Track and field athletics facts for kids

"Track" redirects here. For music tracks, see Track (music).

Track and field is part of the sport of athletics. Athletics is a collection of sport events that includes running, jumping and throwing. Track and field events take place in a sports stadium, either on the running track, or on the field inside the running track. Other athletics events that are not track and field, include cross country running, road running, marathon running, and race-walking - these events take place outside a sports stadium.

Athletics is a very common sporting event over the world. Athletics is a combination of different sports, generally running, jumping and throwing events. Running events include marathons, hurdle races, long distance and short distance events. Some jumping events are high jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault. Throwing events involve javelin throw, discus throw, hammer throw and shot put.

Long jump at Berlin, 2009.
Discus throw at Barcelona.
Pole vault event at Birmingham.
200 meters race at Helsinki.

There are also events that combine parts of running, jumping, and throwing. One of these is the decathlon, which includes two short-distance races, a mile run, a hurdles race, javelin, discus, shot-put, high jump and pole vault.

All participants are timed or have a distance measured and this is their end result. Participants train hard for an event and always aim to better their results.

Athletics is a sport that people take part in all over the world. It is a sport that is most common between young children up to younger adults. Athletics can be played for enjoyment, but it can also be a competitive sport. Athletics is also an event in the Olympic games.

Images for kids

An early model of hurdling at the Detroit Athletic Club in 1888
American athlete Jim Thorpe lost his Olympic medals for violating amateurism rules of the Olympic Games.
Carl Lewis was among the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile.
The finish of a women's 100 m race
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s.
Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long distance track event
Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships
Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition
Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event
Anna Giordano Bruno releases the pole after clearing the bar
Remigius Machura preparing to throw within the circle
Bregje Crolla beginning to throw the javelin
Yury Shayunou spinning with the hammer within the circle
The Panathinaiko Stadium was one of the first modern track and field stadiums
The Aspire Dome during the 2010 World Indoor Championships
Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race
Oscar Pistorius, running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Olympics
The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics
The 2006 European Athletics Championships at the Ullevi Stadium
The pole vault competition at the 2007 Pan American Games
A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia
Marion Jones, after admitting to doping, lost her Olympic medals, was banned from the sport, and spent six months in jail.