HISTORY

Every school going kid knows Olympics originated in ancient Greece, but few people know that there were athletic sports much before that too! The first civilizations in Old Egypt and Mesopotamia, several hundred years before the games in ancient Greece, had a tradition of athletics. This is proved by literary and iconographic sources describing athletic scenes as far back as 3,000 BC.

The athletic activity of the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians are recorded on temples and tombs. Games like wrestling, boxing, acrobatics, stick fighting, archery, boating, equestrian events and ball games were played in ancient Egypt. Besides Old Egypt and Mesopotamia, other civilizations, including pre-classic Greece, already practiced athletic activities before the Ancient Olympic Games.

The Olympics, believed to have started by around 776 BC in Olympia lasted for more than a thousand years. However, the religious ceremony that followed the Games is even older and might be even from the 13th century BC. The games were held every four years, modern Olympics doing justice to the ancient system. Not exactly justice, as, in the good old days, they happened only in Olympia, had fewer games, and only men who could speak Greek could compete.(contestants had to run naked too!).

Almost all the men in entire Greece (women were forbidden) flocked towards Olympia to watch the games. The Olympic stadium had a capacity of around 45000 - 50000. However, the athletes had to arrive at Olympia one month before the official start of the Games and they spent the month training morally, physically, and also spiritually under the judges` supervision. Only

whom those the judges considered qualified, could compete in the games.

Though it required for the men who competed to compete naked, that wasn`t the reason why women were forbidden from entering Olympia. Olympia, the city of Greek God Zeus, was a place sacred to men.

That is why perhaps, in the chariot competitions, held outside the sacred area of the city, women were allowed. There were also female festivals, where males were banned, and the most famous was Heraean, in Argos, that also included javelin-throwing competition.

The first 13 Olympics had running as the only sport. The race length was one "stadia", about 85 meters. Later longer races were included like the "diaulos" (365 meters) and the "dolichos" (24 "stadias" or 2 km). In 708 BC, pentathlon and wrestling wereincluded, in 688 BC the boxing, and in 680 BC the chariots racing.

The winner received a simple crown made by olive branch. However, the winners turned into celebrities and often had benefices like free food for the rest of the life and the reservation for the theaters first accent. They even were given tax-free concessions, and sometimes, even received cash contributions as awards.

Olympics was not the only game festival to be held in ancient Greece; there were the Isthmians, The Nemeans, and The Pythians. The Olympic Games was by far the greatest event. The Greeks celebrated through games, in the belief that the spirits of the departed would be grateful observing such spectacular feats, as they did during their earthly life.

Initially, such festivals were just sacrifices, which were then followed by the games. Gradually they grew into religious festivals, which began to be observed by an entire community and was celebrated near the shrine of the god in whose honor

they were instituted. The idea then developed that the gods themselves were present but invisible and delighted in the services and the contests.

The competition of a single foot race, called the "Stade", was held for the first 13 Olympiads. The word Stadium arrived from the word Stade.

Coroebus of Elis, the first recorded victor, from the Olympics was a cook. This was in 776 BC. The athletes from Elis were undefeated at the games for 13 Olympiads. In the14th Olympiad a second race was added. The second race was 2 stades, double the length of the stadium. An endurance race in the 15th Olympiad, were athletes run 12 times around the stadium, approximately 4 ½ kilometers. The athletes competed in groups of four, which were determined by drawing lots with the winners meeting the other winners until a final race was run. The track was composed of shifting sand, which gave way under the athletes` feet.

At this time the Pentathlon and Wrestling events were introduced. And later in 688 BC, Boxing; and likewise in 680 BC, the Four Horse Chariot Race; in 648 BC, the Pancration (a fierce combination of boxing and wrestling), and in 580 BC the Armed Race where the men traversed the stadium twice while heavily armed.

In the Pentathlon, those who jumped a certain distance qualified for the spear throwing; the four best then sprinted the length of the stadium, the three best then threw the discus, and the two best then engaged in a wrestling match to the finish.

As we saw earlier, rewards were simple crowns of wild olive, however, by the 61st Olympiad, it was decided to erect statues for the victors. But in order to deserve this honour, a victor had to win three times before a statue of him would be erected. Later, it was often the practice to make a breach in the walls of the city through which the victorious athletes returned.

