Portal:Sport of athletics

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 race walking.

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...)

Tartan track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the use of mercury.

Because the "Tartan" product was widely successful in its time, the name Tartan has been used as a genericized trademark for description of an all-weather running track.

Athletic Polymer Systems, a subsidiary of MCP Industries, Inc., manages the installation of Tartan-branded running track. (Full article...)

22 December:

• Gisela Birkemeyer, German hurdler
• Garfield Darien, French hurdler
• George Hutson, British distance runner
• Ardalion Ignatyev, Soviet sprinter
• Marina Kuptsova, Russian high jumper
• Galina Murašova, Soviet discus thrower
• Giorgio Oberweger, Italian discus thrower
• Marcus O'Sullivan, Irish middle-distance runner
• Myer Prinstein, American long- and triple jumper
• Urszula Włodarczyk, Polish heptathlete

• ... that Erica Larson, a chemist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, won the Pikes Peak mountain marathon five times in six years between 1999 and 2004, more than any other woman in the event's history?
• ... that all four deaths in the thirty annual Chicago Marathons have occurred in the last ten years?
• ... that wind assistance has caused the non-ratification of many potential world records in athletics?
• ... that Patrick Ivuti's photo finish victory in the 2007 Chicago Marathon, one of the five major marathons, was his first marathon victory?

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (née Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded, setting world records in the 100m and 200m in 1988. She was married to Al Joyner, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump. He was also her coach and husband during her success as a four-time Olympic medalist. During the late 1980s, she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style.

Griffith Joyner was born and raised in California. She was athletic from a young age and began running at track meets as a child. While attending California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she continued to compete in track and field. While still in college, she qualified for the 100 m 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott. She made her Olympic debut four years later, winning a silver medal in the 200-meter distance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. At the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials, Griffith set a new world record in the 100-meter sprint. She won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics. (Full article...)

• ... that Libania Grenot was the first woman in three decades to successfully defend the European 400-metres title?
• ... that the championship record was broken three times in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays?
• ... that Femke Bol won the women's 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in an unprecedented double victory?
• ... that the teams of five countries set seven national records during a women's 4 × 400 metres relay event in 2024?
• ... that four-time NAIA scoring champion Grace Beyer has scored more career points than any female basketball player at a four-year college or university?
• ... that Femke Bol's time of [[2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships –
• ... that a 400-metre race in 2025 was won by Lieke Klaver, who pretended that an absent competitor was running in front of her?
• ... that Ireland won the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, receiving their first European gold medal in athletics since 1998?

• WikiProject Athletics
• WikiProject Sports
• WikiProject Running

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