ATHLETICS WAS CONTESTED IN THE FIRST ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES, AND CHAMPIONS HAVE BEEN RECORDED FROM AS FAR BACK AS 776 BC.
FIRST AND ORIGINAL
Throughout recorded sports history, athletics has always been practised. The first event contested
in the ancient Olympic Games was the “stadium” race, a sprint of about 192 metres. Winners in this
event have been recorded from as far back as 776 BC.
ANCIENT EVENTS
Much like today, the ancient Olympic Games included a wide variety of track and field events. Such
events included longer foot races, a race in armour, and a pentathlon event that consisted of the
“stadium” race, long jump, discus throw, javelin throw and wrestling.
ACROSS THE GLOBE
Similar events were held in ancient Greece at the Isthmian, Nemean and Pythian Games. Throughout
Europe, local fairs and festivals often included running, jumping and throwing events. In Ireland
and Scotland, these developed into organised sets of Tailteann and Highland Games, respectively.
There was also a tradition of “pedestrian” events – often with heavy betting involved – in the 18th
and 19 centuries, especially in Great Britain, which normally involved walking or running races.
MODERN ORGANISATION
The modern format of athletics, in which a variety of running, jumping, throwing, walking and
combined events are competed at a single “meeting” or “meet”, evolved in the late 19th century, when
schools and military colleges began to incorporate sports and exercise as part of education
programmes. The earliest recorded meeting dates back to 1840 in Shropshire, England, but specialised
championships began to thrive in the 1880s in the USA, UK, and throughout Europe, as well as in
other developed nations.
OLYMPIC HISTORY
Since 1896, athletics has been on the programme of each edition of the Games of the Olympiad. Its
presence on the Games programme has allowed its popularity to increase across the world. This
popularity was also strengthened by the creation of the IAAF in 1912. Women’s events appeared for
the first time at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, while the men’s programme was standardised as
of the 1932 Games in Los Angeles. Although at the beginning women were authorised to participate in
only some events, today their programme is almost identical to that of the men.
The 1960s saw a boom in athletics in developing countries, with the success of African runners and
sprinters of Caribbean origin. Americans have for a long time reigned over men’s athletics, although
European nations have also dominated. For the women, the Soviet Union and the GDR (East Germany)
dominated the competitions before their dissolution.
More recently, high-level Asian athletes have risen up the ranks. At the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, athletes from 62 countries competed in the finals.