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Sport of athletics

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
Myriam Soumaré wins the women's 100-metre race at the French Athletics Championships in Paris in July 2013.

What Is Athletics?

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involve running, jumping and throwing. The most common kinds are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and race walking.

In a race, the winner is the one who finishes first. In jumps and throws, the athlete with the longest or highest try wins. Athletics needs no expensive equipment, so it is one of the most popular sports in the world.

A Very Old Sport

Running, jumping and throwing are some of the oldest sports. Long ago, people held these contests at the ancient Olympic Games. Pictures of athletics even appear in Ancient Egyptian tombs at Saqqara.

Athletics is a big part of the Summer Olympics. Athletes with a physical disability also take part in the Summer Paralympics and the World Para Athletics Championships.

Races Around the World

The biggest races over a whole season are the Diamond League for track and field, and the World Marathon Majors for marathon running. The main global championship is the World Athletics Championships.

Some relay races let a team share the work. In relay races, each runner takes a turn, and the team works together to finish.

Quiz time!

3 questions about Sport of athletics

Question 1 of 3

What do athletes do in athletics?

Pictures

Bregje Crolla, a javelin thrower, competing at the European Cup in 2007.
Robert Garrett of the United States, who won the discus throw at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Two high school runners, Elliot Heath and Hassan Mead, lead the pack during the Minnesota High School State Cross Country Meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Runners crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge during the New York City Marathon.
Tuscan race walkers taking part in a 4-kilometre race. Race walking is a sport where athletes move quickly on foot while keeping at least one foot on the ground at all times.
Runners lining up at the start of a mountain running race near the Turtagrø hotel in Luster, Norway, in the Jotunheimen mountains.
The Discobolus, a Roman marble copy of a famous Greek bronze statue from the 5th century BC, showing an athlete about to throw a discus. This copy was found at the Villa Adriana near Tivoli, Italy.
The running track at Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland, photographed from the stadium tower in 2008.
Sprinters running in the 100-metre heat at the ISTAF athletics meeting in Berlin in 2006, including the eventual winner, Sina Schielke.
Runners taking part in the National Marathon in Washington, D.C., in March 2008.
Runners competing in the Boys' High School race at the Roy Griak Invitational, a cross country meet held at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
Athletes competing in the final of the 10 kilometre walk at the 1912 Summer Olympics, with Canadian walker George Goulding in the middle.
Athletes competing in a long jump contest, photographed in 1951.
Pictogram for Athletics at the Summer Olympics
Foekje Dillema was banned from the women's division in 1950.
Celina Jesionowska in 1954.
A typical layout of an outdoor athletics stadium
A cross country race taking place at a snowy park in the United States
Map of the six continental federations of World Athletics
Men's 1,500-metre Running during the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships at the Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland
Ancient Greek pottery showing the javelin and the discus throw

Keep exploring

Jumping
Road running
Race walking
Ancient Olympic Games

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Sport of athletics, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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