All the track and field sports started with Olympics which takes place once in 4 years. Over the centuries new track competitions started taking place. In the beginning when Olympic festival was started it just had four track and field events like boxing, wrestling and foot races of varying length. It is heard that before eighteenth century track and field competitions occurred only in Olympics. After eighteenth century many schools and universities incorporated these events as daily exercise. Apart from Olympics the first track and field competition was held in oxford and Cambridge universities in 1864.

From early 1900’s various leagues and associations were formed. International and domestic leagues began and held the athletes amateur status so that they could compete in the Olympics. The first NCAA Championships was held in 1921. One of the most important events of track and field the marathon race was started from the Olympic stadium which was in Athens, Greece. Track and field sports events had various problems but only in 1970 it were given a professional stature where in athletes could compete annually in events and also get paid.

Some major track and field events are as follows:

Relays:

Two types of relays are 4×100 meter relay and the 4×400 meter relay. 4×100 meters relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 meters each. The 4×400 meters relay comprises of four runners in a lane where in each runner complete 400 meters or one lap.

Shot put:

Shot put means putting a heavy metal ball as far as possible. Competitors take their throw from inside a circle 2.135 m in diameter, with a stop board which is approximately 4 inches high at the front of the circle. The distance is usually measured from the inside of the circumference of the circle to the nearest mark made by the falling shot in the soil.

Discus throws:

Discus throw means an athlete throws a heavy disc – named as discus at a farther distance than his competitors. Men’s competition takes place every year since the first Olympiad in 1896. Women’s competition was added to the Olympic program in the 1928 games.

Javelin Throw:

This is a throwing event where the object to be thrown is javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. This event is for both men and women. According to IAAF rules there are certain rules that have to be followed by both men and women when they play this game. Men can throw a javelin between 2.6 and 2.7 meters in length and 800 grams in weight and women throw a javelin between 2.2 and 2.3 meters in length and at least 600 grams in weight.

Related Sports Articles