola and Hannes Kolehmainen, reigned over long and medium distance races in the first half of the century XX. Czechoslovakian Emil Zátopek became legendary by winning the 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon at the 1952 Games. Other endurance legends include Ethiopians Abebe Bikila and Haile Gebrselassie, New Zealander Peter Snell, Australian Herb Elliott, the British Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, the French Jules Ladoumègue, the Kenyan Kipchoge Keino, the other Finn Lasse Virén, the Moroccans Saïd Aouita and Hicham El Guerrouj or the American Mal Whitfield.
In competitions, many athletes have finally achieved the status of track and field "legend." We can cite the Soviets Valery Brumel and Viktor Sanyeyev and the Americans Al Oerter, Bob Beamon and Dick Fosbury. More recently, Jonathan Edwards Lars Riedel, Javier Sotomayor, Mike Powell, Ivan Pedroso, Jan Zelezny, Sergei Bubka, and Alberto Juantorena have each mastered their specialty. In other events, the decathletes Jim Thorpe and Daley Thompson and the walkers Vladimir Golubnichy and Robert Korzeniowski are among the great names in the history of the sport.
Today, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, Gebrselassie's successor, dominates the global fund. The American Jeremy Wariner reigns in the 400 meters, gradually approaching the marks of Michael Johnson. Since 2008, the Jamaican Usain Bolt has an exceptional performance in speed. At the Beijing Olympics, he won the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m relay, in each event to set a new world record.
Women
Since its first appearance at the Olympic Games in 1928, athletics has also forged its female legends over the decades. Sprint races have enshrined the Dutch Fanny Blankers-Koen, the only woman to win four gold medals in one Olympics, the Australian Betty Cuthbert, the German Laura Mendez, the Polish Irena Szewińska, the East German Marita Koch and Marlies Göhr, Colombian Caterine Ibargüen, winner of several medals in triple and long jump, French Marie-Jose Perec, Australian Cathy Freeman, Mexican Ana Guevara and Jamaican ex-sprinter Merlene Ottey. We can cite the American athletes Wilma Rudolph, Evelyn Ashford, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Gwen Torrence, Gail Devers, or Florence Griffith-Joyner who, with some great marks, remain under suspicion of doping.
Among the long-distance runners, the big names are Jarmila Kratochvílová, Tatyana Kazankina, Ana Fidelia Quirós Moret, María Mutola, Gabriela Szabo, Doina Melinte, Joan Benoit, Ingrid Kristiansen, Hassiba Boulmerka, Svetlana Masterkova, Kelly Holmes and Derartu Tulu, to name just a few. The British Paula Radcliffe collects first places on the track before becoming the great leader of the marathon.
In contests, American Jackie Joyner-Kersee dominates the heptathlon and long jump, having won a total of three Olympic titles and four world titles. Her main rival has been the German Heike Drechsler. Ulrike Meyfarth, Stefka Kostadinova, Inessa Kravets and Trine Hattestad have also taken their discipline to the highest level.
Today, women's athletics is mainly dominated by four athletes: the Swedish Carolina Klüft in heptathlon who has not known defeat in a major championship, the Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbáyeva who follows in the footsteps of Sergei Bubka. On the other hand, the Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar.
Women's athletics
Women's athletics has definitely taken its place since the end of the 1939-1945 war. However, the practice of this sport by women dates back to ancient civilizations where in Ancient Egypt various competitors faced each other in the tests of weights and launches, or in the racing scenes that are described in Greek mythology. Around 1350 B.C. C. Hippodamia, wife of Pelops, created games exclusively for women, called the Games of Hera. Competitions and races were also organized every four years. In the 16th century in Germany, women's sports events open to young shepherds were organized in Markt Groningen. With the regulation of athletics, the first meetings facing women appear at the end of the XIX century. Competitions among students are held at American universities, in the image of the young women of Vassar College in New York in 1895. American athletes have participated in national university competitions since 1903. On November 25, 1903 in France, about 2,500 workers textiles take part in the "Midinettes race", a test that went from Paris to Nanterre by running or walking. Over a distance of 12 km, the dressmaker Jeanne Cheminel prevailed in 1h10. Finnish women were admitted to the national championships in 1913.
