Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing.[1] The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. It is one of the oldest sports. In ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece.
The running events, which include sprints, middle and long-distance events, race walking and hurdling, are won by the athlete with the fastest time. The jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put,weight, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also "combined events" or "multi events", such as pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, and decathlon consisting of ten events.For every multi event, athletes participate in a combination of sprinting, jumping, throwing, middle distance, and long distance events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a single victor, but a number are relay races consisting of four members. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the men's and women's competitions are usually held at the same venue. Men and women have different weights for their throwing implements – men's javelin is 800 grams compared to 600 for women, men's weight throw is 35 pounds compared to 20 for women, men's discus is 2 kilograms to women's 1, men's shot put is 16 pounds compared to 8 pounds for women, and men's hammer throw is also 16 pounds to the women's 8. Additionally, men's high hurdles are at height of 42 inches compared to women's hurdles which are 33 inches. For the intermediate hurdles (400 meter hurdles), the men's hurdle height is 36 inches compared to 30 inches for women.
Track and field is categorised under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running, and race walking. At the international level, the two most prestigious international track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body.
