Track and field athletics facts for kids
Track and field is a super exciting sport! It's part of a bigger group of sports called athletics. Athletics includes many different events like running, jumping, and throwing.
Track and field events usually happen inside a big sports stadium. Some events are on the running track, which is often made of a special rubber material. Other events happen on the field in the middle of the track.
Besides track and field, other athletics events happen outside the stadium. These include cross country running, road running, marathons, and race-walking.
Athletics is popular all over the world. It's a mix of different sports, mainly running, jumping, and throwing.
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Pole vault event at Birmingham.
Contents
What is Track and Field?
Track and field is a sport where athletes compete in different challenges. These challenges test how fast they can run, how high or far they can jump, and how far they can throw objects. It's all about speed, strength, and skill!
Different Kinds of Events
There are many types of events in track and field. They are grouped into running, jumping, and throwing.
Running Events
Running events are all about speed and endurance.
- Sprints: These are short, fast races like the 100-meter or 200-meter dash.
- Middle-distance races: These are a bit longer, like the 800-meter or 1500-meter races.
- Long-distance races: These are much longer, like the 5,000-meter or 10,000-meter races.
- Hurdle races: Athletes run over obstacles called hurdles.
- Relay races: Teams of runners pass a baton to each other.
Jumping Events
Jumping events show how high or far an athlete can jump.
- High jump: Athletes jump over a high bar without knocking it down.
- Long jump: Athletes run and jump as far as they can into a sand pit.
- Triple jump: This involves three jumps in a row: a hop, a skip, and a jump.
- Pole vault: Athletes use a long, flexible pole to vault themselves over a high bar.
Throwing Events
Throwing events test an athlete's strength and technique.
- Javelin throw: Athletes throw a long, spear-like object as far as possible.
- Discus throw: Athletes spin and throw a heavy disc.
- Hammer throw: Athletes spin and throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle.
- Shot put: Athletes push a heavy metal ball from their shoulder as far as they can.
Combined Events
Some events combine running, jumping, and throwing.
- The decathlon is a famous combined event for men. It has ten different events over two days. These include sprints, a mile run, hurdles, javelin, discus, shot put, high jump, and pole vault.
- The heptathlon is a similar event for women, with seven different challenges.
How Athletes Win
In most track and field events, athletes are timed to see how fast they are. For jumping and throwing events, their distance is measured. The best time or longest distance wins! Athletes train very hard to improve their results.
Track and Field Around the World
Track and field is a sport enjoyed by people everywhere. It's especially popular with young people. You can play it just for fun, or you can compete seriously. It's also a big part of the Olympic Games, where athletes from all over the world compete for medals!
Images for kids
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An early model of hurdling at the Detroit Athletic Club in 1888
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American athlete Jim Thorpe was a famous Olympic champion.
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Carl Lewis was among the athletes who helped increase track and field's profile.
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The finish of a women's 100 m race
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Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Hägg (right) broke a number of middle distance world records in the 1940s.
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Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long-distance track event
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Girls handing over the baton in a relay race in Leipzig in 1950
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A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 Dutch Championships
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Men traversing the water jump in a steeplechase competition
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Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the event
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Anna Giordano Bruno releases the pole after clearing the bar
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Remigius Machura preparing to throw within the circle
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Bregje Crolla beginning to throw the javelin
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Yury Shayunou spinning with the hammer within the circle
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Men assuming the starting position for a sprint race
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Oscar Pistorius, running in the first round of the 400 m at the 2012 Olympics
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The 100 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics
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The 2006 European Athletics Championships at the Ullevi Stadium
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The pole vault competition at the 2007 Pan American Games
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A child taking part in a local schools meeting in Cambodia
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Marion Jones, a famous athlete.
See also
In Spanish: Atletismo para niños