In the absence of men, mobilized during the First World War, the emancipation of women's sport accelerated. Thus, inter-factory sporting events are held in France and the United Kingdom. The Federation of Women's Sports Societies of France was founded on January 18, 1918, based in particular on the women's sports clubs founded before the Great War such as Femina Sport (1912), which already practiced athletics. Alice Milliat became president of the FSFSF. Faced with the refusal of Pierre de Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee to accommodate women in athletics, Milliat decided to create the first World Women's Games in 1921, made up of five European nations in Monte Carlo. Then the Women's Games in Paris. in 1922 and in Gothenburg in 1926. In August 1922, at the Congress of the International Women's Sports Federation (founded in 1921), the first 38 world records for women's athletics were approved. The early 1920s also correspond to the first women's national and international events in other European nations.
In 1928, the IAAF accepted the reality of women's athletics with the decision to integrate some tests during the Amsterdam Games. In the 800 m race, the arrival of some exhausted competitors caused some controversy and it was not a women's event until 1960. A German journalist at the time stated: "We believe that women should not run such long distances... almost all the competitors were exhausted. It was not pretty." This view of the race was even challenged by the IOC in 1952, which considered that these women had collapsed more from disappointment than actual exhaustion. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, on the occasion of the integration of the marathon into the women's Olympic program, the arrival of the Swiss Gabriela Andersen-Schiess caused the same controversy as in 1928. Totally dehydrated, she finished the last meters staggering and falling at the finish line, in contrast to Joan Benoit's victory in a faster time than Emil Zátopek in Helsinki in 1952
The contingent of female athletes continued to grow at the Olympic Games and World Championships, and the program gap between men and women has narrowed in recent years. The pole vault and hammer throw were introduced at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. At the 2008 Olympics, the women's 3000 m hurdles appeared on the programme.
Innovations of the discipline
Techniques
The progression in sports brands over the centuries has been due in part to innovations in the material and also to the technical evolution of each event. At the end of the 18th century, an American general invented the crouch start, a technique that involves starting a run squatting. Tom Burke, the first Olympic 100m champion in history, used this new method. In the 1900 Games, American Alvin Kraenzlein innovated by reducing the number of steps between the hurdles. In the 1920s, the United States introduced a new long jump technique, the "hitch kick", which involves kicking in the air during the jump. In the shot put, American Parry O';Brien invented the technique of throwing by rotating 180°. Immediately after World War II, Soviet trainers developed different jumping techniques. Valeri Brumel was one of the first athletes to experiment with the "ventral roll" technique, which immediately replaced the "scissor" technique. A few years later, the discipline was revolutionized once more with the arrival of the Fosbury flop, named after the American Dick Fosbury who won the high jump at the Mexico Games in 1968 with the technique of « dorsal hop".
Training
With the rise of professionalism at the turn of the 20th century, training methods continued to improve considerably. In the United States, the physical preparation of sprinters develops from the first national competitions. The technique consists of executing the training at a competition pace. In the 1920s, Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi invented a varied training method based on rigorous timed speed and endurance sessions. Inspired by the Finnish example, Swedish trainer Kid Holmer developed the fartlek system in which the athlete is free to create for himself a workout that suits his own individuality. Holmer established a true training camp located in the middle of Swedish nature made up of a highly selective course with hills and obstacles (tree trunks, the river...) In the 1950s, the interval training technique, the training Fractionated, was developed by doctors in Germany. This demanding system benefited postwar athletes in Eastern Europe, including Czech Emil Zátopek, a runner who won several medals at the Olympic Games. The GDR, thanks to a policy of early detection, high-level training, and research in biomechanics or physiology, produced high-level sprinters. At the same time, jogging was created in New Zealand, as well as an intensive resistance-based program. This method was used, among others, by long-distance runner Peter Snell in the 1960s. In Melbourne, Australian Herb Elliott takes up Swedish pre-war methods at a training camp dedicated to athletics.
Yields
Records
World records in men's athletics have been officially recognized by the IAAF since 1912. Before that date, athletes' records were established without any guarantee of compliance with a unified standard, and without specific regulations for each event. The first list of records is first published in 1914 and consists of 53 foot race records, 30 walk records, and 12 contest records. In 1936, the women's results were broadcast in turn by the IAAF. These were previously governed by the FSFI, an autonomous women's federation. Since 1987, the International Athletics Federation has taken into account the tests played in the hall. Currently, almost fifty athletic events (including 22 for women) are recognized worldwide, continental or national. Tests that are not recognized are considered "best brands."
