Inglés

OLYMPIC GAMES

The modern Summer Olympics was the first event at which a global athletics competition took place. All the four major sports within athletics have featured in the Olympic athletics programme since its inception in 1896, although cross country has since been dropped. The Olympic competition is the most prestigious athletics contest and, in addition to this, many athletics events are also among the most prominent competitions at the Summer Olympics as a whole. A total of 47 athletics events are held at the Olympics, 24 for men and 23 for women. The events within the men's and women's programmes are either identical or have a similar equivalent, with the sole exception being that men contest the 50 km race walk.

PARALIMPIC GAMES

The Summer Paralympics include athletes with a physical disability. Track and field, and road events have featured in the Paralympic athletics programme since its inception in 1960. The Paralympic competition is the most prestigious athletics contest where athletes with a physical disability compete.
Athletics at the Paralympic Games also include wheelchair racing where athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs. Athletes with a visual impairment compete with a sighted guide. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, for the first time at an international athletics event, the guides will receive medals, such as the pilots in cycling, and the guides at the Paralympic Winter Games have done for a while.

TRACK AND FIELD

Track and field competitions emerged in the late 19th century and were typically contested between athletes who were representing rival educational institutions, military organisations and sports clubs. Participating athletes may compete in one or more events, according to their specialities. Men and women compete separately. Track and field comes in both indoor and outdoor formats, with most indoor competitions occurring in winter, while outdoor events are mostly held in summer. The sport is defined by the venue in which the competitions are held – the track and field stadium.
A variety of running events are held on the track which fall into three broad distance categories: sprints, middle-distance, and long-distance track events. Relay races feature teams comprising four runners each, who must pass a baton to their team-mate after a specified distance with the aim of being the first team to finish. Hurdling events and the steeplechase are a variation upon the flat running theme in that athletes must clear obstacles on the track during the race. The field events come in two types – jumping and throwing competitions. In throwing events, athletes are measured by how far they hurl an implement, with the common events being the shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw. There are four common jumping events: the long jump and triple jump are contests measuring the horizontal distance an athlete can jump, while the high jump and pole vault are decided on the height achieved. Combined events, which include the decathlon (typically competed by men) and heptathlon (typically competed by women), are competitions where athletes compete in a number of different track and field events, with each performance going toward a final points tally.
The most prestigious track and field contests occur within athletics championships and athletics programmes at multi-sport events. The Olympic athletics competition and World Championships in Athletics, and the Paralympic athletics competition and IPC World Championships in Athletics, are the highest and most prestigious levels of competition in track and field. Track and field events have become the most prominent part of major athletics championships and many famous athletes within the sport of athletics come from this discipline. Discrete track and field competitions are found at national championships-level and also at annual, invitational track and field meetings. Meetings range from elite competitions – such as those in the IAAF Diamond League series – to basic all-comers track meets and inter-sports club meetings, which form the grassroots of track and field.

	Official world championship track and field events Track Field Combined events Sprints Middle-distance Long-distance Hurdles Relays Jumps Throws 60 m 100 m 200 m 400 m 800 m 1500 m 3000 m 5000 m 10,000 m 60 m hurdles 100 m hurdles 110 m hurdles 400 m hurdles 3000 m steeplechase 4×100 m relay 4×400 m relay Long jump Triple jump High jump Pole vault Shot put Discus throw Hammer throw Javelin throw Pentathlon Heptathlon Decathlon

				RUNNING IN ANCIENT GREECE The history of Greek running can be traced back to 776 BC. Running was important to members of ancient Greek society, and is consistently highlighted in documents referencing the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games hosted a large variety of running events, each with their own set of rules. The ancient Greeks developed difficult training programs with specialized trainers in preparation for the Games. The training and competitive attitude of Greek athletes gives insight into how scientifically-advanced Greece  was for the time period. The people of Greece generally enjoyed sporting events, particularly foot racing, and wealthy admirers would often give large gifts to successful athletes. Though foot races were physically challenging, if successful, athletes could become very wealthy. The ancient Greeks developed running as a sport into a sophisticated field of science and philosophy. In the ancient sources, training is often discussed. However, details about how the training of runners compared to the training of other types of athletes are not clearly addressed. In ancient Greece, athletes might not have been as specialized as they are today. It is likely that a single athlete would have trained for, and competed in, many different events resulting in less distinction being drawn between training for different events. Many philosophers had ideas about how athletes should train, which provides historians with numerous insights. For example, Plato argued that the whole body should be trained to increase strength and speed for running and wrestling (Stefanović et al. 113). The lengths and types of foot races are widely written. Also discussed in a variety of sources is the use of music in athletic training, and the diet of athletes.

THE HIGH JUMP

The high jump has been an Olympic event since ancient Greek times. The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th Century. The high jump is a track and field event where a horizontal bar is placed at certain heights, athletes jump over the bar, the one who jumps the highest height wins. There have been various jumping techniques over the years, in the beginning there was just the standard straight on approach. The scissor technique was also used where the athlete approached sideways and the right leg went over first, the left leg followed in a scissor motion.

The early days of the high jump

Harold Osborn

The high jump was one of the sports that was included when the modern Olympic Games began in 1896. Americans won the first eight Olympic high jump championships (not including the semi-official 1906 Games). Harold Osborn was the 1924 gold medalist with a then-Olympic record leap of 1.98 meters.

New technique:  Dick Fosbury

Before the 1960s, high jumpers generally leaped over the bar feet-first. A new head-first technique surfaced in the '60s, with Dick Fosbury as its notable early proponent. Employing his "Fosbury Flop" style, the American earned the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.

High-flying women: Ulrike Meyfarth

When women entered Olympic track and field competition in 1928, the high jump was the women's lone jumping event. West German Ulrike Meyfarth is one of the standouts in Olympic high jumping history, earning a gold medal at age 16 in 1972, then triumphing again 12 years later at Los Angeles. Meyfarth established Olympic records with each victory.

Higher and higher: Stefka Kostadinova

Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova set the women's world high jump record in 1987 with a leap measuring 2.09 meters. Kostadinova went on to win an Olympic gold medal in 1996.