MODULE 1

(lesson 1-3)
Overview

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping,

throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field,
road running, cross country running, and race walking.

Objectives

1. To be able to know the history of track and field.

2. Describe many of the events that comprise track and field
3. Explain the different terminologies used in track and field

Lesson 1: HISTORY OF TRACK AND FIELD (ATHLETICS)

The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the nearby
city of Elis, won the stadium race, a foot race 600 feet long. According to some literary
traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals.

Other evidence, both literary and archaeological, suggests that the games may have existed at
Olympia much earlier than this date, perhaps as early as the tenth or ninth century BC. A series
of bronze tripods have been found at Olympia, some of which appear to be dated at about the
ninth century BC, and it has also been suggested that these tripods may in fact be prizes for
some of the early events at Olympia.

The marathon was not an event of the ancient Olympic Games. The marathon is a
modern event that was first introduced in the Modern Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens, a race
from Marathon—northeast of Athens—to the Olympic Stadium, a distance of 42.195
kilometers. The race commemorates the run of Pheidippides, an ancient “day runner” who
carried the news of the Persian landing at Marathon of 490 BC to Sparta (a distance of 149
miles) in order to enlist help for the battle. According to the fifth-century BC ancient Greek
historian Herodotus, Pheidippides delivered the news to the Spartans the next day. The
distance of the modern marathon was standardized as 26 miles and 385 yards or 42.195
kilometers in 1908 when
the Olympic Games
were held in London. The
distance was the exact
measurement
between Windsor
Castle, the start of the
race, and the finish line
inside White City
Stadium.

From 776 BC, the games were held in Olympia every four years for almost twelve centuries.
Additional athletic events were gradually added until, by the fifth century BC, the religious
festival consisted of a five-day program. The athletic events included three foot races (stadion,
diaulos, and dolichos) as well as the pentathlon (five contests: discus, javelin, long jump,
wrestling, and foot race), pugme (boxing), pale (wrestling), pankration, and the hoplitodromos.
Additional events, both equestrian
and for humans, were added
throughout the course of the history of
the Olympic Games. Equestrian
events, held in the hippodromos,
were an important part of the
athletic program of the ancient
Olympic Games and by the fifth
century BC included the tethrippon
and the keles.

Track-and-field athletics in the

United States dates from the 1860s. The Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of
America, the nation’s first national athletic group, held the first collegiate races in 1873, and in
1888 the Amateur Athletic Union (which governed the sport for nearly a century) held its first
championships.

As track and field developed as

a modern sport, a major issue
for all athletes was their status
as amateurs. For many years
track and field was considered a purely amateur sport and athletes could not accept training
money or cash prizes.

If charged with professionalism, athletes could be banned from competition for life. In 1913,
American Jim Thorpe was stripped of his 1912 Olympic victories in the decathlon and
pentathlon and banned from further competition after it was learned he had played
semiprofessional baseball. (In 1982, the International Olympic Committee [IOC] posthumously
restored both Thorpe’s amateur status and his two Olympic medals.)

Beginning in the 1920s, track and field’s scope

widened. The first NCAA national championships
were held for men in 1921, and women’s track and
field became part of the Olympic Games in 1928. In
1952, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
sent its first Olympic team ever to the Summer
Games in Helsinki, Finland, where the squad captured
several track-and-field medals. Over the next 30
years, the U.S. and Soviet teams battled in one of the
sport’s longest and most competitive rivalries.
Women’s track struggled for widespread acceptance
until the 1970s, when track and field as a whole enjoyed a boom in popularity. During that time,
the U.S.-based International Track Association (ITA) organized a professional track circuit. The
venture, although popular among fans, went bankrupt after several years. Few athletes wanted
to participate in ITA competitions because athletes were actually receiving larger illegal
payments for appearing at amateur meets than legitimate professionals were making on the
new circuit. Many athletes also turned away
from ITA competition because it disqualified
them from participating in future Olympic
Games. The Athletics Congress now regulates
the sport in the United States; the
International Amateur Athletics Federation
(IAAF) sanctions international competition.
Track and field has been the centerpiece of
the Summer Olympic Games since their
revival in 1896. International professional
running, initiated in the 1970s, has had
limited success.

