Track and Field History and the Origins of the Sport
The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the stadium race, a foot race 600 feet long. According to some literary traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals.
Other evidence, both literary and archaeological, suggests that the games may have existed at Olympia much earlier than this date, perhaps as early as the tenth or ninth century BC. A series of bronze tripods have been found at Olympia, some of which appear to be dated at about the ninth century BC, and it has also been suggested that these tripods may in fact be prizes for some of the early events at Olympia.
The marathon was not an event of the ancient Olympic Games. The marathon is a modern event that was first introduced in the Modern Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens, a race from Marathon—northeast of Athens—to the Olympic Stadium, a distance of 42.195 kilometers. The race commemorates the run of Pheidippides, an ancient “day runner” who carried the news of the Persian landing at Marathon of 490 BC to Sparta (a distance of 149 miles) in order to enlist help for the battle. According to the fifth-century BC ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Pheidippides delivered the news to the Spartans the next day. The distance of the modern marathon was standardized as 26 miles and 385 yards or 42.195 kilometers in 1908 when the Olympic Games were held in London. The distance was the exact measurement between Windsor Castle, the start of the race, and the finish line inside White City Stadium.
2 Events in Track 1. Marathon (42.195 km). The marathon is the only common road-racing distance run in major international athletics championships, such as the Olympics. 2. Half marathon(21.0975 km)
2 Events in Field 1. Half marathon(21.0975 km) 2. Jumping Events
Track and Field Officials
Track and field athletics officials or track and field athletics technical officials are referees responsible for judging the various events within track and field. They can be sub-divided into four main groups: field judges, track judges, timekeepers and starters. Within the United Kingdom, athletics officials are governed by UK Athletics.
Track and Field Materials
Footwear, track equipments, discus, track and field cages, hammer, heart monitors, high jump, hurdles, javelin, kettlebells, measuring, megaphones, shot put, starting blocks, vaulting, stopwatches and timers
Duties and responsibilities
Track & Field
Arthur Wint, O.J.
May 25, 1920 – October 19, 1992
Birthplace: Manchester, Jamaica * First Jamaican Olympic gold medallist, winning the 400m at the 1948 Olympics * Gold medal – 4x400m relay at the 1952 Olympics * Silver medal - 800m 1948 & 1952 Olympics