The history of athletics began in 776 BC. The first foot race was held at the first Olympic festival in ancient Greece. Walking, running and throwing things is a natural process in man since his birth. This process gave rise to track and field events. Many people began to compete against each other and the events became more popular as the days progressed. Events began to develop and many new track events were included in the process. Well, let’s take a look at the history of the athletics event.
The old track event included the stage race, which is called a sprint in the modern event. The contestants ran from one end of the track to the other. The distance covered was approximately 200 meters, which later gave rise to the 200-meter sprint. The 400-meter sprint was inspired by two stadium races and the long-distance race was the result of 724 stadium races. Ancient field events such as the long jump, javelin, short throw, etc., looked similar to modern days. The history of athletics at the modern Olympic Games began in 1896.
Now, let’s take a look at the history of track and field events like vault and pole vault. Vaulting events came from the past and pole vaulting developed in the Netherlands where people used pole vaults to jump over natural obstacles such as canals, streams and swamps. Jumping events such as the long jump, high jump, triple jump, and pole vault were included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Female participants had to wait until 1928 and the women’s high jump was introduced. for the first time at the 1928 Olympics and was soon followed by the long jump. vault in 1948. The triple jump for women was introduced in 1996 and the pole vault at the next Olympics in 2000.
In the past, the pentathlon included all five major events, while the modern 1912 Olympics included the decathlon, which is supposed to consist of 10 athletics events. The women’s pentathlon was included in 1964 and was again replaced by the heptathlon (7 track and field events). The marathon event has its own history in the Olympics. The marathon was inspired by a legend that ran 26 miles from the plains of Marathon to Athens in 490 BC. The first official marathon in athletics history was introduced at the 1896 Olympics. The 5,000 and 10,000 meters were added in 1912 and the 3,000 meter hurdles were added in 1920. The 800 meters was the minimum distance for women in 1928 and the 5,000 meter maximum was added at the 1996 Olympics.
The history of athletics revolves mainly around the Olympic Games. Also, there are many international events like Common Wealth Games, Asian Games, etc. which include the different athletic events. Track and field events in the United States are reported to have begun in 1860. As time progressed, many new events were added and the formation of the IAAF in 1913 created history in track and field events. Soon, women were allowed to participate in the track events. It was only after 1913 that track and field events were treated as a professional sport.