The approval, technically called homologation, of a record is subject to compliance with a series of rules. This record must be established during a meeting or an event registered in the planned calendar and respect the rules of the International Federation. The races are timed electronically and the wind that can favor or oppose the runners is taken into account for its validity. The wind limit is positive 2 m (i.e. in the direction of the race) per second. An anti-doping control after the mark is also required for its approval. The demand for homologation will be made within thirty days after the event is held by the IAAF member federation on behalf of the country where the brand was established.
Meeting organizers often use what's called a "hare" in long-distance running. These athletes must give the race a sufficient pace and comply with the previously defined pace times, to allow the champions to break their record. In this case, the "hares" receive performance bonuses. In 1997, at a meeting in Rome, Kenyan William Tanui won the sum of $15,000 for having participated in the world record for the mile as a "hare".
Limits
World records have changed considerably over the 20th century, especially in the 1920s and 1950s. With technological advances, the evolution of materials, the improvement of training methods, and with the help of doping, sports performance has increased, especially since 1970. For several years now, new world records in athletics have been fewer in number despite improved training methods and athlete recruitment methods. According to studies, the physiological limits of the human species would be reached in one generation, that is, in 2027. Thus, some world records such as the women's 100 m held by the American Florence Griffith-Joyner since 1988 (10.49) that of the Czech Jarmila Kratochvílová in the 800 m (1:53.28) since 1983, seems unattainable today. Among men, the limits of human physiological capacity would be around 9 s 67.
In 2009, during the 100m final at the World Championships in Berlin, Jamaican Usain Bolt hand-touched this barrier, setting a new world record, with a time of 9 58 s, with a small tailwind
Doping
.
Doping in athletics is an ancient phenomenon. The first recorded case dates from the beginning of the XX century in the 1904 Olympic marathon, where the American Thomas J. Hicks benefited from from a strychnine injection given by his coach in a faint during the race. This practice did not arouse any outrage and afterward the use of drugs in sport was well regarded. In 1941 in Basel, the strange behavior of three runners after a cross-country race highlighted the problem of taking amphetamines to improve effort and stamina. At the 1948 London Games, the enthusiasm and nervousness of Emil Zátopek after his victorious finish in the 10,000 m made experts think about taking that substance. In the 1950s, rumors indicated organized doping of Soviet, and later American, athletes with anabolic steroids. In addition, Finnish long-distance runner Lasse Virén was the subject of rumors concerning autotransfusion, a technique used to improve the oxygenation of the organism.
The 1970s and 1980s are marked by state doping, especially that of athletes from East Germany. During this period, female athletes from the GDR dominated the world of athletics. The suspicions of doping that exist are supported by the statements of the few athletes who continued to be successful after going to the West, such as Renate Neufeld in 1977. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, numerous sprinters have denounced this institutionalized doping. Thus, Inés Geipel asked the German federation in 2005 to withdraw her records and brands. In addition, many German athletes, victims of "State pregnancy", a few years ago expressed themselves openly. Like the gymnasts, these athletes were reportedly induced to become pregnant to take advantage of the physiological effects associated with pregnancy. Long-distance runners also tested positive during this period, including marathon runners suspected of taking steroids. In 1993, steroids were considered by experts to be the cause of death of athletes Detlef Gerstenberg and Uwe Beyer. Since 1990, institutionalized doping in the German Democratic Republic has been demonstrated, and some athletes' marks have been affixed. under discussion.
Doping has since been considered cheating and is punishable as such. Anti-doping controls were launched to try to stop a phenomenon that national and international athletics considers a scourge both for the image of the different disciplines and for the health of the athletes. The IAAF participates by multiplying controls and monitoring of athletes. It is also adhered to the code of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Several high-level athletes have been implicated in doping cases. A prime example was Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, after a victory and world record in the 100m at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, he found himself stripped of his title and his record for doping. After his suspension, he tested positive again in 1993 and was eventually banned for life. In 2004 the scandal of the Balco pharmaceutical laboratories was discovered. For years, it provided athletes with prohibited substances, including THG, an undetectable anabolic steroid. After the investigation, Víctor Conte, the director of the laboratory, gave the names of great champions, like Tim Montgomery, Dwain Chambers or Marion Jones. The latter ends in October 2007 with several years of suspicions and rumors by admitting to having resorted to doping. She was sentenced to six months in prison in January 2008 for perjury. Other prominent figures in athletics have also been sanctioned by the IAAF in recent years for doping. One can cite the case of the Olympic and world champion sprinter Justin Gatlin who tested positive for steroids in April 2006 and was suspended for eight years, or that of the long-distance runners Hezekiél Sepeng and Süreyya Ayhan. Another example is Rashid Ramzi, who achieved a historic double at the Helsinki World Cup by winning gold in the 800 and 1500 meters and, again winning gold in the 1500 meters at the Beijing Games, tested positive for EPO CERA in the doping test. In November 2009 he was stripped of his medal.