Lesson 2: EQUIPTMENT USED IN TRACK AND FIELD

If you’ve ever competed in or watched a track-and-field event, you might not have
realized just how much work and preparation goes into putting it all together. In addition to
getting the athletes and events organized, officials have to worry about the various pieces of
equipment necessary to conduct a track-and-field meet.
Starting Blocks

Starting blocks serve as one of the most important pieces

of equipment for track events of 400 meters and shorter,
according to USA Track and Field. Officials use starting
blocks not as an aid to runners, but as a means for
protecting the surface of the track. Most starting blocks
consist of foot pads that runners can adjust based on their
preferred starting position.

Hurdles

Hurdles is a specific track event that combines the skill of

running with the ability to jump over stationary objects. USA
Track and Field regulates not only the height of the hurdles
for different events, but the space in between the individual
hurdles. Hurdle heights range anywhere between .84 meters
for women’s events to 1.067 meters for men’s events,
according to USA Track and Field. In men’s 110-meter
competition, the distance between hurdles is 9.14 meters, up
from 8.5 meters in the women’s 100-meter event.

Discus

The discus event features the use of a rounded disc,

challenging competitors to see who can throw the
object the farthest. Like other events, equipment
regulations specify the size and weight and makeup of
the discus. Rules specify the discus be made of wood or
other similar material with a metal rim, and may be
either solid material or hollow. The weight specifications
range anywhere between .75 and 2 kilograms,
depending on the competitor’s preference, but shall
have an outside diameter ranging between 166 and 221
millimeters.

Javelin

It might seem just like a long stick with a pointy end,

but track-and-field regulations specify that the javelin
weigh between 400 and 800 grams, with a minimum
length of 750 millimeters and a maximum length of
1060 millimeters. Rules stipulate that the javelin must be made of metal or other similar
material, with three main parts: the head, shaft and cord grip to aid the player in throwing.

Shot Put

The shot put is an event that requires players to throw a large

metal ball as far as possible down the field. The ball, known as the
“shot,” is made of solid metal and may have a latex covering on the
outside to assist competitors with their grip. For men’s
competition, the shot weighs 7.26 kilograms. For women, the
shot weighs 4 kilograms.

Baton 

a hollow cylinder passed from runner to runner in a relay race. sports

implement - an implement used in a sport.

Steeplechase Hurdle 

The steeplechase hurdle can be adjusted in

height. The heights are 76.2 cm. 83.8 cm and
91.4 cm

The hurdle is available in two different lengths

3.96 m and 5.00 m. It is offered with and
without base support. The hurdles measure a
weight of approx.

Lesson 3: TERMINOLOGIES USED IN TRACK AND FIELD

 Baton - a tube that is passed from one relay race member to another. The
runner holding the baton is the current runner for that team in the race. They are
typically about 1 foot long and 1.5 inches in diameter.
 Decathlon - a combined track and field event that consists of 10 different events.
Sometimes the decathlon winner is dubbed the greatest athlete in the world.
 Discus - a throwing event in track and field where a metal discus is thrown for
distance.
 Fosbury Flop - a technique used in the high jump where the jumper's goes head
first over the bar with their back toward the bar when going over it.
 Hammer - the hammer throw is a track an field throwing event where a large
heavy ball connected to a handle with a long chain is thrown for distance.
 Heptathlon - a combined track and field event that consists of 7 different events.
 High Jump - a track and field jumping event. Athletes must clear a high bar
without knocking it over by jumping.
 Hurdle - an obstacle in a race that runners must jump or clear while running.
 Javelin - a track and field throwing event where a spear-like javelin is thrown for
distance.
 Long Jump - jumping event where athletes compete for the longest jump in
distance.
 Pace - the rate at which a runner is running. It's important in long distance races
to have the proper pace; slow enough so the runner doesn't tire out before the
end of the race, but fast enough to win.
 Pentathlon - a combined track and field event that consists of 5 different events.
 Pole vault - a track and field jumping event where a long pole is used to propel
the jumper to great heights.
 Relay race - a race involving multiple runners (typically 4) where each runner
runs a leg of the race handing off a baton to the next runner.
 Sandpit - an area in a jumping event (i.e. long jump or triple jump) where the
athlete lands.
 Shot put - a field throwing event where a heavy ball is thrown for distance.
 Sprint- a short running race where acceleration and top speed are important.
 Starting blocks - items used in sprint races where the runner puts their feet in to
get a good start for the run.
 Steeplechase - a middle to long distance run with obstacles including large
hurdles and water.
 Triple Jump - a track and field jumping event with three distinct phases to the
jump including a hop, a step, and a jump.