Events
See also: List of athletics eventsTrack and field events are divided into three broad categories: track events, field events, and combined events. The majority of athletes tend to specialise in just one event (or event type) with the aim of perfecting their performances, although the aim of combined events athletes is to become proficient in a number of disciplines. Track events involve running on a track over a specified distances and—in the case of the hurdling and steeplechase events—obstacles may be placed on the track. There are also relay races in which teams of athletes run and pass on a baton to their team member at the end of a certain distance.
There are two types of field events: jumps, and throws. In jumping competitions, athletes are judged on either the length or height of their jumps. The performances of jumping events for distance are measured from a board or marker, and any athlete overstepping this mark is judged to have fouled. In the jumps for height, an athlete must clear his or her body over a crossbar without knocking the bar off the supporting standards. The majority of jumping events are unaided, although athletes propel themselves vertically with purpose-built sticks in the pole vault.
The throwing events involve hurling an implement (such as a heavy weight, javelin or discus) from a set point, with athletes being judged on the distance that the object is thrown. Combined events involve the same group of athletes contesting a number of different track and field events. Points are given for their performance in each event and the athlete with the greatest points total at the end of all events is the winner.
| Track | Field | Combined events | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprints | Middle-distance | Long-distance | Hurdles | Relays | Jumps | Throws | |
| 60 m 100 m 200 m 400 m |
800 m 1500 m 3000 m |
5000 m 10,000 m |
60 m hurdles 100 m hurdles 110 m hurdles 400 m hurdles 3000 m steeplechase |
4×100 m relay 4×400 m relay |
Long jump Triple jump High jump Pole vault |
Shot put Discus throw Hammer throw Javelin throw |
Pentathlon Heptathlon Decathlon |
Read more about this topic: Track And Field
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“One cannot be a good historian of the outward, visible world without giving some thought to the hidden, private life of ordinary people; and on the other hand one cannot be a good historian of this inner life without taking into account outward events where these are relevant. They are two orders of fact which reflect each other, which are always linked and which sometimes provoke each other.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)