During this period the games reached it climax and started to show the first signs of decay. Thriving for records and specialization to keep the interest of the crowds was only a short step away from professionalism.

```6When Macedonian troops invaded Greece, it put an end to Greek city-states. Greece now relieved of the political controversy, devoted themselves entirely to the Olympic Games. They stopped training their youth and just hired professional athletes and granted them citizenship. During the middle of the second century BC, Romans conquered Greece, and even though they had little interest in the games, they let them continue.

The Romans looked on athletics with contempt- stripping naked in public was something which was disgusting to the Romans. But they did realize the value of the Greek festivals, however, and Augustus, who had a genuine love for athletics, staged athletic games in a temporary wooden stadium erected near the Circus Maximus. Nero was also a keen patron of the festivals in Greece.

More than 250,000 spectators, witnessed chariot racing in the hippodrome and horse racing in the Circus Maximus, during the 4th century AD, in Rome. In the amphitheatre with accommodation for 50,000, animals and human beings were slaughtered in the name of sport. During the next centuries, the original ideals of the games were thrown to dust, as they became more oriented towards profits; but they continued nevertheless.

In 393 AD, the Emperor Theodosius forbade the Games altogether. They had survived long enough; long enough to be referred to as immortal. A period of nearly 300 Olympiads or approximately 1200 years, and now that they are back in action, immortal is just the word for Olympics, which has a glorious past, and now moving towards an even more glorious future.

The history of athletics in India dates back to the Vedic era. Although it is indeed a mystery that when exactly athletics in India made its presence felt as a distinct sports form; however it can be said that the well illustrated values of the Atharva Veda

contoured the limn of Indian athletics. In the Vedic age or much later in the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata athletics were typically a common form of sports. Sports like chariot racing, archery, horsemanship, military tactics, wrestling, weight lifting, swimming and hunting made their presence felt quite colossally back in that era. Later, apart from these other games like hiking, walking, `gulli-danda` were also being played in ancient India. Almost all these games were then defined as a `must` in the military training sessions of the Indian empires.

With the course of time, the nature and formation of sports in India started to change while leaving space to the up gradation of sports and athletics in India. The Indian people started to add some more sports like running, jumping, throwing, walking and other sports, along with those ancient sports and most of the new editions of sports were the track and field events of today`s Athletics. These forms of sports got immense popularity, once they were introduced in India. The main reason behind their popularity was that these games were almost equally capable of improving one`s physical capability, just like the ancient games.

Although, no information can be found about the exact timing when the contemporary form of Athletics games started its journey in India, it is generally said that the present day Athletics started to be played in India, just after the independence of India. Till then, the Athletics has gone through a number of phases in India. At the initial period, the Indian people used to play the track and field games in the grass and cinder tracks. After that, they started to play on the synthetic surface for most of the major competitions. The synthetic tracks made the organisers` jobs easier as there were no needs of manual marking of tracks and associated definitions for throws and jumps in those tracks. The introduction of technology in the game of Athletics improved its status further as keeping the record of players` timing became easier with the technology.

India has produced a lot of successful athletes in the international level so far and the most successful and famous Indian athletes include the names of Jeev Milkha Singh, T.C Yohannan, Gurbachan

Singh, Sriram Singh etc. All of these athletes are considered as the golden boys for Indian Athletics in its initial period. India has produced some successful athletes in the contemporary period as well. Among the most successful athletes of the present day Indian athletics, there are the athletes like P T Usha, Anju Bobby George, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Saraswati Saha, Soma Biswas etc. Apart from them, there are also some other athletes who are showing the signs to become successful in the international tournaments in the near future. Keeping in mind all the phases in the evolution of Athletics in India, it can be said that Athletics has shown a continuous trend of improvement so far and it is showing some promising signs for the future as well. Soma Biswas etc. The sport is commonly known as athletics in most of the world or track and field in the United States and Canada. The name "athletics" is derived from the Greek word "athlos", meaning "contest The original and only event at the first Olympics in 776 BC was a stadium-length foot race, or "stade," run on a track.

There were several other "games" held in Europe in the classical era:

Panhellenic Games : o The Pythian Games (founded 527 BC) held in Delphi

every four yearso The Nemean Games (founded 516 BC) held in Argolid

every two yearso The Isthmian Games (founded 523 BC) held on the

Isthmus of Corinth every two years The Roman Games – Arising from Etruscan rather than

purely Greek roots, the Roman Games deemphasized footraces and throwing. Instead, the Greek sports of chariot racing and wrestling, as well as the Etruscan sport of gladiatorial combat, took center stage.

The Tailteann Games (claimed foundation 1829 BC) – held near modern Telltown in Ireland, this thirty-day meeting included foot races and stone-throwing events

Other peoples, such as the Celts, Teutons and Goths who succeeded the Romans, enjoyed athletic contests. However, these

were often related to combat training. In the Middle Ages the sons of noblemen would be trained in running, leaping and wrestling, in addition to riding, jousting and arms-training. Contests between rivals and friends may have been common on both official and unofficial grounds.

Annually, from 1796-1798, L'Olympiade de la République was held in revolutionary France, and is an early forerunner to the modern summer Olympic Games. The premier event of this competition was a footrace, but various ancient Greek disciplines were also on display. The 1796 Olympiade also marks the introduction of the metric system into sport.

In the 19th century the formal organization of the modern events accelerated - in France, Germany, and Great Britain in particular. This included the incorporation of regular sports and exercise into school regimes. The Royal Military College, Sandhurst has claimed to be the first to adopt this in 1812 and 1825, but without any supporting evidence. The earliest recorded meeting was organised at Shrewsbury, Shropshire in 1840 by the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. There are details of the meeting in a series of letters written 60 years later by C.T. Robinson, who was a pupil there from 1838 to 1841. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich held an organised competition in 1849, but the first regular series of meetings was held by Exeter College, Oxford from 1850.

Modern athletic events are usually organized around a 400 metre running track on which most of the running events take place. Field events (vaulting, jumping, and throwing) often take place on the infield, inside the track.

Athletics was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has formed their backbone ever since. Women were first allowed to participate in track and field events in the 1928 Olympics.An international governing body, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), was founded in 1912; it adopted its current name, the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 2001.

The IAAF established separate outdoor World Championships in 1983. There are a number of regional games as well, such as the European Championships, the Pan-American Games, and the Commonwealth Games. In addition there is a professional Golden League circuit, culminating in the IAAF World Athletics Final, and indoor championships such as the World Indoor Championships.

The sport has a very high profile during major championships, especially the Olympics, but otherwise is less popular.

The AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) was the governing body in the United States until it collapsed under pressure from advancing professionalism in the late 1970s. A new governing body called The Athletics Congress (TAC) was formed.

It was later renamed USA Track & Field (USATF or USA T&F). An additional, less structured organization, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), also exists in the United States to promote road racing.

In modern times, athletes can receive money for racing, putting an end to the so-called "amateurism" that existed before.

Track and field athleticsTrack and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, sprinting, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic

Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The athletics meeting forms the backbone of the modern Summer Olympics, and other leading international meetings include the IAAF World Championships and World Indoor Championships.

Indoor athleticsTypical "oval" track consisting of two semicircles joined by straight segments.There are two seasons for track and field. There is an indoor season, run during the winter and an outdoor season, run during the spring. Most indoor tracks are 200 metres and consist of four to 8 lanes. There are also some 150 metre indoor tracks, and others as small as 120 metres have been used. Some "oversize tracks" (larger than 200 metres) are popular for American collegiate athletics despite the fact that they are not considered valid for setting indoor records. Often an indoor track will have banked turns to compensate for the tight radius of the turns. The banking can help prevent injuries to the athlete, while also promoting higher speeds.

In an indoor track meet athletes contest the same track events as at an outdoor meet, with the exception of the 100 m and 110 m/100 m hurdles (replaced by the 55 or 60 m sprint and 55 or 60 m hurdles at most levels, or the 55 m sprint and hurdles at the high school level), the 10,000 m run, 3,000 m steeplechase, 400 m hurdles. Indoor meets also have the addition of a 3,000 m run normally at both the collegiate and elite level, instead of the 10,000 m. The 5,000 m is the longest event commonly run

indoors, although there are situations where longer distances have been raced. In the mid 20th century, there was a series of "duel" races on Madison Square Garden's indoor track, some of which featured two men racing a marathon (42.2 km). However, this is an extremely rare occurrence, for obvious reasons. In some occasions, there may also be a 500 m race instead of the open 400 m normally found outdoors, and in many college championship races indoors both are contested.

In field events, indoor meets only feature the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, and shot put (weight throw). Due to space limitations, these events take place on the infield, within the circumferential track. The longer throws of javelin, hammer and discus are added only for outdoor meets, as there is normally not enough space in an indoor stadium to house these events.

Other events unique to indoor meets (especially in North America) are the 300 m, 600m, 1000 m, and 35 lb (16 kg) weight throw. In some countries, notably Norway, standing long jump and standing high jump are also contested, even in the National Championships.For multi-event athletes there is the Pentathlon for women (consisting of 60 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 m) and heptathlon for men (consisting of 60 m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 m hurdles, pole vault and 1000 m) indoors.In Secondary school meets the events that are exhibited are the 55m, 600m, 1000m, 1500m racewalk, 3000m, and 55m hurdles. There is also shotput, long jump, high jump, triple jump and 4x200m relay and 4x800m relay

Outdoor athletics

The outdoor track and field season usually begins in the spring and lasts through the summer. Most tracks are ovals of 400 metres in circumference. Modern All Weather Running Tracks,

known to many by brand names such as "Tartan tracks" and "Mondo tracks", are made with a rubberized surface; older tracks were cinder-covered. Tracks normally consist of 6-10 lanes (up to 12 lanes on the 'front' straight) and many include a steeplechase lane with a water pit on one of the turns. This steeplechase pit can be placed either inside or outside the track, making for a tighter turn or a wider turn. It is common that tracks will surround a playing field used for American football, association football (soccer), or lacrosse. This inner field is usually known as the infield and has a surface of either grass or artificial turf.

All field events can be contested on the infield. However the javelin, hammer and discus throws are sometimes contested on fields outside of the track stadium because they take up a large amount of space, the implements may damage the infield, and the implements could end up landing on the track. However, some infields are used specifically for these events, and for the javelin, an athlete may have a longer run-up by starting it on the other side of the track, and crossing when there are no athletes passing. Because the throwing events effectively result in projectiles being thrown, they are intrinsically more dangerous to spectators. Deaths and bodily injury have occurred as a result. Rules and meet organizers are justifiably safety cautious about the proximity and position of spectators, frequently putting the athletes inside cages with controlled openings to the landing area.

EventsThere are other variations besides the ones listed below, but races of unusual length (e.g. 300 m) are run much less often. The unusual races are typically held during indoor season because of the shorter 200 m indoor track. With the exception of the mile run, races based on imperial distances are rarely run on the track anymore since most tracks have been converted from a quarter mile (402.3 m) to 400 m; almost all record keeping for imperial distances has been discontinued. However, the IAAF record book

still includes the mile world record (currently held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco for men and Svetlana Masterkova of Russia for women) because of its worldwide historic significance.Men and women do not compete against each other, although they may sometimes run in the same races due to time constraints at high school meets. Women generally run the same distances as men although hurdles and steeplechase barriers are lower and the weights of the shot, discus, javelin and hammer are less.

All Comers Track MeetsTrack and Field is the most accessible sport for anyone to participate in. It only takes two people to have a race, or one can simply race a stopwatch. In events called All Comers Track Meets, anyone who wishes to participate is welcome. All comers meets are usually organized by communities, schools, or sports teams. Some sports teams also use all comers meets for fundraising. Most meets are low cost or free. All comers meets are fairly low-key and merely intended for gaining experience or just practicing for races. There is no exclusion on account of participants' lack of membership on a team or equipment. While races are usually seeded based on the entrant's expected level of ability, the most elite of athletes can and do use these meets for training or practice.

Track eventsThe rules of track athletics or of track events in athletics as observed in most international athletics competitions are set by the Competition Rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The most recent complete set of rules is the

2009 rules that relate only to competitions in 2009. Key rules of track events are those regarding starting, running and finishing.

StartingThe start of a race is marked by a white line 5 cm wide. In all races that are not run in lanes the start line must be curved, so that all the athletes start the same distance from the finish.

starting blocks may be used for all races up to and including 400 m (including the first leg of the 4 x 200 m and 4 x 400 m) and may not be used for any other race. No part of the starting block may overlap the start line or extend into another lane. All races must be started by the report of the starter's gun or approved starting apparatus fired upwards after he or she has ascertained that athletes are steady and in the correct starting position. An athlete may not touch either the start line or the ground in front of it with his hands or his feet when on his marks. At most international competitions the commands of the starter in his own language, in English or in French, shall, in races up to and including 400 m, be "On your marks" and "Set". When all athletes are "set", the gun must be fired, or an approved starting apparatus must be activated.] However, if the starter is not satisfied that all is ready to proceed, the athletes may be called out of the blocks and the process started over.

False start: An athlete, after assuming a final set position, may not commence his starting motion until after receiving the report of the gun, or approved starting apparatus. If, in the judgment of the starter or recallers, he does so any earlier, it is considered a false start. It is deemed a false start if, in the judgment of the starter an athlete fails to comply with the commands "on your marks" or "set" as appropriate after a reasonable time; or an athlete after the command "on your marks" disturbs other athletes in the race through sound or otherwise.] Any athlete making a false start is disqualified as of 2010. This rule was already in place in high school and college.

