Athletics - Suprising Facts

Athletics is a sport in which athletes have to participate in different events which include jumping, running, throwing, etc. There are many surprising facts about the sport and we will discuss them here.

Oldest Sport

Athletics is considered as one of the oldest sports as it was a part of the 776 BC Olympics.

Many civilizations from Greece, China, and Egypt participated in different sports like running throwing, and jumping competitions.

Main Event in the Olympics

Athletics is one of the main events in the Olympics.

Record in Sprints

Usain Bolt has made records in 100m and 200m sprints and became the greatest athlete.

Challenging Event

Pole Vault is considered as one of the most challenging events in athletics where athletes have to achieve maximum height.

Naming of Marathon

Marathon is named after one of the Greek towns named Marathon where Pheidippides the Greek messenger ran to declare the victory of Greece over Persians.

Types of Events

Athletics has indoor and outdoor events which include city streets, stadiums, and indoor tracks.

High Jump Techniques

Previously Scissors Jump technique was used in the high jump but now, the Fosbury Flop technique is used. This technique was developed by Dick Fosbury.

Origination of Javelin Throw

Javelin Throw is an event in athletics that has been developed as a hunting technique.

Record for Women's 100m Sprint

The record for 100m sprint for women belongs to Florence Griffith-Joyner

Game that requires a lot of Power and Strength

Shot Put is a game in which a lot of strength and power is required to throw a heavy metal ball.

False Start

Athletes should prevent false starts as this can lead to disqualification.

Long Distance Events

Different types of long-distance events are organized in athletics. These include races of 5,000m and 10,000m.

Triple Jump

Triple Jump is a combination of running, jumping, and bounding.

Hurdling

Hurdling is an event in which athletes have to race with each other and cross different barriers called hurdles.

Decathlon and Heptathlon

Multi-event competitions are also held in athletics and they are known as decathlon and heptathlon. Ten games are included in decathlon for men and seven in heptathlon for women.

Participants and their age

Athletes of any age can participate in athletics competitions.

Eight Records in One Day

Fauja Singh made 8 records in one day in the following events −

100m
200m
400m
800m
1500m
3000m
5000m
The mile

He made this record at the age of 100.

Steeplechase Event

Steeplechase Event has its origins in Ireland. In this game, athletes have to run 3000m while crossing 28 obstacles and 7 water jumps.

Highest Pole Vault

The record for the highest pole vault was made by a Swedish athlete named Armand Duplantis. He went up to a height of 6.18 meters. In the female section, the record was made by Yelena Isinbayeva from Russia. She went up to a height of 5.06 meters.

Hammer Throw World Record

The record of hammer throw for males is 86.74 meters and for females, it is 79.42 meters.

Number of Participating Countries

Athletes from around 200 countries participate in athletics.

Name of Running

Running was known as Pedestrianism in the late 19th century.

Number of Muscles in Running

Each step in running uses 200 muscles.

Chances of Arthritis

Running reduces the chances of arthritis.

Famous Sport

The number of people engaged in jogging, running, and trail running was 60 million in the United States in 2017.