Track and field: A beginner’s guide
Track and field, also commonly known as track and field athletics, is a type of sport consisting of various events of running, throwing and jumping.
The origin of track and field sport dates back to era of prehistoric man, where men evolved from rock to javelin throwers. But strong evidence of track and field can be obtained from the ancient Greek contests. However, the scope of the game was very limited at that time, which expanded with the passage of time. Now track and field has become more professional and has gained international status.
Track and field athletics can be categorized into three broad events;
Field events
Field events enjoy a prominent place in world of athletics. They require energy, strength, and, speed. Field events mainly consist of jumping events and throwing events. Throwing events mainly consist of the following:
Shot Put
Shot put requires excessive strength from the athlete, as the athlete has to throw a heavy ball from the specified position across a distance that has been specified, using one hand only. In doing so the athlete is required to transfer all the strength of his leg to his arms. The athlete gets disqualified if he leaves the specified position before the shot touches the ground. Among the record breakers in shot put, Randy Barnes of USA holds the world record in category of men and in women, Natalya Lisovskaya of Russia holds world record.
Hammer Throw
In hammer throw, a heavy metal ball is thrown. The metal ball is attached to a wire to grip it. The athlete, who throws the ball to the greatest distance, is declared as the winner of the competition. The athlete is disqualified or fails, if he moves away from the specified position during the throw or before the hammer reaches the ground.
Yuriy Sedykh is the record breaker men and Mihaela Melinte is among the record breaking women in hammer throw.
Javelin Throw
In javelin throw, the athlete is required to throw a long spiked pole as far as possible over the field. The athlete throws javelin by extending an arm backward and then over the shoulder of the arm. The athlete gets disqualified if he turns his back to the throwing line during the throw or crosses the line during or after the throw.
Jan Zelezny and Osleidys Menendez hold the world record in javelin throw.
Discuss Throw
The discuss throw requires the athlete to throw a disc shaped object as far as possible. To make the throw the athlete stands within a specified marked position on the ground and is not allowed to leave the circle before the discus has landed. If he fails to do so, the athlete is disqualified.
Jurgen Schult and Gabriele Reinsch are known to have the world record in discuss throw.
Track events
Track events include running or jumping. They usually involve running across the field. Track events include sprints, long distance races, relays and hurdles.
Sprints are basically racing involving a short distances, usually between 100 meters to 400 meters. Middle distance races are longer than sprinting but shorter than long distance races. They usually range from 800 meters to 3000 meters. Long distance races include marathons, or any race events that cover more than 5,000 meters.
Hurdles are also track events. They are done on a track during which the athletes run while jumping over obstacles in the way.
Relays involve a team of athletes. Athletes in the first part runs to a certain point where another teammate is standing, who in turn runs to where a third team member is waiting and so on until the last member reaches the finish line.
Combined events
Combined events are a mix of both track and field events. Combined events include three different competitions. These competitions are:
The Pentathlon: pentathlon consists of five events
Heptathlon: consists of seven events
Decathlon: consists of ten events.
All three competitions require athletes with high endurance, strength and speed.
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