World Athletics, the sport's governing body, defines athletics in six disciplines:
track and field,
road running,
race walking,
cross country running,
mountain running, and
trail running. Mountain running was added in 2003 and trail running was added in 2015. 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 and road races, finishing positions or times of the top athletes from a team may be combined to declare a team victor. Several further forms of competitive running exist outside of the governance of World Athletics. The
International Skyrunning Federation (ISF) governs high-altitude mountain running, defined as
skyrunning, and is affiliated with the
International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation rather than World Athletics. Competitive
stair climbing events, usually hosted in
skyscrapers, has two common names:
vertical running (as described by the ISF) and
tower running (as described by the Towerrunning World Association).
Snowshoe running is a
winter sport governed by the
World Snowshoe Federation, which is similarly to cross country running but has athletes wearing
snowshoes to race over deep snow on an obstacle-free course. The
International Association of Ultrarunners organises
ultra running as an affiliate of World Athletics, but these long-distance forms of competition fit within World Athletics disciplines, albeit with additional distance. Athletics, specifically the distance running discipline, also forms a significant portion of a number of other organised sports, most notable the
triathlon family of sports and
modern pentathlon. In both cases, the rules of the sport broadly mirror those of World Athletics, but the details are set by the international federation of the sports themselves.
Track and field , 2006 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. 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
athletics 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 teammate 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
World Para Athletics Championships, 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 meets. Meetings range from elite competitions – such as those in the
IAAF Diamond League series – to basic
all comers track meets, inter-sports club meetings and schools events, which form the grassroots of track and field.
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 most 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
World Para Athletics Championships and the
Summer Paralympics. The
World Marathon Majors series includes the six most prestigious marathon competitions at the elite level – the
Berlin,
Boston,
Chicago,
London,
New York City and
Tokyo Marathons. 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.
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 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 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. 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 to 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 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 in Stockholm, Sweden Racewalking is a form of competitive
walking that usually takes place 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 within 24 hours. 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. == Categories ==