Running the raceIn all races run in lanes, each athlete must keep within his allocated lane from start to finish. This also applies to any portion of a race run in lanes. If an athlete leaves the track or steps on the line demarking the track, he/she should be disqualified. Also, any athlete who jostles or obstructs another athlete, in a way that impedes his progress, should be disqualified from that event. However, if an athlete is pushed or forced by another person to run outside his lane, and if no material advantage is gained, the athlete should not be disqualified.

The finishThe finish of a race is marked by a white line 5 cm wide. The athletes must be placed in the order in which any part of their torso ( as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line.

Ties between different athletes are resolved as follows: In determining whether there has been a tie in any round for a qualifying position for the next round based on time, a judge (called the chief photo finish judge) must consider the actual time recorded by the athletes to 1/1000th of a second. If the judge decides that there has been a tie, the tying athletes must be placed in the next round or, if that is not practicable, lots must be drawn to determine who must be placed in the next round. In the case of a tie for first place in any final, the referee decides whether it is practicable to arrange for the athletes so tying to compete again. If he decides it is not, the result will stand. Ties in other placings remain.

Track and field on coinageRunning commemorative coinTrack and field events have been selected as a main motif in numerous collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek Running commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the obverse of the coin, a modern athlete figure appears in the foreground, shown in the starting position, while in the background two ancient runners are carved in a manner that gives the appearance of a coin that is "worn" by time. This scene originally appeared on a black-figure vase of the 6th century BC.

Sprints are events up to and including the 400 metres. Events commonly contested (as defined by events held in the Olympics or World Championships) are:

100 metres 200 metres 300 meters (uncommon) 400 metres

Sprints are short running races in athletics.

RulesThe startStarting blocks are used for all competition sprint and relay events. The starting blocks consist of two adjustable footplates attached to a rigid frame. Races commence with the firing of the starter's gun. The starting commands are "On your marks" and "Set" or "Get Set". Once all athletes are in the set position, the starter's gun is fired, officially starting the race. For the 100m, all competitors are lined up side-by-side. For the 200m, 300m and 400m, which involve curves, runners are staggered for the start.

In the rare event that there are technical issues with a start, a green card is shown to all the athletes. The green card carries no penalty. If an Athlete is unhappy with track conditions after the "on your marks" command is given, he must raise his hand before the "get set" command and provide the track referee with a reason for raising their hand. It is then up to the Track referee to decide if the reason is valid. In the extremely rare event that the track referee deems the reason invalid, a yellow card (warning) is issued to that particular athlete. In the event that the entire field, or just that athlete, is already on a warning, the athlete is disqualified.

False startsIf a sprinter commences their starting motion from the set position within 0.1 seconds of the starter's gun being fired, it is deemed a false start. The first false start of a race results in a warning to the offending runner, indicated by a yellow card shown to the field by the track referee. Any athlete who thereafter commits a false start will be disqualified.

The IAAF rules deem that any athlete who commences their starting motion between 0.00 and 0.099 seconds after the starter's gun is fired, is deliberately guessing the start of the race rather than waiting for the signal to start.

100m Olympic Gold and Silver medallist, Linford Christie of Great Britain famously had frequent false starts that were marginally below the legal reaction time of 0.1 seconds. Christie and his coach, Ron Roddan, both claimed that the false starts were due to Christie's exceptional reaction times being under the legal time. His frequent false starting eventually led to his disqualification from the 1996 Olympic Games 100m final in Atlanta, Georgia, USA due to a second false start by Christie.

LanesFor all Olympic sprint events, runners must remain within their pre-assigned lanes, which measure 1.22 meters (4 feet) wide, from start to finish. The lanes can be numbered 1 through normally 8 or 9 rarely 10, starting with the inside lane. Any athlete who runs outside the assigned lane in order to gain an advantage is subject to disqualification. If the athlete is forced to run outside of his or her lane by another person, and no material advantage is gained, there will be no disqualification. Also, a runner who strays from his or her lane in the straightaway, or crosses the outer line of his or her lane on the bend, and gains no advantage by it, will not be disqualified as long as no other runner is obstructed.

The finishThe first athlete whose torso reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner. To ensure that the sprinter's torso triggers the timing impulse at the finish line rather than an arm, foot, or other body part, a double Photocell is commonly used. Times are only recorded by an electronic timing

system when both of these Photocells are simultaneously blocked. Photo finish systems are also used at some track and field events.

Common distances 60 meters

The 60 metres is normally run indoors, on a straight section of an indoor athletic track. Since races at this distance can last around six or seven seconds, having good reflexes and thus getting off to a quick start is more vital in this race than any other.

This is roughly the distance required for a human to reach maximum speed and can be run with one breath. It is popular for training and testing in other sports (e.g. speed testing for American football, although 40 yards is more common there).

The World record in this event is held by American sprinter Maurice Greene with a time of 6.39 seconds.

60 metres is used as an outdoor distance by younger athletes when starting in sprint.

100 meters100 m (one hundred metres) is the shortest outdoor sprint race distance in athletics. The reigning 100 m Olympic champion is often named "the fastest man/woman in the world". The 200 m

record had often been at a faster average speed than the 100 m record.

Sprinters typically reach top speed after somewhere between 50–60 m. Their speed then slows progressively towards the finish line. Maintaining that top speed for as long as possible is a primary focus of training for the 100 m.

In the past, athletes often competed over 100   yards (91.4 m) instead of 100 m, especially in the United States. This shorter distance is now obsolete. Indoor sprints are often run over 60 m (sometimes 50 m or 55 m) as few facilities have a 100 m indoor straight.

On an outdoor 400 metres running track, the 100 m is run on the home straight, the start being set on an extension to make it a straight-line race.

The 100 metres sprint takes place on one length of the home straight of a standard outdoor 400 m track. Often, the world-record holder in this race is considered "the world's fastest man/woman." The current world Record of 9.58 seconds is held by Usain Bolt of Jamaica and was set on 16 August 2009, at the 2009 World Athletics Championships. The women's world record is 10.49 seconds and was set by Florence Griffith-Joyner.

The 4x100 m relay is another prestigious event, with an average speed that is quicker than the 100 m, as the runners can start moving before they receive the baton. The World record in this event is 37.10 seconds, held by the Jamaican team as set 22 August 2008 at the Beijing Olympics.

Record performancesMajor 100 m races, such as at the Olympic Games, attract much attention, particularly when the world record is thought to be within reach.The men's world record has been improved upon twelve times since the introduction of electronic timing in 1968. The current men's world record of 9.58 s is held by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships final on 16 August 2009, breaking his own previous world record by 0.11 s. The current women's world record of 10.49 s was set by Florence Griffith-Joyner of the USA, in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 16 July 1988.

Illegal drug use has been seen by some people as a means to gain a competitive edge; in particular, the scandal at the 1988 Summer Olympics when the winner Ben Johnson was stripped of his medal. In 2003, revelations of failed drug tests by sprinting legend Carl Lewis before the 1988 Seoul Olympics also put the validity of his achievements into question.

Jim Hines was the first man to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m, recording the first sub-10 second, electronically timed run to win the 100 metres at the 1968 Olympics.

StartAt the start, some athletes play psychological games such as trying to be last to the starting blocks, although direct intimidation would be considered unsportsmanlike. The starter will keep the sprinters in the set position for an unpredictable time of around two seconds and then fire the starting gun.

The time between the gun and first kick against the starting block is measured electronically, via sensors built in the gun and the blocks. A reaction time less than 0.1 s is considered a false start. The 0.1-second interval accounts for the sum of the time it takes for the sound of the starter's pistol to reach the runners' ears, and the time it takes to react to it.For many years a sprinter was disqualified if responsible for two false starts individually. However, this rule allowed some major races to be restarted so many times that the sprinters started to lose focus. The current rule, introduced in February 2003, is that, after one false start, anyone responsible for a subsequent false start is disqualified immediately. This rule has led to some sprinters deliberately false-starting to gain a psychological advantage: an individual with a slower reaction time might false-start, forcing the faster starters to wait and be sure of hearing the gun for the subsequent start, thereby losing some of their advantage. In order to avoid such abuse, the IAAF will implement a change to the rule from the 2010 season, so that the first false starting athlete is immediately disqualified. This proposal was met with objections when first raised in 2005, on the grounds that it would not leave any room for innocent mistakes. Justin Gatlin commented, "Just a flinch or a leg cramp could cost you a year's worth of work.".

FinishThe winner is determined by the first athlete with his or her torso (not including limbs, head, or neck) over the nearer edge of the finish line.

Climatic conditionsClimatic conditions are a crucial factor for good performances in the 100 m. Air resistance is the primary climatic factor in sprint performances. A strong head wind is very detrimental to performance, while a tail wind can improve performances significantly.

For this reason, a maximum tail wind of 2.0 m/s is allowed for a 100 m performance to be considered eligible for records, or "wind legal".

Furthermore, sprint athletes perform better at high altitudes because of the thinner air, which provides less air resistance. In theory, the thinner air would also make breathing slightly more difficult (due to the partial pressure of oxygen being lower), but this difference is negligible for sprint distances where all the oxygen needed for the short dash is already in the muscles and bloodstream when the race starts. While there are no limitations on altitude, performances made at altitudes greater than 1000 m above sea level are marked with an "A".

Fastest 100 metres runners Top thirteen all-time athletes—menRank

Time

Wind (m/s)

Athlete Country DateLocati

on

19.58

+0.9 Usain Bolt  Jamaica16 August 2009

Berlin

2 9.6 +2.0 Tyson Gay  United States 20 Shang

9September 2009

hai

39.72

+0.2 Asafa Powell  Jamaica2 September 2008

Lausanne

49.79

+0.1Maurice Greene

 United States 16 June 1999 Athens

59.84

+0.7Donovan Bailey

 Canada 27 July 1996 Atlanta

+0.2 Bruny Surin  Canada22 August 1999

Seville

79.85

+1.2 Leroy Burrell  United States 6 July 1994Lausanne

+0.6 Justin Gatlin  United States22 August 2004

Athens

+1.7Olusoji Fasuba

 Nigeria 12 May 2006 Doha

109.86

+1.2 Carl Lewis  United States25 August 1991

Tokyo

−0.4Frankie Fredericks

 Namibia 3 July 1996Lausanne

+1.8 Ato Boldon Trinidad and Tobago

19 April 1998 Walnut

+0.6Francis Obikwelu

 Portugal22 August 2004

Athens

Tyson Gay also has a time of 9.68 s set on 29 June 2008 during the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon; the tail wind speed was 4.1 m/s, more than double the IAAF legal limit.[9]

Obadele Thompson ran a wind-aided 9.69 in El Paso, Texas in April 1996 which stood as the fastest ever 100m time for 12 years until Tyson Gay's June 2008 performance

Justin Gatlin ran 9.77 in Doha on 12 May 2006, which was at the time ratified as a world record. However, the performance was annulled in 2007 after he failed a doping test in April 2006.

Carl Lewis ran a time of 9.78 seconds at the 1988 US olympic trials in Indianapolis but it was wind aided.

Tim Montgomery 's time (9.78 at Paris on 14 September 2002) was invalidated following his indictment in the BALCO scandal on drug use and drug trafficking charges. The time had stood as the world record until Asafa Powell first ran 9.77.

Ben Johnson ran 9.79 at Seoul on 24 September 1988, but he was disqualified after he tested positive for stanozolol after the race. He subsequently admitted to drug use between 1981 and 1988, and his time of 9.83 at Rome on 30 August 1987 was invalidated. Carl Lewis's 9.92 in the Seoul race was therefore recognized as the world record, and his two prior runs of 9.93 were seen as having equalled the previous world record.

Ato Boldon has recorded 9.86 seconds on four occasions: the one detailed here is the first.

Top ten all-time athletes—women

Rank

Time

Wind (m/s)

Athlete Nation Date Location

110.49

0.0Florence Griffith-Joyner

 United States

16 July 1988 Indianapolis

210.64

+1.2Carmelita Jeter

 United States

20 September 2009

Shanghai

310.65

+1.1 Marion Jones United States

12 September 1998

Johannesburg [A]

4 10.73

+0.1 Shelly-Ann Fraser

 Jamaica 17 August 2009

Berlin

+2.0Christine Arron

 France19 August 1998

Budapest

610.74

+1.3 Merlene Ottey  Jamaica7 September 1996

Milan

710.75

+0.4Kerron Stewart

 Jamaica 10 July 2009 Rome

810.76

+1.7Evelyn Ashford

 United States

22 August 1984

Zürich

910.77

+0.9 Irina Privalova  Russia 6 July 1994 Lausanne

+0.7 Ivet Lalova  Bulgaria19 June 2004

Plovdiv

Florence Griffith-Joyner's World Record has been the subject of a controversy due to strong suspicion of a defective anemometer measuring a tailwind lower than actually present; since 1997 the International Athletics Annual of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians has listed this performance as "probably strongly wind assisted, but recognised as a world record".

Marion Jones later confessed to using performance enhancing drugs in setting her 100m time.

Area recordsArea

Men's Women'sTime Athlete Nation Time Athlete Nation

Africa (records)

9.85Olusoji Fasuba

 Nigeria

10.90

Glory Alozie  Nigeria

Asia (records)

9.99Samuel Francis

 Qatar10.79

Li Xuemei  China

Europe (records)

9.86Francis Obikwelu

 Portugal

10.73

Christine Arron

 France

North, Central Americaand

9.58 WR

Usain Bolt

 Jamaica

10.49 WR

Florence Griffith-Joyner

 United States

Caribbean (records)

Oceania (records)

9.93Patrick Johnson

 Australia

11.12

Melinda Gainsford-Taylor

 Australia

South America (records)

10.00[A]

Robson da Silva

 Brazil11.17

Lucimar Aparecida de Moura

 Brazil

200 metersA 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the Ancient Olympics. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes rely on different energy systems during the longer sprint.

In the United States and elsewhere, athletes previously ran the 220-yard dash (201.168 m) instead of the 200 m, though the distance is now obsolete. The standard adjustment used for the conversion from times recorded over 220 yards to 200 m times is to subtract 0.1 seconds,[1] but other conversion methods exist.

The race attracts runners from other events wishing to double up and claim both titles. This feat has been achieved nine times at the Olympic Games, most recently by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2008. An Olympic double of 200 m and 400   m was first achieved by Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984, and later by Michael Johnson from the United States and Marie-José Pérec of France both in 1996.

The men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran 19.19 s at the 2009 World Championships. The women's world record holder is Florence Griffith-Joyner of the United States, who ran 21.34 s at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The reigning Olympic champions are Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown, both of whom are from Jamaica.

Because humans use the same muscles for both support and forward speed, the runners in the inside lanes are disadvantaged by centrifugal force during the bend phase. Consequently, the middle and outer lanes are preferred.[2]

The 200 metres begins on the curve of a standard track (where the runners are staggered in their starting position, to ensure that they all run the same distance), and ends on the home straight. The ability to "run a good bend" is key at the distance, as a well conditioned runner will be able to run 200 m in an average speed higher than their 100 m speed.

Indoors, the race is run as one lap of the track, with only slightly slower times than outdoors.

