History Track and field

a greek vase 500 bc depicting running contest

the sport of track , field has roots in human prehistory. track , field-style events among oldest of sporting competitions, running, jumping , throwing natural , universal forms of human physical expression. first recorded examples of organized track , field events @ sports festival ancient olympic games. @ first games in 776 bc in olympia, greece, 1 event contested: stadion footrace. scope of games expanded in later years include further running competitions, introduction of ancient olympic pentathlon marked step towards track , field recognized today—it comprised five-event competition of long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, stadion footrace, , wrestling.

track , field events present @ panhellenic games in greece around period, , spread rome in italy around 200 bc. after period of classical antiquity (in sport largely greco-roman influenced) new track , field events began developing in parts of northern europe in middle ages. stone put , weight throw competitions popular among celtic societies in ireland , scotland precursors modern shot put , hammer throw events. 1 of last track , field events develop pole vault, stemmed competitions such fierljeppen contests in northern european lowlands in 18th century.

an model of hurdling @ detroit athletic club in 1888

discrete modern track , field competitions, separate general sporting festivals, first recorded in 19th century. these typically organised educational institutions, military organisations , sports clubs competitions between rival establishments. competitions in english public schools conceived human equivalents of horse racing, fox hunting , hare coursing, influenced classics-rich curriculum. royal shrewsbury school hunt oldest running club in world, written records going 1831 , evidence established 1819. school organised paper chase races in runners followed trail of paper shreds left 2 foxes ; today rssh runners called hounds , race victory kill . first definite record of shrewsbury s (cross-country) annual steeplechase in 1834, making oldest running race of modern era. school lays claim oldest track , field meeting still in existence, originating in second spring meeting first documented in 1840. featured series of throwing , jumping events mock horse races including derby stakes, hurdle race , trial stakes. runners entered owners , named though horses. 13 miles (21 km) away , decade later, first wenlock olympian games held @ wenlock racecourse. events @ 1851 wenlock games included half-mile foot race (805 m) , leaping in distance competition.

in 1865, dr william penny brookes of wenlock helped set national olympian association, held first olympian games in 1866 @ crystal palace in london. national event great success, attracting crowd of on ten thousand people. in response, same year amateur athletic club formed , held championship gentlemen amateurs in attempt reclaim sport educated elite. allcomers ethos of noa won through , aac reconstituted amateur athletic association in 1880, first national body sport of athletics. aaa championships, de facto british national championships despite being england only, have been held annually since 3 july 1880 breaks during 2 world wars , 2006–2008. aaa global governing body in years of sport, codifying rules first time.

meanwhile, united states began holding annual national competition—the usa outdoor track , field championships—first held in 1876 new york athletic club. establishment of general sports governing bodies united states (the amateur athletic union in 1888) , france (the union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques in 1889) put sport on formal footing , meant international competitions became possible.

american athlete jim thorpe lost olympic medals violating amateurism rules of olympic games.

the establishment of modern olympic games @ end of 19th century marked new high track , field. olympic athletics programme, comprising track , field events plus marathon race, contained many of foremost sporting competitions of 1896 summer olympics. olympics consolidated use of metric measurements in international track , field events, both race distances , measuring jumps , throws. olympic athletics programme expanded on next decades, , track , field contests remained among games prominent. olympics elite competition track , field, , amateur sportsmen compete. track , field continued largely amateur sport, rule strictly enforced: jim thorpe stripped of track , field medals 1912 olympics after revealed had played baseball professionally.

that same year, international amateur athletic federation (iaaf) established, becoming international governing body track , field, , enshrined amateurism 1 of founding principles sport. national collegiate athletic association held first men s outdoor track , field championship in 1921, making 1 of prestigious competitions students, , followed introduction of track , field @ inaugural world student games in 1923. first continental track , field competition 1919 south american championships, followed european athletics championships in 1934.

up until 1920s, track , field had been exclusively male-only pursuit. growing women s sports movement in europe , north america led establishment of women s world games in 1921 , caused introduction of 5 track , field events women in athletics @ 1928 summer olympics. in china, women s track , field events being held in 1920s, subject criticism , disrespect audiences. in 1923, physical education advocate zhang ruizhen called greater equality , participation of women in chinese track , field. rise of kinue hitomi , 1928 olympic medal japan signified growth of women s track , field in east asia. more women s events gradually introduced years progressed (although towards end of century men s , women s programmes approached parity of events). marking increasingly inclusive approach sport, major track , field competitions disabled athletes first introduced @ 1960 summer paralympics.

carl lewis among athletes helped increase track , field s profile.

with rise of numerous regional championships, growth in olympic-style multi-sport events (such commonwealth games , pan-american games), competitions between international track , field athletes became widespread. 1960s onwards, sport gained more exposure , commercial appeal through television coverage , increasing wealth of nations. after on half century of amateurism, amateur status of sport began displaced growing professionalism in late 1970s. result, amateur athletic union dissolved in united states , replaced non-amateur body solely focused on sport of athletics: athletics congress (later usa track , field). iaaf followed suit in 1982, abandoning amateurism, , later removing references name rebranding international association of athletics federations. following year saw establishment of iaaf world championships in athletics—the first ever global competition athletics—which, olympics, became 1 of track , field s prestigious competitions.

the profile of sport reached new high in 1980s, number of athletes becoming household names (such carl lewis, sergey bubka, sebastian coe, zola budd , florence griffith-joyner). many world records broken in period, , added political element between competitors of united states, east germany, , soviet union, in reaction cold war, served stoke sport s popularity. increase in commercial capacity of track , field met developments in application of sports science, , there many changes coaching methods, athlete s diet regimes, training facilities , sports equipment. accompanied increase in use of performance-enhancing drugs, , prominent cases, such of olympic gold medallists ben johnson , marion jones, damaged public image , marketability of sport.

from 1990s onwards, track , field became increasingly more professional , international, iaaf gained on 2 hundred member nations. iaaf world championships in athletics became professional competition introduction of prize money in 1997, , in 1998 iaaf golden league—an annual series of major track , field meetings in europe—provided higher level of economic incentive in form of us$1 million jackpot. in 2010, series replaced more lucrative iaaf diamond league, fourteen-meeting series held in europe, asia, north america , middle east—the first ever worldwide annual series of track , field meetings.