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Portal:Sport of athletics

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Welcome to THE ATHLETICS PORTAL

Introduction

A copy of the Ancient Greek statue Discobolus, portraying a discus thrower

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping and throwing. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.

The results of racing events are decided by finishing position (or time, where measured), while the jumps and throws are won by the athlete that achieves the highest or furthest measurement from a series of attempts. The simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most common types of sports in the world. Athletics is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of relay races and competitions which combine athletes' performances for a team score, such as cross country.

Organized athletics are traced back to the ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC. The rules and format of the modern events in athletics were defined in Western Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th century, and were then spread to other parts of the world. Most modern top level meetings are held under the auspices of World Athletics, the global governing body for the sport of athletics, or its member continental and national federations. (Full article...)

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The World Athletics Awards is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics organised by World Athletics (formerly named IAAF), including track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking.

The first athletes awarded World Athlete of the Year in 1988 were Americans, namely sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner and track and field athlete Carl Lewis.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is the only athlete, male or female, to win the World Athlete of the Year Awards six times. Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and Morocco's middle-distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj have won the main award three times. Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has also won the award three times including the inaugural World Athlete of the Year (Men's field) award in 2023 after World Athletics Awards changed from crowning a sole male and female winner to issuing awards across six categories (see below for further details). American track and field athlete Marion Jones, sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross representing the USA, Carl Lewis and other American sprinter Michael Johnson, Ethiopia's long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, Kenya's long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge and Venezuela's triple-jumper Yulima Rojas have won the award twice each.

The Rising Star of the Year award was inaugurated in 1998, when Great Britain's sprinter Christian Malcolm was awarded. The first woman to be voted was 400 m and 400 m H specialist, Jana Pittman of Australia, in 2000.

Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele was the first to receive Rising Star award followed by Athlete of the Year trophy in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The other athletes to achieve the feat were Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, American sprinter Allyson Felix, Belgian heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam, Venezuelan triple jumper Yulimar Rojas, American hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levron, Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, and Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American sprinter Erriyon Knighton are the only two athletes to be crowned Rising Star twice. (Full article...)

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Stefka Georgieva Kostadinova (Bulgarian: Стефка Георгиева Костадинова; born 25 March 1965) is a Bulgarian former athlete who competed in the high jump. Her world record of 2.09 metres stood since 1987 until being broken by Yaroslava Mahuchikh in 2024 (record not verified[citation needed]). She is the 1996 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion, and a five-time World Indoor champion. She has been the president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since 2005. (Full article...)

Kostadinova was reigning world record holder in the women's high jump until July 2024. She set a world record of 2.09 m at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome. Altogether Kostadinova set seven world records - three outdoors and four indoors. She also holds the distinction of having jumped over 2.00 m 197 times.

Kostadinova won the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, setting an Olympic record of 2.05 m. She also won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Kostadinova won the outdoor World Championships in 1987 and 1995. She won the World Indoor Championship five times between 1985 and 1997. Kostadinova also won gold in all European Championships in Athletics in which she competed. She was a European outdoor champion in Stuttgart in 1986 and a four-time European indoor champion in 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1994.

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World records

World records (current olympic events only) as of 13 October 2024
Bolded, italicized records with two asterisks (**) are pending ratification by World Athletics.
Event Men Record (Year) Women Record (Year)
100 metres Jamaica Usain Bolt 9.58 (2009) United States Florence Griffith Joyner 10.49 (1988)
200 metres Jamaica Usain Bolt 19.19 (2009) United States Florence Griffith Joyner 21.34 (1988)
400 metres South Africa Wayde van Niekerk 43.03 (2016) East Germany Marita Koch 47.60 (1985)
800 metres Kenya David Rudisha 1:40.91 (2012) Czechoslovakia Jarmila Kratochvílová 1:53.28 (1983)
1500 metres Morocco Hicham El Guerrouj 3:26.00 (1998) Kenya Faith Kipyegon 3:49.04 (2024)
5000 metres Uganda Joshua Cheptegei 12:35.36 (2020) Ethiopia Gudaf Tsegay 14:00.21 (2023)
10000 metres Uganda Joshua Cheptegei 26:11.00 (2020) Kenya Beatrice Chebet 28:54.14 (2024)**
Marathon Kenya Kelvin Kiptum 2:00:35 (2023) Kenya Ruth Chepng'etich 2:09:56 Mx (2024)**
Kenya Peres Jepchirchir 2:16:16 Wo (2024)
3000 metres steeplechase Ethiopia Lamecha Girma 7:52.11 (2023) Kenya Beatrice Chepkoech 8:44.32 (2018)
110 metres hurdles (men)

100 metres hurdles (women)

United States Aries Merritt 12.80 (2012) Nigeria Tobi Amusan 12.12 (2022)
400 metres hurdles Norway Karsten Warholm 45.94 (2021) United States Sydney McLaughlin 50.37 (2024)**
High jump Cuba Javier Sotomayor 2.45 m (1993) Ukraine Yaroslava Mahuchikh 2.10 m (2024)**
Pole vault Sweden Armand Duplantis 6.26 m (2024)** Russia Yelena Isinbayeva 5.06 m (2009)
Long jump United States Mike Powell 8.95 m (1991) Soviet Union Galina Chistyakova 7.52 m (1988)
Triple jump United Kingdom Jonathan Edwards 18.29 m (1995) Venezuela Yulimar Rojas 15.74 m (2022)
Shot put United States Ryan Crouser 23.56 m (2023) Soviet Union Natalya Lisovskaya 22.63 m (1987)
Discus throw Lithuania Mykolas Alekna 74.35 m (2024)** East Germany Gabriele Reinsch 76.80 m (1988)
Hammer throw Soviet Union Yuriy Sedykh 86.74 m (1986) Poland Anita Włodarczyk 82.98 m (2016)
Javelin throw Czech Republic Jan Železný 98.48 m (1996) Czech Republic Barbora Špotáková 72.28 m (2008)
Decathlon (men)

Heptathlon (women)

France Kevin Mayer 9126 pts (2018) United States Jackie Joyner-Kersee 7291 pts (1988)
20 kilometres racewalk Japan Yusuke Suzuki 1:16:36 (2015) China Yang Jiayu 1:23:49 (2021)
4 × 100 metres relay  Jamaica 36.84 (2012)  United States 40.82 (2012)
4 × 400 metres relay  United States 2:54.29 (1993)  Soviet Union 3:15.17 (1988)
Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay Athletes Record (Year)
 United States 3:07.41 (2024)**

Topics

Athletics events

Events in the sport of athletics

Athletics competitions

From the first edition at the 1896 Summer Games, athletics has been considered the "queen" of the Olympics. Today, there are several other athletics championships organized at global and continental levels. Athletics also serves as the main focus of many multi-sport events such as the World University Games, Mediterranean Games, and Pan American Games. The following is a list of prominent athletics competitions.

Event 1st edition Kind of competition Can participate
Olympic Games 1896 World games Worldwide
World Championships 1983 World championships
World Indoor Championships 1985
European Championships 1934 Continental championships Europe
European Indoor Championships 1966
South American Championships 1919 South America
Asian Championships 1973 Asia
African Championships 1979 Africa
Ocenian Championships 1990 Oceania

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