A slightly shorter race (but run on a straight track), the stadion, was the first recorded event at the Ancient Olympics and the oldest known formal sports event in history.

The world record in this event is 19.19 seconds, held by Usain Bolt and was set on 20 August 2009, at the 2009 World Athletics Championships

All-time fastest 200 m athletes Men

Rank

Res.

Wind

Athlete Nation Date Location

1.19.19

−0.3

Usain Bolt  Jamaica20 August 2009

Berlin

2.19.32

+0.4

Michael Johnson

 United States

1 August 1996 Atlanta

3.19.58

+1.3

Tyson Gay United States

30 May 2009New York City

4.19.63

+0.4

Xavier Carter United States

11 July 2006 Lausanne

5.19.65

0.0Wallace Spearmon

 United States

28 September 2006

Daegu

6.19.68

+0.4

Frankie Fredericks

 Namibia 1 August 1996 Atlanta

7.19.69

+0.9

Walter Dix United States

26 May 2007 Gainesville

8.19.72

+1.8

Pietro Mennea

 Italy12 September 1979

Mexico City

9.19.73

−0.2

Michael Marsh

 United States

5 August 1992 Barcelona

10.19.75

+1.5

Carl Lewis United States

19 June 1983Indianapolis

+1.8

Joe DeLoach United States

28 September 1988

Seoul

WomenRank

Res.

Wind

Athlete Nation Date Location

1.21.34

+1.3

Florence Griffith-Joyner

 United States

29 September 1988

Seoul

2.21.62

−0.6

Marion Jones United States

11 September 1998

Johannesburg

3. 21.64

+0.8

Merlene Ottey  Jamaica 13 September

Brussels

1991

4.21.71

+0.7

Marita Koch East Germany

10 June 1979Karl-Marx-Stadt

+1.2

Heike Drechsler East Germany

29 June 1986 Jena

6.21.72

+1.3

Grace Jackson  Jamaica29 September 1988

Seoul

−0.1

Gwen Torrence United States

15 August 1992

Barcelona

8.21.74

+0.4

Marlies Göhr East Germany

3 June 1984 Erfurt

+1.2

Silke Gladisch-Möller

 East Germany

3 September 1987

Rome

−0.6

Veronica Campbell-Brown

 Jamaica21 August 2008

Beijing

400 meters400 m is a common track running event. It is a sprint distance. On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries athletes previously competed in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m) instead of the 400 metres, though this distance is now obsolete.

The current men's world record is held by Michael Johnson, with a time of 43.18 seconds. The world indoor record holder is Kerron Clement, in 44.57 seconds. The current women's world record is held by Marita Koch, with a time of 47.60 seconds. The reigning World Champions are LaShawn Merritt and Sanya Richards. The reigning Olympic champions are LaShawn Merritt and Christine Ohuruogu. The men's Paralympic world record of 46.25 seconds is held by Oscar Pistorius.[1]

An Olympic double of 200 metres and 400 m was first achieved by Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984, and later by Michael Johnson from the United States and Marie-José Pérec of France both in 1996. Alberto Juantorena of Cuba at the 1976 Summer Olympics became the first and so far the only athlete to win both the 400 m and 800   m Olympic tles.

The 400 metres is one lap around the track on the inside lane. Runners are staggered in their starting positions to ensure that everyone runs the same distance. While this event is a sprint (according to some), there is more scope to use tactics in the race; the fact that 400 m times are considerably more than four times a typical 100 m time demonstrates this.

The world record is currently held by Michael Johnson with a time of 43.18 seconds.

The 4x400 m relay is often held at track and field meetings, and is by tradition the final event at major championships.

Common tactics include exploding out of the blocks and continuing to run hard through the curve, relaxing in the middle 200 meters and kicking hard on the homestretch.

Famous 400 m runners

Top all-time athletes - men

Rank

Time

Athlete Nation Date Location

1.43.18

Michael Johnson United States

26 August 1999

Seville

2.43.29

Harry 'Butch' Reynolds

 United States

17 August 1988

Zürich

3.43.45

Jeremy Wariner United States

31 August 2007

Osaka

4.43.50

Quincy Watts United States

5 August 1992Barcelona

5.43.75

LaShawn Merritt United States

21 August 2008

Beijing

6.43.81

Danny Everett United States

26 June 1992New Orleans

7.43.86

Lee Evans United States

18 October 1968

Mexico City

8.43.87

Steve Lewis United States

28 September 1988

Seoul

9.43.97

Larry James United States

18 October 1968

Mexico City

10.44.05

Angelo Taylor United States

23 June 2007Indianapolis

Top all-time athletes - women

Rank

Time

Athlete Nation Date Location

1.47.60

Marita Koch East Germany

6 October 1985

Canberra

2.47.99

Jarmila Kratochvílová

 Czechoslovakia

10 August 1983

Helsinki

3.48.25

Marie-José Pérec  France 29 July 1996 Atlanta

4.48.27

Olga Vladykina-Bryzgina

 Soviet Union

6 October 1985

Canberra

5.48.59

Taťána Kocembová

 Czechoslovakia

10 August 1983

Helsinki

6.48.63

Cathy Freeman  Australia 29 July 1996 Atlanta

7.48.70

Sanya Richards United States

16 September 2006

Athens

8.48.83

Valerie Brisco-Hooks

 United States

6 August 1984

Los Angeles

9.48.89

Ana Guevara  Mexico27 August 2003

Paris Saint-Denis

10. 49.0 Chandra  United 6 August Los Angeles

5 Cheeseborough States 1984

Middle Distance Events are events longer than sprints and up to 3000 metres. Events commonly contested are:

600 metres (uncommon) 800 metres 1000 metres (uncommon, but World Record is kept) 1500 metres 1600 metres (uncommon—used in US High Schools) One mile [3] (not an Olympic event) 2000 metres (uncommon, but a World Record is kept) 3000 metres (not an Olympic event) 3200 meters (uncommon—used in US High Schools) 3000 metres steeplechase

Middle distance eventsThe standard middle distances are the 800 m, 1500 m, mile (in the United States), and the 3000 m (which is viewed by some as more of a long distance event). In the United States, the 3000 m is more common at the high school and collegiate levels (along with the US two mile). In Japan, the 800, 1500 and 3000 meter events are competed in both genders for junior high school and high school, except that high school boys jump to 5000 meters. Both 3000 and 5000 meter distances are sometimes described as long distance but also frequently as middle distance, depending on the context. From the perspective of a longer race like a half marathon, marathon or relays such as the ekiden relay, the 5000 meter race might be viewed as middle distance.What constitutes a good mark for each event of course varies by gender, age,

individual, intensity of training/competition, point in the competitive season and many other factors.

600 metersThis middle distance length is rather uncommon, and is mainly run by sprinters wishing to test their endurances at a longer distance. The 600 m is also used as an early season stepping stone by 800 m runners before they have reached full race fitness. The record at this distance is for men:

Johnny Gray (United States) 1:12.81 Santa Monica 24 May 1986

For women:

Ana Fidelia Quirot (Cuba) 1:22.63 Guadalajara 25 July 1997

800 metersThe 800 meter race (or 800 meters) is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track `(400 meter track) and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track 6season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps. It was included in the first woman's track program in 1928, but suspended until 1960 because of shock at the exhaustion it caused the competitors. By contrast, without today's training regimes, male competitors of the day were expected to run themselves to exhaustion in competition.[

The event requires both sprinting speed and physical endurance to last two laps, therefore combining challenging aspects of both sprinting and middle distance into a single race.

The 800 m consists of two laps around a standard 400 m track, and has always been an Olympic event. It was included in the first

women's track programme in 1928, but suspended until 1960 because of shock and the exhaustion it caused the competitors. Without the benefits of modern training, men of the era were, in contrast, expected to run themselves to complete exhaustion during competitions]. The current record is for men:

Wilson Kipketer (Denmark), 1:41.11 Cologne 24 August 1997

For women:

Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia) 1:53.28 Munich, 26 July 1983`5

Top ten all-time athletes on the men's 800 m

Rank

Time Athlete Nation DateLocation

11:41.11

Wilson Kipketer

 Denmark24 August 1997

Cologne

21:41.73

Sebastian Coe United

Kingdom10 June 1981

Florence

31:41.77

Joaquim Cruz  Brazil26 August 1984

Cologne

41:42.01

David Rudisha  Kenya6 September 2009

Rieti

51:42.28

Sammy Koskei  Kenya26 August 1984

Cologne

61:42.34

Wilfred Bungei  Kenya8 September 2002

Rieti

71:42.47

Yuriy Borzakovskiy

 Russia24 August 2001

Brussels

81:42.55

Andre Bucher  Switzerland17 August 2001

Zürich

91:42.58

Vebjørn Rodal  Norway 31 July 1996Atlanta

101:42.60

Johnny Gray United

States28 August 1985

Koblenz

1000 metersThis distance is not commonly raced, though it is more common than the 500 m event is for sprinters. This is commonly raced as an indoor men's heptathlon event, or as an indoor high school event. The record at this distance for men is:

Noah Ngeny (Kenya) 2:11.96 Rieti 5 September 1999[7]

For women:

Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) 2:28.98 Munich 23 August 1996[8]

1200 metersThree laps. A distance seldom raced on its own, but commonly raced as part of the Distance Medley Relay.

1500 metersAlong with the 800 m, this is a premier middle-distance race, covering three and three-quarter laps around a standard Olympic-sized track. In recent years, races over this distance have become

more of a prolonged sprint, with each lap averaging 55 seconds for the world record performance by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998 at Rome (two 1:50 s 800 m performances back to back). Thus, speed is necessary, and it seems that the more aerobic conditioning, the better. This is a difficult distance to compete at, mentally, in addition to being one of the more tactical middle-distance track events. The distance is often witness to some of the most tactical, physical races in the sport, as many championship races are won in the final few metres. The record at this distance for men is:

Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 3:26.00 Rome 14 July 1998[9]

For women:

Qu Yunxia (China) 3:50.46 Beijing 11 September 1993[10]

A few states of the USA use this distance, among them Oregon, Florida and Massachusetts.

1500 meters

Age GroupCountry

# of Athletes

Time Range 2007

Time Range 2008

BoysJunior High School

Japan Top 1503:59.40 - 4:13.77

BoysMiddle School

USA Top 2004:21.07 - 5:17

Boys High School Japan Top 1003:51.65 - 3:59.10

3:44.21 - 3:57.87

Boys High School USATop 31, Top 100

3:47.31 - 3:59.68

3:49.51 - 4:08.0

GirlsJunior High School

Japan Top 2004:23.92 - 4:45.49

GirlsMiddle School

USA Top 2004:58.73 - 6:01.00

Girls High School Japan Top 2004:20.44 - 4:37.68

4:17.13 - 4:36.64

Girls High School USATop 28, Top 200

4:16.98 - 4:39.92

4:14.50 - 4:55.0

1600 metersAt exactly four laps of a normal 400 m track, this distance is raced as the metric mile as a near replacement for the mile (it is, in fact, 9.35 m, about 22 inches, shorter; however, it is still colloquially referred to as "the mile"). The 1600 meters is the official distance for this range of races in US High Schools. The 1500 m, however, is the most common distance run at the college and international levels.

An accurate way to run an actual mile on a metric track would be to run the additional 9.35 meters before starting the first marked 400 meter lap. On a metric track, there will be a relay zone 10 meters before the common start/finish line, frequently marked by a triangle pointed toward the finish. In many configurations, that triangle is about half a meter wide, making its point extremely close to the mile start line, which would be slightly less than two feet from the marked relay zone (the widest part of the triangle, or line).

MileThis length of middle-distance race, 1760 yards, (1609.344 metres), is very common in countries that don't use the metric system, and is still often referred to as the "Blue Riband" of the track.

When the International Amateur Athletic Federation decided in 1976 to recognise only world records for metric distances, it made an exception for the mile and records are kept to this day.

Historically, the mile took the place that the 1500 m has today. It is still raced on the world class level, but usually only at select occasions, like the famous Wanamaker Mile held annually at the Millrose Games. Running a mile in less than four minutes is a famously difficult achievement, long thought impossible by the

scientific community. The first man to break the four minute barrier was Englishman Roger Bannister at Oxford in 1954. The term "miler" is sometimes also applied to a 1500 m runner. The record at this distance for men is:

Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 3:43.13 Rome 7 July 1999For women:

Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) 4:12.56 Zürich 14 August 1996

2000 metres Another event that is rarely run, a miler's speed will

generally allow him/her to prevail at this distance over less balanced challengers. The record at this distance for men is:

Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 4:44.79 Berlin September 7, 1999[14]

For women:

Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland) 5:25.36 Edinburgh July 8, 1994[15]

3000 meters Truly on the borderline between middle and longer

distances, the 3000 m (7.5 laps) is a standard race in the United States, though it is not raced at the outdoor IAAF World Championships. This race requires decent speed, but a lack of natural quickness can be made up for with superior aerobic conditioning and supporting race tactics. The record at this distance for men is:

Daniel Komen (Kenya) 7:20.67 Rieti 1 September 1996

For women:

Junxia Wang (China) 8:06.11 Beijing 13 September 1993[

A few states of the USA use this distance, among them Oregon, Massachusetts and Florida.

3200 mAt exactly 8 laps on a standard 400 m track, this event is typically run only in American high schools along with the 1600 m. It is colloquially called the "two-mile," as the distance is only about 18 metres shorter than two miles. In college, the typical runner of this event would convert to the 3,000 metre run.

2,000 metre steeplechaseAnother race only run in high school or Masters meets. The typical specialist in this event would move up to the 3000m steeplechase in college.

In the USA, the steeplechase is still relatively uncommon in high school. One example is New York state, where high school boys compete in the 3000 meter steeplechase and the high school girls compete in the 2000 meter steeplechase. In many states, both boys and girls compete in the 2000 meter steeple chase.

2000 meter steeplechase

Age Group

Country

# of Athletes

Time Range 2007

Time Range 2008

Boys High USA Top 5, 5:52.63 - 5:54.58 -

School Top 100 6:03.33 7:48.40

GirlsHigh School

Japan Top 27:06.62 and 7:23.11

GirlsHigh School

USATop 5, Top 100

16:36.34 - 16:50.47

6:42.86 - 8:11.0

3,000 metre steeplechase

The 3,000 metre Steeplechase is a distance event requiring greater strength, stamina, and agility than the flat 3,000 metre event. This is because athletes are required to jump over five barriers per lap, after a flat first 200 m to allow for settling in. One barrier per lap is placed in front of a water pit, meaning that runners are also forced to deal with the chaffing of wet shoes as they race. The world record for men is:

Saif Saeed Shaheen (Qatar) 7:53.63 Brussels 3 September 2004

For women:

Gulnara Samitova (Russia) 8:58.81 Beijing 17 August 2008

1500 metresThe 1,500 metres (or meters) is a premier middle distance track event.

In modern times, it has become more of a prolonged sprint with each lap averaging under 55 seconds for the world record performance by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998 at Rome. The 1500 is three and three-quarter laps around a 400 metre track. Through the 1980s the event was dominated by British runners, but through the 1990s the African runners began to take over, with runners from Kenya, Morocco and Algeria winning the Olympic titles.

In American high schools, the one mile (which is 1609.344 metres) and 1600 m, also colloquially referred to as "metric mile," are more frequently run than the 1500 m, since Imperial units are better-known in the US. Which is used depends on the state the high school is in, and, for convenience, national rankings are standardized by converting all 1600 m times to their one mile equivalents.

Top Ten Fastest Athletes

MenRank

Res. AthleteNatio

nDate

Location

1.3:26.00

Hicham El Guerrouj

 Morocco

14 July 1998 Rome

2.3:26.34

Bernard Lagat  Kenya24 August 2001

Brussels

3.3:27.37

Noureddine Morceli

 Algeria

12 July 1995 Nice

4.3:28.12

Noah Ngeny  Kenya11 August 2000

Zürich

5.3:28.95

Fermín Cacho  Spain13 August 1997

Zürich

6.3:28.98

Mehdi Baala France

5 September 2003

Brussels

7.3:29.02

Daniel Kipchirchir Komen

 Kenya9 July 2006 Rome

8.3:29.14

Rashid Ramzi Bahrain

14 July 2006 Rome

9.3:29.18

Vénuste Niyongabo

 Burundi

22 August 1997

Brussels

10.3:29.29

William Chirchir  Kenya24 August 2001

Brussels

WomenRank

Res. Athlete Nation DateLocati

on

1.3:50.46

Yunxia Qu  China11 September 1993

Beijing

2.3:50.98

Bo Jiang  China18 October 1997

Shanghai

3.3:51.34

Yinglai Lang  China18 October 1997

Shanghai

4.3:51.92

Junxia Wang  China11 September 1993

Beijing

5.3:52.47

Tatyana Kazankina

 Soviet Union

13 August 1980

Zürich

6.3:53.91

Lili Yin  China18 October 1997

Shanghai

7.3:53.96

Paula Ivan  Romania1 October 1988

Seoul

8.3:53.97

Lixin Lan  China18 October 1997

Shanghai

9.3:54.23

Olga Dvirna Soviet Union

27 July 1982 Kiev

10.3:54.52

Ling Zhang  China18 October 1997

Shanghai

Long Distance Events are events over 3000 metres. Events commonly contested are:

5000 metres 10000 metres

Long-distance track eventThis article is about long-distance track races. For long track speedskating, see speed skating. For lengths on the order of 10 kilometres, see 1 myriametre.

Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy. Because these types of races are very energy-consuming, one requires mental determination and aerobic conditioning, since stamina is a bigger factor than speed.

Standard long-distance events5,000 metres

The 5000 metres (approximately 3.1 miles) is a popular running distance also known as a 5K or 5 km, colloquially "five-K". It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event. While mainly run as an outdoor event, the 5000 m is sometimes run on an indoor track. Official records are kept for both outdoor[1]

and indoor[2] 5000 m track events, but not for 5 km road races.

Much of the distance's popularity is due to the challenge it offers to both novices and accomplished professionals. It is a distance race that demands a great deal of endurance as well as speed. Tactics also play a key role, and the combination makes it attractive to many.

The 5,000 metres is a premier event that requires tactics and superior aerobic conditioning. Training for such an event may consist of a total of 60–200 kilometers (37–124 miles) a week, although training regimens vary greatly. The 5000 is often a popular entry-level race for beginning runners.

The world record for men:

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia 12:37.35 (an average of 23.76 km/h) Hengelo, Netherlands on 31 May 2004

For women:

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia 14:11.15 (an average of 21.14 km/h) Oslo, Norway on 6 June 2008

All-time top 10MenPos

Time AthleteVenu

eDate

1.12:37.35

 Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)

Hengelo

May 31, 2004

2.12:39.36

 Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)

Helsinki

June 13, 1998

3.12:39.74

 Daniel Komen (KEN)

Brussels

August 22, 1997

4.12:46.53

 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)

Rome July 2, 2004

5.12:47.04

 Sileshi Sihine (ETH) Rome July 2, 2004

6.12:48.66

 Isaac Songok (KEN)ZürichAugust 18, 2006

7.12:48.81

 Stephen Cherono (KEN)

Ostrava

June 12, 2003

8.12:49.28

 Brahim Lahlafi (MAR)

Brussels

August 25, 2000

9.12:49.71

 Mohammed Mourhit (BEL)

Brussels

August 25, 2000

10.

12:49.87

 Paul Tergat (KEN) ZürichAugust 13, 1997

WomenPos

Time Athlete Venue Date

1.14:11.15

 Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)

Oslo June 6, 2008

2.14:12.88

 Meseret Defar (ETH)

Stockholm

July 22, 2008

3.14:22.51

 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN)

OsloJune 15, 2007

4.14:23.75

 Liliya Shobukhova (RUS)

Kazan July 19, 2008

5.14:24.68

 Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR)

BergenJune 11, 2004

6.14:28.09

 Jiang Bo (CHN)Shanghai

October 23, 1997

7.14:29.11

 Paula Radcliffe (GBR)

Bydgoszcz

June 20, 2004

8.14:29.32

 Olga Yegorova (RUS)

BerlinAugust 31, 2001

 Berhane Adere (ETH)

OsloJune 27, 2003

10.

14:29.82

 Dong Yanmei (CHN)

Shanghai

October 23, 1997

10,000 metresThe 10,000 metres is a common long distance running event, also known as a 10K or 10 km. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "10,000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "10K" generally refers to a roadrace or Cross country running event.

The 10,000 metres is the longest standard track event. The metric distance is equal to 6.214 miles. Most of those running such races also compete in road races and cross country events. Official records are kept for outdoor 10000 metre track events.The world track record for men is held by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in 26:17.53, posted at Brussels, Belgium on August 26, 2005. The 27:01 10K road race mark by Micah Kogo of Kenya was set in Brunssum, The Netherlands on March 29, 2009.

For women, the world track 10,000 metres record is held by Wang Junxia of China in 29:31.78 in September 8, 1993

The 10,000 metres is the longest standard track event. Most of those running such races also compete in road races and cross country running events. The world record for men:

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in 26:17.53 (22.96 km/h) in Brussels, Belgium, set on August 26, 2005

For women:

Wang Junxia of China in 29:31.78 (20.47km/h), set on September 8, 1993

HistoryIntroduced in 1912, the 10,000 m is the longest standard track event. Athletes from Finland dominated the event until the 1960s, at which time African athletes began to catch up.

All-time top 10MenPos

Time AthleteVenu

eDate

1.26:17.53

 Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)Brussels

August 26, 2005

2.26:22.75

 Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)

Hengelo

June 1 1998

3.26:27.85

 Paul Tergat (KEN)Brussels

August 22, 1997

4.26:30.03

 Nicholas Kemboi (KEN)Brussels

September 5 2003

5.26:30.74

 Abebe Dinkesa Negera (ETH)

Hengelo

May 29, 2005

6.26:35.63

 Micah Kogo (KEN)Brussels

August 25, 2006

7.26:36.26

 Paul Koech (KEN)Brussels

August 22, 1997

8.26:37.25

 Zersenay Tadese (ERI)Brussels

August 25, 2006

9.26:38.08

 Salah Hissou (MAR)Brussels

August 23, 1996

10.

26:38.76

 Abdullah Ahmad Hassan (QAT)

Brussels

September 5 2003

WomenPos.

Time Athlete Venue Date

1.29:31.78

 Wang Junxia (CHN) BeijingSeptember 8, 1993

2.29:53.80

 Meselech Melkamu (ETH)

Utrecht June 14, 2009

3.29:54.66

 Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)

BeijingAugust 15, 2008

4.29:56.34

 Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR)

BeijingAugust 15, 2008

5.29.59.20

 Meseret Defar (ETH) Birmingham July 11, 2009

6.30:01.09

 Paula Radcliffe (GBR) MunichAugust 6, 2002

7.30:04.18

 Berhane Adere (ETH)Paris, Saint-Denis

August 23, 2003

8.30:07.15

 Werknesh Kidane (ETH)

Paris, Saint-Denis

August 23, 2003

9.30:07.20

 Sun Yingjie (CHN)Paris, Saint-Denis

August 23, 2003

10.30:11.53

 Florence Jebet Kiplagat (KEN)

Utrecht June 14, 2009

Hurdles events require the runner to run over

evenly spaced barriers during the race. Events commonly contested are:

100 metres hurdles (women) 110 metres hurdles (men) 300 metres hurdles (Youth, High School and Masters age

groups) 400 metres hurdles

HurdlingHurdling is a type of track and field race.

DistancesThere are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women. Each of these races is run over ten hurdles and they are all Olympic events.

Other distances are sometimes run, particularly indoors. The sprint hurdle race indoors is usually 60 meters for both men and women, although races 55 meters or 50 meters long are sometimes ran. A 60 meter indoor race is ran over 5 hurdles. A shorter race may have only 4 hurdles. The long hurdle race is sometimes shortened to 300 meters or 200 meters, usually for high school races.

There are two basic hurdle heights: high hurdles and intermediate hurdles. The sprint hurdle races (60 m, 100 m and 110 m) use high hurdles, which are 42 inches (106.7 cm) for men and 33 inches (83.8 cm) high for women. Long hurdle races (400 m) use intermediate hurdles, which are 36 inches (91.4 cm) high for men and 30 inches (76.2 cm) high for women. Slightly lower heights (generally 3 inches/7.6 centimetres lower) are sometimes used in youth or high school events.

In sprint hurdle races for men, regardless of the length of the race, the first hurdle is 13.72 m (45 ft) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 9.14 m (30 ft). In sprint hurdle races for women, the first hurdle is 13 m (42 ft 8 in) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in). In long hurdle events, whether for men or women, the first hurdle is 45 m (147 ft 8 in) from the starting line and the distance between hurdles is 35 m (114 ft 10 in). Any race which is shorter than the standard distance (like Indoor races) is simply run over fewer hurdles but use the same distances from the starting line.

There are variations on hurdle height and spacing for the age groups of athletes competing. See Masters athletics (track and field) and Youth athletics (track and field).

TechniqueThere is a technique that is desirable to accomplish efficient hurdling action during a race. Many runners rely mainly on raw speed, but proper technique and well-planned steps leading up to

and between each hurdle can allow an efficient hurdler to outrun faster opponents. Generally, the efficient hurdler spends the minimum amount of time and energy going vertically over the hurdle, thus achieving maximum speed in the horizontal race direction.

When approaching the first hurdle, athletes try to avoid Stutter stepping (a term used to refer to the cutting of stride length before reaching a hurdle). This cuts the runner's momentum and costs valuable time. Athletes attack the hurdle by launching at it from 6-7 feet away (depending on runner's closing speed). the lead leg extended yet slightly bent (because a straight leg leads to more time over the hurdle) so that the heel just narrowly clears the barrier's height. After launching, the trail leg is tucked in horizontally and flat, close to the side of the hip. The objective is to minimize center-of-gravity deviation from normal sprinting and reduce time spent flying through the air.

In order to hurdle properly and not simply jump over it, a runner must adjust his or her hips to raise them over the hurdles. Upon crossing over the hurdle barrier, the runner's lead leg snaps down quickly landing roughly 3-feet (1m) beyond the hurdle. The trail leg drives forward at the knee (not swinging, as swinging causes the trunk to straighten up), and pulls through to maintain stride length.

In men's hurdles it is usually necessary to straighten the leg at the top of the flight path over the hurdle, although a partial bend in the knee gains a faster push off when the athlete hits the ground. The ability to do this depends on the runners's leg length. As soon as the foot has cleared the hurdle, the knee starts bending again to lessen the effect of a long, slow pendulum. In women's hurdles, the lead leg is usually straight and the center of gravity does not rise relative to a normal running stride. Another way to view it is the foot path: "shortest path up and shortest path down". The opposite arm reaches farther forward and the elbow travels out to the side and then behind to make room for the trailing leg. The trailing leg also leads with the knee, but the foot and knee is horizontal, tucked up as tight as possible into the armpit.

As soon as the lead leg begins its descent, a strong downward push is exerted to enable the trailing leg's knee to come up under the armpit and in front of the chest. This enables recovery of some of the energy expended in the flight.

A modern hurdle will fall over if a runner hits it. Contrary to a common misconception, there is no penalty for hitting a hurdle (provided this is not judged deliberate). The misconception is based on old rules before the hurdles were weighted. There are now specifications for the tipping weight of a hurdle (the weights need to be adjusted to correspond with the height of the hurdle) so hitting a hurdle slows down the rhythm of the hurdler. However, pushing the hurdle with one's hands or running out of one's lane as a result of hitting the hurdle is cause for disqualification. While hitting hurdles is not generally considered desirable, a few sprint hurdlers have succeeded despite knocking over many hurdles. Contact with hurdles can decrease speed and also result in disruption of a hurdler's technique.

VariantsThere are also shuttle hurdle relay races, although they are rarely run. They are usually only found at track meets that consist entirely of relay races. In a shuttle hurdle relay, each of four hurdlers on a team runs the opposite direction from the preceding runner. The standard races correspond to the standard sprint hurdle races: 4 × 110 m for men and 4 × 100 m for women.

Relay races are events in which four athletes participate as a team, passing a metal baton in between. Events commonly contested are:

4 x 100 metres relay 4 x 200 metres relay (high school & collegiate, a World

Record is kept) 4 x 400 metres relay

4 x 800 metres relay (uncommon, but a World Record is kept)

4x1500 meters relay {uncommon, but a World Record is kept)

Some events, such as medley relays, are rarely run except at large relay carnivals. Typical medley relays include:

Sprint Medley Relay (SMR): the four legs are two 200 metre legs, 400 metres, 800 metres; or alternately two 100 metre legs, 200 metres, 400 metres

Distance Medley Relay (DMR): the four legs are 1200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1600 metres

Relay raceDuring a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or skating (usually with a baton in the first) parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field.

Based on the speed of the runners, the generally accepted strategy used in setting up a 4 person relay team is: second fastest, third fastest, slowest, then fastest (anchor). Each segment of the relay (the distance run by one person) is referred to as a leg.

swimming relayA swimming relay will us ually follow the same strategy, however, it is not uncommon to see either (1) the slowest swimmer racing in the second slot, creating an order as follows: second fastest,

slowest, third fastest, and then fastest, or (2) an order from slowest to fastest: slowest, third fastest, second fastest, fastest.

sprint relaysEach runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. In sprint relays, runners typically use a "blind handoff", where the second runner stands on a spot predetermined in practice and starts running when the first runner hits a visual mark on the track (usually a smaller triangle). The second runner opens his/her hand behind her after a few strides, by which time the first runner should be caught up and able to hand off the baton. Usually a runner will give an auditory signal, such as "Stick!" repeated several times, for the recipient of the baton to put out his hand. In middle-distance relays or longer, runners begin by jogging while looking back at the incoming runner and holding out a hand for the baton.

BadgersIn athletics, the two standard relays are the 4x100 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay. Traditionally, the 4x400 meter relay finals are the last event of a track meet, and is often met with a very enthusiastic crowd, especially if the last leg is a close race. It should be noted that it is hard to measure exact splits in a 4x400 (or a 4x100) relay. For example, if a team ran a 3:00 4x400, it does not mean every runner on the team has to run a 45 second open 400, because a person starts accelerating before he/she has the baton, therefore allowing for slightly slower overall open 400 times. A 4x400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, including the handoff. The second leg then proceeds to run in lanes for the first 100 meters, after which point the runners are

allowed to break into the first lane on the backstretch, as long as they do not interfere with other runners. A race organizer then puts the third leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running (with the first place closest to the inside).

4x200, 4x800, and 4x1600 relays exist as well, but they are more rare, especially at the high school level, where schools generally have only one or two competitive strong runners in such events.

A team may be disqualified from a relay for:

Losing the baton(dropping the baton) Making an improper baton exchange Making two false starts (or in some cases only one) Improperly overtaking another competitor Preventing another competitor from passing Willfully impeding, improperly crossing the course, or in any

other way interfering with another competitor

The largest relay event in the world is the Penn Relays, which attracts over 15,000 competitors annually on the High School, Collegiate and Professional levels, and over its three days attracts upwards of 100,000 spectators. It is credited with popularizing Relay Racing in the sport of Track & Field.

The world's longest relay race is Japan's Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Ky ū sh ū Ekiden , which begins in Nagasaki and continues for 1064 km.

Long Distance Relay Races: Becoming

increasingly popular with runners of all skill-levels, a long distance relay race typically has runners traveling from 5 to 10 kilometer distances per leg and several legs per race. A race can be run

over the course of a day, or may span two or more days with participants running throughout the night.

The largest long distance relay in the world is Hood to Coast relay race which takes runners from the top of Oregon's Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean in Seaside Oregon (315 km.).

Two of the more scenic, rural relay races are the Wild West Relay (Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs) in Colorado which passes through three national forests, and the Green Mountain Relay (Jeffersonville to Bennington) in Vermont, which travels north-south through the heart of Vermont and the Green Mountains, crossing over seven historic covered bridges, with a majority of the route following or paralleling historic Route 100.

The longest relay race in the United States at 216.6 miles (348.6 km) is the Cascade Lakes Relay in Oregon that starts at Diamond Lake Resort and finishes in Bend, Oregon.

Two examples of a long distance relay race include (in Canada) the Shore to Shore Relay Race which runs 305 kilometers over two days with six to twelve runners, and (in the U.S.A.)

Other long distance relay race include: Texas Independence Relay in Texas Sunrise to Sunset Relay which stretches coast to coast across Florida The 100on100 Heart of Vermont Relay 100 miles (160 km) on scenic VT RT 100

Shorter long distance relay races have also proven to be popular. These shorter races range from 40 miles (64 km) to 86 miles (138 km), but still incorporate the team aspect. The most popular ones in this category include: River To River Relay 80 miles (130 km) in Southern Illinois Market To Market Relay 86 miles (138 km) from Omaha to Lincoln, Nebraska Brew To Brew 43 miles (69 km) from Lawerence to Kansas City, Kansas, Lake Tahoe Relay which is approximately 70 miles (110 km) around Lake Tahoe.