Economy
The economic benefits of the sport are mainly based on the large events organized by the IAAF. The World Athletics Championships attract spectators and viewers from all over the world, and at the same time, many sponsors. At the 2003 World Championships in Paris, another competition took place behind the scenes, that of the world's leading sports equipment companies. Taking advantage of the attention generated by the event, the three main brands in the sector (Nike, Reebok and Puma) emphasize the sponsorship of the athletes with the highest audience to promote the visibility of their products and gain market share, especially in the field of sneakers. of sport in the young public. The Jamaican Athletics Federation had on this occasion a special association with the German brand Puma.
Some large athletics championships today allow the organizing city to receive important economic benefits, through ticket sales, sponsorships and television rights. On the other hand, it represents for the host city an economic influx linked to the tourism industry. Athletics meetings also attract sponsors, as in the Gaz de France Meeting of Saint-Denis, where the financial benefit of the main sponsor it was €200,000 in 2007. Sponsors of the Paris marathon must pay €400,000 for their share.
Athletes can also receive cash prizes by competing in the Diamond League. For example, in 2019 the American sprinter Noah Lyles took USD 142,000 in prizes for the results obtained and the Dutch long distance runner Sifan Hassan, USD 132,500.
Athletics in culture
The aesthetics of discipline inspired the Greek school whose sculptors made numerous representations of athletes in full effort. In literature, the Greeks also dedicated many poems and plays to athletes. The poet Pindar mainly offered odes to the Olympic victors. The sophist Hippias de Élis, Aristotle, Eratosthenes and Phlegon Tralles, even devoted time to completing the lists of Olympic winners, already incomplete in the IV century a. C.
Numerous texts have highlighted the topic of athletics. The writer José María de Heredia praised the runner in one of his poems. In the XX century, authors such as Henry de Montherlant (Les Olympiques, 1924), Raymond Boisset (À vos marquis!, 1949) and Yves Gibeau (La Ligne droite, 1956), introduced athletics into French literature.
In the field of cinema, we can mention two important films with the main theme of athletics. Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl about the 1936 Olympic Games, Chariots of Fire, by Hugh Hudson, which romantically narrates the adventures of the Englishman Harold Abrahams and the Scottish Eric Liddell before and during the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Many other films deal with the theme of athletics, such as Jim Thorpe, the Fall of a Champion (1951), where Burt Lancaster portrays Jim Thorpe, Prefontaine (1997) and Without Limits (1998), about the life of Steve Prefontaine, an American long-distance runner. Other titles: In Search of a Miracle (2005) and Berlin '36 (2009).
Athletics mean
Written press
The Athletics Mirror was the reference newspaper for athletics in France. Close to the French communist party, the newspaper was created in the early 1960s and counted old sports glories like Jules Ladoumègue among its columnists. Today, Athletics Magazine is part of the latest written media specialized in the discipline. In the United States, Track & Field News is the reference in the matter, and calls itself the Bible of sports.
Audiovisual media
Major athletics events can be viewed live or on tape by viewers from nearly every country and territory in the world and generate high viewership ratings. The broadcast of the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris (Saint-Denis) was followed by millions of viewers, including 5.4 million in France, for a population of approximately 60 million people. The presence in the final of Carolina Klüft and Christian Olsson increased interest in Sweden with 45 hours of broadcast and 2.2 million viewers for a population of nine million inhabitants. Germany (83 million inhabitants) recorded a peak audience of 4.4 million viewers.
During the European Athletics Championships in Munich, Sweden had more than 1.8 million viewers watching the broadcast compared to 3.1 million French viewers and 5.9 million German viewers.
Direction of rotation
It is normal for races to run counterclockwise. This may be because the dominant leg (the stronger one, usually the right) takes longer strides.
According to Jürgen Weineck, continuous running in an anti-clockwise direction produces muscular imbalances and therefore injuries in the pelvic area.
Contenido relacionado
Discus throw
Intercontinental Cup
Frankie Muniz