Medley relayMedley relay events are also occasionally held in track meets, usually consisting of teams of four runners running progressively longer distances. The Distance Medley Relay consists of four legs run at distances of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 metres, in that order. The Sprint Medley Relay usually consists of four legs run at distances of 400, 200, 200, and 800 meters, though a more uncommon variant of 200, 100, 100 and 400 meters (Sometimes called a Short Sprint Medley) also exists. See also Swedish relay.

In medley swimming, each swimmer uses a different stroke (in this order): backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle, with the added limitation that the freestyle swimmer cannot use any of the first three strokes.

At competitive levels, essentially all freestyle swimmers use the front crawl. Note that this order is different from that for the individual medley, in which a single swimmer swims butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, in that order.

Relays on coinageRelay race events have been selected as a main motif in numerous collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek Relays commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In the obverse of the coin three modern athletes run, holding their batons while in the background three ancient athletes are shown running a race known as the dolichos (a semi-endurance race of approximately 3,800 meters distance).

Indoor eventsDue to space limitations, indoor races normally shorten the Sprint and Hurdle races, depending on the available space. Because of the limited space, many races finish by leaving the arena, into a drag rope or stopping abruptly at a padded wall. Common distances are:

50 metres 55 metres 60 metres 60 metres hurdles

Other races are run on shorter lap tracks. Two hundred metre tracks are common, though tracks of many other sizes remain in use, including Imperial distances (measured in yards). Some facilities have "oversize" tracks, but in order for an Indoor record to be valid, it must be on a track of 220 yards (slightly longer than 200 metres) or shorter. Though still a commonly held event, the Indoor 200 metres has been removed from the World Championship event list. It was determined that a fair race could not be held because of the tight indoor turns, favoring runners in the outside lanes. Many tracks have banked turns to reduce the disadvantage of tight turns, and there are also many flat indoor tracks. Most outdoor event distances are common, though the

longer distances (over 5,000 metres) are less common. Even indoor track Marathons have been held. Indoor Racewalk events tend to be shorter, as short as 800 metres, or more commonly a variation on the 1500 metres or Mile. Steeplechase and long hurdle races are generally not held indoors, though inventive people have created some unique events. The odd distance races and Imperial distance races are much more common indoors. Per rules, Indoor hurdle races are identical to the beginning of their outdoor counterparts, though over shorter distances, usually using just five hurdle

Jumping events High Jump Pole Vault Long Jump Triple Jump

High jumpA novice jumper demonstrating the he high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practoce format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have

changed over the years. It has been contested since the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. Over the centuries since, competitors have introduced increasingly more effective techniques to arrive at the current form. Javier Sotomayor is the current men's record holder with a jump of 2.45 metres (8 ft 0.46 in) set in 1993 and is the longest standing in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record 2.09 metres (6 ft 10.28 in) since 1987, the longest-held record in the event.

HistoryThe first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century. Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a scissors technique. In the latter, the bar was approached diagonally, and the jumper threw first the inside leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion. Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to modernise, starting with the Irish-American M.F. Sweeney's Eastern cut-off. By taking off as if with the scissors, but extending his back and flattening out over the bar, the Sweeney achieved a more economic clearance and raised the world record to 6 feet 5.625 inches (1.97 m) in 1895.

Another American, M.F. Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the Western roll. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, but the inner leg is used for the take-off, while the outer leg is thrust up to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine increased the world standard to 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) in 1912. His technique predominated through the Berlin Olympics of 1936, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at 2.03 metres (6 ft 8 in).

American and Russian jumpers held the playing field for the next four decades, and they pioneered the evolution of the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll, but

rotated their (belly-down) torso around the bar, obtaining the most economical clearance up to that time. Straddle-jumper Charles Dumas broke the elusive 7 feet (2.13 m) barrier in 1956, and American John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 metres (7 ft 4 in) in 1960. Valeriy Brumel took over the event for the next four years. The elegant Soviet jumper radically sped up his approach run, took the record up to 2.28 metres (7 ft 6 in), and won the Olympic gold medal in 1964, before a motorcycle accident ended his career.

Gold medal winner Ethel Catherwood of Canada scissors over the bar at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Her winning result was 1.59 metres (5 ft 3 in).

Platt Adams during the standing high jump competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics

American coaches, including two-time NCAA champion Frank Costello of the University of Maryland, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches. However, it would be a solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, who would bring the high jump into the next century. Taking advantage of the raised, softer landing areas by then in use, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern Cut-off. He directed himself over the bar head and shoulders first, sliding over on his back and landing in a fashion which would likely have broken his neck in the old, sawdust landing pits. After he used this Fosbury flop to win the 1968 Olympic gold medal, the technique began to spread around the world, and soon floppers were dominating international high jump competitions. The last straddler to set a world record was the late Vladimir Yashchenko, who cleared 2.33 metres (7 ft 8 in) in 1977 and then 2.35 metres (7 ft 9 in) indoors in 1978.

Among renowned high jumpers following Fosbury's lead were: Americans Dwight Stones and his rival, 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall Franklin Jacobs of Paterson, NJ, who cleared 2.32 metres (7 ft 7 in), an astounding 0.59 metres (1 ft 11 in) over his head (a feat equaled by Sweden's Stefan Holm); Chinese record-setters Ni-chi Chin and Zhu Jianhua; Germans Gerd Wessig and Dietmar

Mögenburg; Swedish Olympic medalist and world record holder Patrik Sjöberg; and female jumpers Iolanda Balaş of Romania, Ulrike Meyfarth of Germany and Italy's Sara Simeoni.

Technical aspectsHigh jump shoesHigh jump shoes are different from most other track shoes in that there are an additional four holes in the heel of the takeoff shoe, where the user can insert spikes for increased traction. These extra heel spikes aid greatly in the last four to five steps of the J-approach, allowing the jumper to run on his or her curve at a fast speed without slipping. Some high jump shoes are even more technologically developed and in addition to the extra spikes on the heel, the shoes are modified to lean the direction of the approach to provide further support while running their curve. As well as the approach, high jump shoes also help and support the jumper's takeoff. The IAAF regulations specify a maximum sole thickness for both high jump and long jump shoes; competitors in all other events may wear shoes with soles of any thickness.

The approachThe approach of the high jump may actually be more important than the take off. If a high jumper runs with bad timing or without enough aggression, clearing a high bar becomes more of a challenge. The approach requires a certain shape or curve, the

right amount of speed, and the correct number of strides. The approach angle is also critical for optimal height.

Most great straddle jumpers have a run at angles of about 30 to 40 degrees. The length of the run is determined by the speed of the person's approach. A slower run requires about 8 strides. However, a faster high jumper might need about 13 strides. The greater the speed of the run, the greater the body's momentum can be converted upward.

The j type approach, favored by Fosbury floppers, allows for horizontal speed, the ability to turn in the air (centripetal force), and good take-off position. The approach should be a hard controlled stride so that a person does not fall from creating an angle with speed. Athletes should run tall and lean from the ankles on the curve and not the hips. Drills can be practiced to solidify the approach. One drill is to run in a straight line (the linear part of the approach) and then run two to three circles spiraling into one another. Another is to run or skip a circle of any size, two to three times in a row.

Declaring the winnerIn competition the winner is the person who cleared the largest height. In case of a tie, fewer failed attempts at that height are better. If there still is a tie here, all the failed attempts are added up, the one with the most is declared the winner. If still tied a playoff is held. Starting height is the next larger height after the overjumped one. If all the players clear the height, the bar is raised 2 cm, if they fail the bar is lowered 2 cm. THat continues until only one player succeeds in overjumping that height, he is declared the winner.

Top performers

Men (outdoor)Pos.

Mark

AthleteNationali

tyVenue Date

1.2.45

Javier Sotomayor

 CubaSalamanca

July 23, 1993

2.2.42

Patrik Sjöberg  SwedenStockholm

June 30, 1987

3.2.41

Igor Paklin Soviet Union

KobeSeptember 4, 1985

4.2.40

Rudolf Povarnitsyn

 Soviet Union

DonetskAugust 11, 1985

Sorin Matei  RomaniaBratislava

June 20, 1990

Charles Austin United States

ZürichAugust 7, 1991

Vyacheslav Voronin

 Russia LondonAugust 5, 2000

9.2.39

Zhu Jianhua  ChinaEberstadt

June 10, 1984

Hollis Conway United States

Norman July 30, 1989

Women (outdoor)Pos.

Mark

AthleteNational

ityVenue Date

1.2.09

Stefka Kostadinova

 Bulgaria RomeAugust 30, 1987

2.2.08

Blanka Vlašić  Croatia ZagrebAugust 31, 2009

3.2.07

Lyudmila Andonova

 Bulgaria Berlin July 20, 1984

4. 2.06

Kajsa Bergqvist

 Sweden Eberstadt

July 26, 2003

Hestrie Cloete South Africa

ParisAugust 31, 2003

Yelena Slesarenko

 Russia AthensAugust 28, 2004

Ariane Friedrich

 Germany Berlin June 14, 2009

9.2.05

Tamara Bykova

 Soviet Union

Kiev June 22, 1984

Heike Henkel  Germany TokyoAugust 31, 1991

Inha Babakova  Ukraine TokyoSeptember 15, 1995

Tia Hellebaut  Belgium BeijingAugust 23, 2008

Men (indoor)Pos.

Mark

Athlete Venue Date

1.2.43

 Javier Sotomayor (CUB)

Budapest March 4, 1989

2.2.42

 Carlo Thränhardt (FRG)

BerlinFebruary 26, 1988

3.2.41

 Patrik Sjöberg (SWE) PiraeusFebruary 1, 1987

4.2.40

 Hollis Conway (USA) SevillaMarch 10, 1991

 Stefan Holm (SWE) Madrid March 6, 2005

 Ivan Ukhov (RUS) AthensFebruary 25, 2009

6.2.39

 Dietmar Mögenburg (FRG)

KölnFebruary 24, 1985

 Ralf Sonn (GER) Berlin March 1, 19919. 2.3

8 Igor Paklin (USSR)

Indianapolis

March 7, 1987

 Gennadiy Indianap March 7, 1987

Avdeyenko (USSR) olis

 Steve Smith (GBR)Wuppertal

February 4, 1994

 Wolf-Hendrik Beyer (GER)

Weinheim

March 18, 1994

 Sorin Matei (ROM)Wuppertal

February 3, 1995

 Matt Hemingway (USA)

Atlanta March 4, 2000

 Yaroslav Rybakov (RUS)

Stockholm

February 15, 2005

 Linus Thörnblad (SWE)

GöteborgFebruary 25, 2007

Women (indoor)Pos.

Mark

Athlete Venue Date

1.2.08

 Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE)

ArnstadtFebruary 6, 2006

2.2.07

 Heike Henkel (GER)

KarlsruheFebruary 8, 1992

3.2.06

 Stefka Kostadinova (BUL)

AthensFebruary 20, 1988

4.2.05

 Blanka Vlasic (CRO)

Banská Bystrica

February 14, 2006

 Tia Hellebaut (BEL)

Birmingham March 3, 2007

 Ariane Friedrich (GER)

KarlsruheFebruary 15, 2009

7. 2.04

 Alina Astafei (GER)Berlin March 3, 1995 Anna Chicherova (RUS)

Yekaterinburg

January 7, 2003

 Yelena Slesarenko (RUS)

Budapest March 7, 2004

10.2.03

 Tamara Bykova (USSR)

Budapest March 6, 1983

 Monika Iagar (ROM)

BucharestJanuary 23, 1999

 Marina Kuptsova (RUS)

Wien March 2, 2002

Pole vaultPole vaulting is an athletic field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole (which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber) as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole

jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.

HistoryPoles were used as a practical means of passing over natural obstacles in marshy places such as provinces of Friesland in The Netherlands, along the North Sea, and the great level of the Fens across Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Artificial draining of these marshes created a network of open drains or canals intersecting each other. In order to cross these without getting wet, while avoiding tedious roundabout journeys over bridges, a stack of jumping poles was kept at every house and used for vaulting over the canals. Venetian gondoliers have traditionally used punting poles for moving to the shore from their boat.

Distance pole vaulting competitions continue to be held annually in the lowlands around the North Sea. These far-jumping competitions (Frysk: Fierljeppen) are not based on height.

One of the earliest pole vaulting competitions where height was measured took place at the Ulverston Football and Cricket Club, Cumbria in 1843. Modern competition began around 1850 in Germany, when pole vaulting was added to the exercises of the Turner gymnastic clubs by Johann C. F. GutsMuths and Frederich L. Jahn. The modern pole vaulting technique was developed in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. In Great Britain, it was first practiced at the Caledonian Games.

Initially, vaulting poles were made from stiff materials such as bamboo or aluminum. The introduction of flexible vaulting poles made from composites such as fiberglass or carbon fiber allowed vaulters to achieve greater height. Physical attributes such as speed and agility are essential to pole vaulting effectively, but

technical skill is an equally if not more important element. The object of pole vaulting is to clear a bar or crossbar supported upon two uprights (standards) without knocking it down.

Modern vaultingToday, athletes compete in the pole vault as one of the four jumping events in track and field. Because the high jump and pole vault are both vertical jumps, the competitions are conducted similarly. Each athlete can choose what height they would like to enter the competition. Once they enter, they have three attempts to clear the height. If a height is cleared, the vaulter advances to the next height, where they will have three more attempts. Once the vaulter has three consecutive misses, they are out of the competition and the highest height they cleared is their result. A "no height", often denoted "NH", refers to the failure of a vaulter to clear any bar during the competition.

Once the vaulter enters the competition, they can choose to pass heights. If a vaulter achieves a miss on their first attempt at a height, they can pass to the next height, but they will only have two attempts at that height, as they will be out once they achieve three consecutive misses. Similarly, after earning two misses at a height, they could pass to the next height where they would have only one attempt.

The competitor who clears the highest height is the winner. If two or more vaulters have finished with the same height, the tie is broken by the number of misses at the final height. If the tied vaulters have the same number of misses at the last height cleared, the tie is broken by the total number of misses in the competition.

If there is still a tie for first place, a jump-off occurs to break the tie. Marks achieved in this type of jump-off are considered valid and count for any purpose that a mark achieved in a normal competition would.

If a tie in the other places still exists, a jump-off is not normally conducted, unless the competition is a qualifying meet, and the tie exists in the final qualifying spot. In this case, an administrative jump-off is conducted to break the tie, but the marks are not considered valid for any other purpose than breaking the tie.

A jump-off is a sudden death competition in which the tied vaulters attempt the same height, starting with the last attempted height. If both vaulters miss, the bar goes down by a small increment, and if both clear, the bar goes up by a small increment. A jump-off ends when one vaulter clears and the other misses. Each vaulter gets one attempt at each height until one makes and one misses.

The equipment and rules for pole vaulting are similar to the high jump. Unlike high jump, however, the athlete in the vault has the ability to select the horizontal position of the bar before each jump and can place it a distance beyond the back of the box, the metal pit that the pole is placed into immediately before takeoff. The range of distance the vaulter may place the standards varies depending on the level of competition.

If the pole used by the athlete dislodges the bar from the uprights, a foul attempt is ruled, even if the athlete himself has cleared the height. An athlete does not benefit from quickly leaving the landing pad before the bar has fallen. The exception to this rule if the vaulter is vaulting outdoors and has made a clear effort to throw the pole back, but the wind has blown the pole into the bar; this counts as a clearance. This call is made at the discretion of the pole vault official. If the pole breaks during the execution of a vault, it is considered an equipment failure and is ruled a non-jump, neither a make nor a miss. Other types of equipment failure include the standards slipping down or the wind dislodging the bar when no contact was made by the vaulter.

Each athlete has a set amount of time in which they can make their attempt. The amount of time varies by level of competition and the number of vaulters remaining. If the vaulter fails to begin

their attempt within this time, they are charged with a time foul and the attempt is a miss.

Poles are manufactured with ratings corresponding to the vaulter's maximum weight. Some organizations forbid vaulters to use poles rated below their weight as a safety precaution. The recommended weight corresponds to a flex rating that is determined by the manufacturer by placing a standardized amount of stress (most commonly a 50 lb weight) on the pole and measuring how much the center of the pole is displaced. Therefore, two poles rated at the same weight are not necessarily the same stiffness.

Because pole stiffness and length are important factors to a vaulter's performance, it is not uncommon for an elite vaulter to carry as many as 10 poles to a competition. The effective properties of a pole can be changed by gripping the pole higher or lower in relation to the top of the pole.

The left and right handgrips are typically about shoulder width apart. Poles are manufactured for people of all skill levels and body sizes, with sizes as short as 3.05m (10 feet) to as long as 5.20 m (17 feet), with a wide range of weight ratings. Each manufacturer determines the weight rating for the pole and the location of the maximum handhold band.

Pole vault technologyCompetitive pole vaulting began using solid ash poles. As the heights attained increased, the bamboo poles gave way to tubular aluminum, which was tapered at each end. Today's pole vaulters benefit from poles produced by wrapping pre-cut sheets of fiberglass that contains resin around a metal pole mandrel, to produce a slightly pre-bent pole that bends more easily under the compression caused by an athlete's take-off. The shape of the fiberglass sheets and the amount of fiberglass used is carefully planned to provide the desired length and stiffness of pole.

Different fiberglass types, including carbon-fiber, are used to give poles specific characteristics intended to promote higher jumps. In recent years, carbon fiber has been added to the commonly used E-glass and S-glass materials in order to create a pole with a lighter carry weight.

As in the high jump, the landing area was originally a heap of sawdust or sand where athletes landed on their feet. As technology enabled higher vaults, mats evolved into bags of large chunks of foam. Today's high tech mats are foam usually 1-1.5 meters thick.

Mats are growing larger in area as well, in order to minimize any risk of injury. Proper landing technique is on the back or shoulders. Landing on the feet should be avoided, to eliminate the risk of injury to the lower extremities, particularly ankle sprains.

Rule changes over the years have resulted in larger landing areas and additional padding of all hard and unyielding surfaces.

The pole vault crossbar has evolved from a triangular aluminum bar to a round fiberglass bar with rubber ends.

This is balanced on standards and can be knocked off when it is hit by a pole vaulter or the pole. Rule changes have led to shorter pegs and crossbar ends that are semi-circular.

Phases of pole vaultingAlthough there are many techniques used by vaulters at various skill levels to clear the bar, the generally accepted technical model can be broken down into several phases, listed and described below:

The approachDuring the approach the pole vaulter sprints down the runway in such a way as to achieve maximum speed and correct position to initiate take-off at the end of the approach. Top class vaulters use approaches with 18 to 22 strides. At the beginning of the approach the pole is usually carried upright to some degree, and gradually lowered as the vaulter gets closer to the landing pit. This way the vaulter can minimize levered weight of the pole. The faster the vaulter can run and the more efficient his/her take-off is, the greater the potential energy that can be achieved and used during the vault. It is common for vaulters to gradually increase running speed throughout the approach, reaching maximum speed at take-off. Vaulters increase stride frequency while keeping the knees up like a sprinter. Unlike short sprint events such as the 100 m in which a forward lean is used to accelerate, vaulters maintain a more upright torso position throughout the approach to counter balance the effect of carrying the pole.

The plant and take-offThe plant and take off is initiated typically three steps out from the final step. Vaulters (usually) will count their steps backwards

from their starting point to the box only counting the steps taken on the left foot (vice-versa for left-handers) except for the second step from the box, which is taken by the right foot. For example; a vaulter on a "ten count" (referring to the number of counted steps from the starting point to the box) would count backwards from ten, only counting the steps taken with the left foot, until the last three steps taken and both feet are counted as three, two, one. These last three steps are normally quicker than the previous strides and are referred to as the "turn-over". The goal of this phase is to efficiently translate the kinetic energy accumulated from the approach into potential energy stored by the elasticity of the pole, and to gain as much initial vertical height as possible by jumping off the ground. The plant starts with the vaulter raising his arms up from around the hips or mid-torso until they are fully outstretched above his head, with the right arm extended directly above the head and the left arm extended perpendicular to the pole (vice-versa for left-handed vaulters). At the same time, the vaulter is dropping the pole tip into the box. On the final step, the vaulter jumps off the trail leg which should always remain straight and then drives the front knee forward. As the pole slides into the back of the box the pole begins to bend and the vaulter continues up and forward, leaving the trail leg angled down and behind him.

The swing upThe swing and row simply consists of the vaulter swinging his trail leg forward and rowing, pushing, his top arm down to the hips, while trying to keep the trail leg straight, once in a "U" shape the left arm hugs the pole tight to efficiently use the recoil within the pole. Effectively, this causes a double pendulum motion, with the top of the pole moving forward and pivoting from the box, while the vaulter acts as a second pendulum pivoting from the right hand. This action results in even more potential energy being stored in the pole, all of which will be returned to the vaulter in later phases. The swing continues until the hips are above the head and the arms are pulling the pole close to the chest. From there the vaulter shoots his legs up over the cross bar while keeping the pole close.

Alternate swing methodsAnother form of swing is called the double leg drop. After executing a normal take-off, the vaulter lets his lead leg drop and swings with both legs together. In doing this, the weight of the vaulter's lower body is centered further from his rotational axis, making it more difficult for the vaulter to swing with as great a speed as with a single legged swing. For the same reason, a vaulter with constant rotational speed will load the pole with more energy using a double legged swing than a single legged swing. Because the slower swing can make it more difficult for a vaulter to get in position for the rockback, the double leg drop is typically not taught as the conventional method. A successful double leg drop is exemplified by French vaulter Jean Galfione.

A third form of swing is called the tuck and shoot. This is accomplished by tucking both legs in toward the chest rather than leaving the trail leg extended. This has the opposite effect of the double leg drop: it shortens the lower body about the rotational axis, making the swing faster, but lessening the pole-loading effect of the swing. Because a shorter rotational axis can make it more difficult to use larger poles than with a longer axis, the tuck and shoot is also not considered the conventional method. A successful tuck and shoot is exemplified by former American record-holder Jeff Hartwig.

The extensionThe extension refers to the extension of the hips upward with outstretched legs as the shoulders drive down, causing the vaulter to be positioned upside down. This position is often referred to as "inversion". While this phase is executed, the pole begins to recoil, propelling the vaulter quickly upward. The hands

of the vaulter remain close to his body as they move from the shins back to the region around the hips and upper torso.

The turnThe turn is executed immediately after or even during the end of the rockback. As the name implies, the vaulter turns 180° toward the pole while extending the arms down past the head and shoulders. Typically the vaulter will begin to angle his body toward the bar as the turn is executed, although ideally the vaulter will remain as vertical as possible. A more accurate description of this phase of the vault may be "the spin" because the vaulter spins around an imaginary axis from head to toe.

The fly-awayThis is often highly emphasized by spectators and novice vaulters, but it is arguably the easiest phase of the vault and is a result of proper execution of previous phases. This phase mainly consists of the vaulter pushing off the pole and releasing it so it falls away from the bar and mats. As his body goes over and around the bar, the vaulter is facing the bar. Rotation of the body over the bar occurs naturally, and the vaulter's main concern is making sure that his arms, face and any other appendages do not knock the bar off as he goes over. The vaulter should land near the middle of the foam landing mats, or pits, face up.

TerminologyThe following are terms commonly used in pole vault:

Bar: This is the cross bar that is suspended above the ground by the standards.

Box: A trapezoidal indentation in the ground with a metal or fiberglass covering at the end of the runway in which vaulters "plant" their pole. The back wall of the box is nearly vertical and is approximately 8 inches in depth. The bottom of the box gradually slopes upward approximately 3-feet until it is level with the runway. The covering in the box ensures the pole will slide to the back of the box without catching on anything. The covering's lip overlaps onto the runway and ensures a smooth transition from all-weather surface so a pole being planted does not catch on the box.

Drive knee: During the plant phase, the knee is driven forward at the time of "takeoff" to help propel the vaulter upward.

Grip: This is where the vaulter's top hand is on the pole. As the vaulter improves his grip may move up the pole incrementally. The other hand is typically placed shoulder-width down from the top hand. Hands are not allowed to grip the very top of the pole (their hand perpendicular to the pole) for safety reasons.

Jump foot: This is also referred to as the take-off foot. The jump foot is the foot that the vaulter uses to leave the ground as he begins his vault.

Pit: The mats used for landing in pole vault. Plant position: This is the position a vaulter is in the

moment the pole reaches the back of the box and the vaulter begins his vault. His arms are fully extended and his drive knee begins to come up as he jumps.

Pole: The fiberglass equipment used to propel the vaulter up and over the bar. One side is more stiff than the other to facilitate the bending of the pole after the plant. A vaulter may rest the pole on his arm to determine which side is the stiff side.

Standards: The equipment that holds the bar at a particular height above the ground. Standards may be adjusted to raise and lower the bar and also to adjust the horizontal position of the bar.

Steps: Since the box is in a fixed position, vaulters must adjust their approach to ensure they are in the correct position when attempting to vault.

Swing leg or trail leg: The swing leg is also the jump foot. After a vaulter has left the ground, the leg that was last touching the ground stays extended and swings forward to help propel the vaulter upwards.

Volzing: A method of holding or pushing the bar back onto the pegs while jumping over a height. This takes considerable skill, although it is now against the rules and counted as a miss. The technique is named after U.S. Olympian Dave Volz, who made an art form of the practice and surprised many by making the U.S. Olympic team in 1992.

6 metres clubThe so-called "6 metres club", which consists of pole vaulters who have reached at least 6 metres (19 ft 8¼ in) , is very prestigious. In 1985 Sergey Bubka became the first pole vaulter to clear 6 metres; he also holds the current outdoor world record at 6.14 metres, set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere.

All "6 metres club" members are men. The only woman to exceed 5 metres is Russian women's world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva, who reached that height in 2005 and who has in total broken the women's world-record,,indoor and outdoor, 27 times, culminating in her current world record of 5.06 metres obtained in 2009 at Letzigrund in Zurich.

Name of athlete  

Nation  Outdoor

s  Indoor

s  

Year first

cleared6

metres  

Sergey Bubka Soviet Union /  Ukraine

6.14 m 6.15 m 1985

Steven Hooker  Australia 6.00 m 6.06 m 2008Maksim Tarasov  Russia 6.05 m 6.00 m 1997Dmitri Markov  Australia 6.05 m [3] 1998

Brad Walker  United States 6.04 m [4] 2006Okkert Brits  South Africa 6.03 m [5] 1995Jeff Hartwig  United States 6.03 m 6.02 m 1998Igor Trandenkov  Russia 6.01 m 1996Yevgeniy Lukyanenko

 Russia 6.01 m 2008

Renaud Lavillenie

 France 6.01 m 2009

Rodion Gataullin Soviet Union /  

Russia6.00 m 6.02 m 1989

Tim Lobinger  Germany 6.00 m 1997Toby Stevenson  United States 6.00 m 2004Paul Burgess  Australia 6.00 m 2005Jean Galfione  France 6.00 m 1999Danny Ecker  Germany 6.00 m 2001

Long jumpThe long jump is an athletics (track and field) event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far from the take-off point as possible.

Competitors run down a runway (usually coated with the same rubberized surface as running tracks, crumb rubber also vulcanized rubber) and jump as far as they can from behind a foul line (commonly referred to as the "board", and usually defined by the trailing edge of a takeoff board embedded flush with the runway surface, or a painted mark on the runway) into a pit filled with finely ground gravel or sand. The distance traveled by a jumper is often referred to as the "mark" because it is the distance to the nearest mark made in the sand from the foul line. If the competitor starts the leap with any part of the foot past the foul line, the jump is declared illegal and no distance is recorded. At the elite level, a layer of plasticine is placed immediately after the board to detect this occurrence. Otherwise, an official (similar to a referee) will watch the jump and make the determination.

The competitor can initiate the jump from any point behind the foul line; however, the distance measured will always be from the foul line. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the competitor to get as close to the foul line as possible.

Usually, each competitor has a set number of attempts (typically three) to make his or her longest jump, and only the longest legal jump counts towards the results. Higher level competitions are split into two rounds: trials and finals. In competitions containing a final round, only a select number of competitors are invited to return for further competition. The number of competitors chosen to return to the final round is determined before the start of the meet by a committee composed of coaches and officials. It is standard practice to allow one more competitor than the number of scoring positions to return to the final round. For example, if a given meet allows the top eight competitors to score points, then the top nine competitors will be selected to compete in the final round. Taking an extra competitor to the final round helps to allow that athlete to move into a scoring position if the competitor can improve on his or her best mark of the competition. Final rounds are viewed as an additional three jumps, as they do not have any priority to those scored in the trial round. The competitor with the longest legal jump (from either the trial or final rounds) at the end of competition is declared the winner. (For specific rules and regulations in United States Track & Field see Rule 1859. There are four main components of the long jump: the approach run, the last two strides, takeoff and action in the air, and landing. Speed in the run-up, or approach, and a high leap off the board are the fundamentals of success. Because speed is such an important factor of the approach, it is not surprising that many long jumpers also compete successfully in sprints. A classic example of this long jump / sprint doubling is performances by Carl Lewis.

The long jump is notable for two of the longest-standing world records in any track and field event. In 1935, Jesse Owens set a long jump world record that was not broken until 1960 by Ralph Boston. Later, Bob Beamon jumped 8.90 meters (29 feet, 2-1/2 inches) at the 1968 Summer Olympics at an altitude of 7,349 feet, a jump not exceeded until 1991. On August 30 of that year, Mike

Powell of the United States, in a well-known show down against Carl Lewis, leapt 8.95 m (29.4 ft) at the World Championships in Tokyo, setting the current men's world record. Some jumps over 8.95 m (29.4 ft) have been officially recorded (8.99 m/29.5 ft by Mike Powell himself, 8.96 m/29.4 ft by Ivan Pedroso), but were not validated since there was either no reliable wind speed measurement available, or because wind speed exceeded 2.0 m/s. Lewis himself jumped 8.91m just before Powell's record-breaking jump with the wind exceeding the maximum allowed; this jump remains the longest never to win Olympic or World Championship gold. The current world record for women is held by Galina Chistyakova of the former Soviet Union who leapt 7.53 m (24.7 ft) in Leningrad in 1988.

HistoryThe long jump was one of the events of the pentathlon of the original Olympics in Ancient Greece. Long Jump was the only known jumping event in these Ancient Olympic Games. All events that occurred at the Olympic Games were initially supposed to act as a form of training for warfare. The long jump emerged probably because it mirrored the crossing of obstacles such as streams and ravines. The athletes carried a weight in each hand, which were called halteres(between 1 and 4.5 kg). After investigating the surviving depictions of the ancient event it is believed that unlike the modern day event, athletes were only allowed a short running start. These weights were swung forward as the athlete jumped in order to increase momentum. It is commonly believed that the jumper would throw the weights behind him in mid-air to increase his forward momentum; however, halteres were held throughout the duration of the jump. Swinging them down and back at the end of the jump would change the athlete's center of gravity and allow the athlete to stretch his legs outward, increasing his distance. The jump itself was made from the bater ("that which is trod upon"). It was most likely a simple board placed on the

stadium track which was removed after the event (Miller, 66). The jumpers would land in what was called a skamma ("dug-up" area) (Miller, 66). The idea that this was a pit full of sand is wrong. Sand in the jumping pit is a modern invention (Miller, 66). The skamma was simply a temporary area dug up for that occasion and nto something that remained over time. The long jump was considered one of the most difficult of the events held at the Games since a great deal of skill was required. Music was often played during the jump and Philostratus says that pipes at times would accompany the jump so as to provide a rhythm for the complex movements of the halteres by the athlete. Philostratos is quoted as saying, "The rules regard jumping as the most difficult of the competitions, and they allow the jumper to be given advantages in rhythm by the use of the flute, and in weight by the use of the halter." (Miller, 67). Most notable in the ancient sport was a man called Chionis, who in the 656BC Olympics staged a jump of 7.05 meters (23 feet and 1.7 inches).[

There has been some argument by modern scholars over the long jump. Some have attempted to recreate it as a triple jump. The images provide the only evidence for the action so it is more well received that it was much like today's long jump. The main reason some want to call it a triple jump is the presence of a source that claims there once was a fifty five ancient foot jump done by a man named Phayllos (Miller, 68).

The long jump has been part of modern Olympic competition since the inception of the Games in 1896. In 1914, Dr. Harry Eaton Stewart recommended the "running broad jump" as a standardized track and field event for women. However, it was not until 1928 that women were allowed to compete in the event at the Olympic level (See Athletics - track and field).

The approachThe objective of the approach is to gradually accelerate to a maximum controlled speed at takeoff. The most important factor for the distance traveled by an object is its velocity at takeoff -

both the speed and angle. Elite jumpers usually leave the ground at an angle of twenty degrees or less; therefore, it is more beneficial for a jumper to focus on the speed component of the jump. The greater the speed at takeoff, the longer the trajectory of the center of mass will be. The importance of a takeoff speed is a factor in the success of sprinters in this event.

The length of the approach is usually consistent distance for an athlete. Approaches can vary between 12 and 19 strides on the novice and intermediate levels, while at the elite level they are closer to between 20 and 22 strides. The exact distance and number of strides in an approach depends on the jumper's experience, sprinting technique, and conditioning level. Consistency in the approach is important as it is the competitor's objective to get as close to the front of the takeoff board as possible without crossing the line with any part of the foot.

Inconsistent approaches are a common problem in the event. As a result the approach is usually practiced by athletes about 6-8 times per jumping session (see Training below).

The last two stridesThe objective of the last two strides is to prepare the body for takeoff while conserving as much speed as possible.

The penultimate (second to last) stride is longer than the last stride. The competitor begins to lower his or her center of gravity to prepare the body for the vertical impulse. The final stride is shorter because the body is beginning to raise the center of gravity in preparation for takeoff.

The last two strides are extremely important because they determine the velocity with which the competitor will enter the jump--the greater the velocity, the better the jump.

Takeoff

The objective of the takeoff is to create a vertical impulse through the athlete's center of gravity while maintaining balance and control.

This phase is one of the most technical parts of the long jump. Jumpers must be conscious to place the foot flat on the ground, because jumping off either the heels or the toes negatively affects the jump. Taking off from the board heel-first has a braking effect, which decreases velocity and strains the joints. Jumping off the toes decreases stability, putting the leg at risk of buckling or collapsing from underneath the jumper. While concentrating on foot placement, the athlete must also work to maintain proper body position, keeping the torso upright and moving the hips forward and up to achieve the maximum distance from board contact to foot release.

There are four main styles of takeoff: the kick style, double-arm style, sprint takeoff, and the power sprint or bounding takeoff.

KickThe kick style takeoff is a style of takeoff where the athlete actively cycles the leg before a full impulse has been directed into the board then landing into the pit.

Double-armThe double-arm style of takeoff works by moving both arms in a vertical direction as the competitor takes off. This produces a high hip height and a large vertical impulse.

SprintThe sprint takeoff is the style most widely instructed by coaching staff. This is a classic single-arm action that resembles a jumper

in full stride. It is an efficient takeoff style for maintaining velocity through takeoff.

Power sprint or boundingThe power sprint takeoff, or bounding takeoff, is arguably one of the most effective styles.Very similar to the sprint style, the body resembles a sprinter in full stride. However, there is one major difference. The arm that pushes back on takeoff (the arm on the side of the takeoff leg) fully extends backward, rather than remaining at a bent position. This additional extension increases the impulse at takeoff.

The "correct" style of takeoff will vary from athlete to athlete.

Action in the air and landingThere are three major flight techniques for the long jump: the hang, the sail and the hitch-kick. Each technique is to combat the forward rotation experienced from take-off but is basically down to preference from the athlete. It is important to note that once the body is airborne, there is nothing that the athlete can do to change the direction they are travelling and consequently where they are going to land in the pit. However, it can be argued that certain techniques influence an athlete's landing, which can have an impact on distance measured. For example, if an athlete lands feet first but falls back because they are not correctly balanced, a lower distance will be measured.

Training

The long jump generally requires training in a variety of areas. These areas include, but are not limited to, those listed below.

JumpingLong Jumpers tend to practice jumping 1-2 times a week. Approaches, or run-throughs, are repeated sometimes up to 6-8 times per session.

Over-distance runningOver-distance running workouts helps the athlete jump a further distance than their set goal. For example, having a 100m runner practice by running 200m repeats on a track. This is specifically concentrated in the season when athletes are working on building endurance. Specific over-distance running workouts are performed 1-2 times a week. This is great for building sprint endurance, which is required in competitions where the athlete is sprinting down the runway 3-6 times.

Weight trainingDuring pre-season training and early in the competition season weight training tends to play a major role. It is customary for a long jumper to weight train up to 4 times a week, focusing mainly on quick movements involving the legs and trunk. Some athletes perform Olympic lifts in training. Athletes use low repetition and emphasize speed to maximize the strength increase while minimizing adding additional weight to their frame.

Plyometrics

Plyometrics, including running up and down stairs and hurdle bounding, can be incorporated into workouts, generally twice a week. This allows an athlete to work on agility and explosiveness.

BoundingBounding is any sort of continuous jumping or leaping. Bounding drills usually require single leg bounding, double-leg bounding, or some variation of the two. The focus of bounding drills is usually to spend less time on the ground as possible and working on technical accuracy, fluidity, and jumping endurance and strength. Technically, bounding is part of plyometrics, as a form of a running exercise such as high knees and butt kicks.

FlexibilityFlexibility is an often forgotten tool for long jumpers. Effective flexibility prevents injury, which can be important for high impact events such as the long jump. It also helps the athlete sprint down the runway.

A common tool in many long jump workouts is the use of video taping. This lets the athlete to go back and watch their own progress as well as letting the athlete compare their own footage to that of some of the world class jumpers.

Training styles, duration, and intensity varies immensely from athlete to athlete and is based on the experience and strength of the athlete as well as on their coaching style.

Top ten performers

MenMark*

Wind** Athlete

Nationality

Venue Date

8.95 0.3 Mike Powell United States

TokyoAugust 30, 1991

8.90A

2.0Bob Beamon

 United States

Mexico City

October 18, 1968

8.87 -0.2 Carl Lewis United States

TokyoAugust 30, 1991

8.86A

1.9Robert Emmiyan

 Soviet Union

Tsakhkadzor

May 22, 1987

8.74 1.4Larry Myricks

 United States

Indianapolis

July 18, 1988

8.74A

2.0Erick Walder

 United States

El Paso April 2, 1994

8.74 -1.2Dwight Phillips

 United States

Eugene June 7, 2009

8.73 1.2Irving Saladino

 Panama HengeloMay 24, 2008

8.71 1.9Iván Pedroso

 CubaSalamanca

July 18, 1995

8.66 1.6Loúis Tsátoumas

 Greece Kalamáta June 2, 2007

Women

Mark*

Wind** Athlete

Nationality

Venue Date

7.52 1.4Galina Chistyakova

 Soviet Union

Leningrad June 11, 1988

7.49 1.3Jackie Joyner-Kersee

 United States

New York May 22, 1994

7.48 1.2 Heike Drechsler East Germany

Neubrandenburg

July 9, 1988

7.43 1.4Anişoara Cuşmir

 Romania Bucharest June 4, 1983

7.42 2.0 Tatyana Kotova  Russia Annecy June 23, 2002

7.39 0.5Yelena Belevskaya

 Soviet Union

Bryansk July 18, 1987

7.37 N/A Inessa Kravets  Ukraine Kiev June 13, 1992

7.33 0.4Tatyana Lebedeva

 Russia Tula July 31, 2004

7.31 1.5Yelena Khlopotnova

 Soviet Union

Alma AtaSeptember 12, 1985

7.31 -0.1 Marion Jones United States

ZürichAugust 12, 1998

Long jump on coinageTrack and field events have been selected as a main motif in numerous collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek Long Jump commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics. The obverse of the coin portrays a modern athlete at the moment he is touching the ground, while the ancient athlete in the background is shown while starting off his jump, as he is seen on a black-figure vase of the 5th century BC.

Triple jumpThe triple jump (sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump) is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, step and jump”

routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a step and then a jump into the sand pit.

The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a modern Olympics event since the Games’ inception in 1896.

The current male and female world record holders are Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain, with a jump of 18.29 metres (60.0 ft), and Inessa Kravets of Ukraine, with a jump of 15.5 metres (51 ft).

HistoryThe triple jump, or at least a variant involving three jumps one after the other, has its roots in the Ancient Greek Olympics, with records showing athletes attaining distances of more than 50 feet (15.24 m).

In Irish mythology the geal-ruith (triple jump), was an event contested in the ancient Irish Tailteann Games as early as 1829 B.C.

The triple jump was a part of the inaugural 1896 Olympics in Athens, although back then it consisted of two hops on the same foot and then a jump. In fact, the first modern Olympic champion, James Connolly, was a triple jumper. Early Olympics also included the standing triple jump, although this has since been removed from the Olympic program and is rarely performed in competition today. The women’s triple jump was introduced into the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Technique

The athlete sprints down a runway until they reach a takeoff mark, from which the jump is measured. The takeoff mark is a board which is commonly implemented as a physical piece of wood or similar material embedded in the runway, or a rectangle painted on the runway surface. In modern championships a strip of plasticine, tape, or modeling clay is attached to the board to record athletes overstepping or "scratching" the mark, defined by the trailing edge of the board.

There are three phases of the triple jump, articulated in the original event name: the "hop" phase, the "step" phase, and the "jump" phase. These three phases are executed in one continuous sequence. The hop starts with the athlete jumping from the mark on his/her takeoff leg, and ends landing on the runway with the takeoff leg. The hop appears to be more of a "cycling" movement. The objective is to hop out as opposed to up. In the step, the athlete immediately jumps with the takeoff leg and lands on the runway with the opposite leg. The objective of the step is to cover as much runway as possible so one is as close to the pit as possible for the next phase. The step is followed by the jump, where the athlete jumps from that same non-takeoff leg and lands in a sand-filled pit. The jump phase is very similar to the long jump.Long jump is a different field event. In the long jump process, an athlete must hit the mark with his/her take off leg bringing the opposite leg bent and straight up;both legs must come in front of the athlete when landing inside the sand-filled pit. However, in both events if the athlete's takeoff foot lands in front of the board then,the athlete fouls. A "foul", also known as a "scratch" or missed jump, occurs when a jumper oversteps the takeoff mark, misses the pit entirely, does not use the correct foot sequences throughout the phases, or does not perform the attempt in the allotted amount of time (usually about one minute). When a jumper "scratches," the seated official will raise a red flag and the jumper who was "on deck," or up next, prepares to jump. To record a "scratch," a video camera is commonly used to avoid confusion and unfair calls. Triple jump is also involved in school track-and-fields.

Top ten performersMenNB: These are the top 10 performers of all time, not the top 10 performances. Other legal jumps by people on this list that would exceed the shortest jump on this list are noted below the table.

MARK  WIND  ATHLETE   VENUE   DATE  

18.29 1 1.3

 Jonathan Edwards (GBR)

GothenburgAugust 7,

199518.09

2 -0.4  Kenny Harrison (USA) Atlanta July 27, 1996

17.97 1.5  Willie Banks (USA) IndianapolisJune 16,

1985

17.92 1.6  Khristo Markov (BUL) RomeAugust 31,

198717.92 1.9  James Beckford (JAM) Odessa May 20, 199517.90 0.4  Jadel Gregório (BRA) Belém May 20, 2007

17.90 1.0 Vladimir Inozemtsev (UKR)

BratislavaJune 20,

1990

17.89 0.0 João Carlos de Oliveira (BRA)

Mexico CityOctober 15,

197517.87

3 1.7  Mike Conley (USA) San JoseJune 26,

1987

17.86 1.3 Charles Simpkins (USA)

KobeSeptember 2,

1985 1 Edwards also has legal jumps of 18.16, 18.01, 18.00, 17.99,

17.98, 17.92, 17.88 and 17.86 m. As of October 2008, he has six of the top 11 jumps of all time. The longest wind aided jump of 18.43(+2.4) was also performed by Edwards.

2 Harrison also has legal jumps of 17.99m and 17.93 m.

3 Conley also has a legal jump of 17.86 m and wind aided jump of 18.17 (+2.1) in Olympic Games Barcelona 92

WomenNB: Again, these are the top 10 performers of all time, not the top 10 performances.

MARK  WIND  ATHLETE   VENUE   DATE  

15.50 1 1.9  Inessa Kravets (UKR) Gothenburg

August 10, 1995

15.40 2 0.5

 Françoise Mbango Etone (CMR)

BeijingAugust 17,

200815.34

3 -0.5 Tatyana Lebedeva (RUS)

Heraklion July 4, 2004

15.32 4 0.9

 Hrysopiyi Devetzi (GRE)

AthensAugust 21,

200415.29

5 0.3  Yamilé Aldama (CUB) Rome July 11, 2003

15.28 0.9  Yargelis Savigne (CUB) OsakaAugust 31,

2007

15.20 0.0 Šárka Kašpárková (CZE)

AthensAugust 4,

1997

15.20 -0.3  Tereza Marinova (BUL) SydneySeptember 24, 2000

15.18 0.3  Iva Prandzheva (BUL) GothenburgAugust 10,

1995

15.16 0.1 Rodica Mateescu (ROM)

AthensAugust 4,

1997 1 Kravets also has a legal jump of 15.33 m. 2 Mbango Etone also has legal jumps of 15.30 and 15.19 m.

3 Lebedeva also has legal jumps of 15.33, 15.32, 15.25, 15.23, 15.17 and 15.18 m.

4 Devetzi also has legal jumps of 15.25 and 15.23 m. 5 Aldama also has legal jumps of 15.28, 15.27 and 15.21 m.

Other famous triple jumpers

Anna Biryukova Ashia Hansen Yargelis Savigne Viktor Saneyev Leonid Shcherbakov Vilho Tuulos Christian Olsson Aliecer Urrutia Walter Davis Nelson Évora Dennis Brown Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Phillips Idowu Marija Sestak Naide Gomes