What Sports Are Involved in Athletics?

Athletics is a broad term that can refer to many different types of sports. Some of the most popular sports that are considered to be part of athletics include track and field, basketball, football, and baseball.

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Introduction

Athletics is a term that covers a wide variety of sports. In the United States, athletics generally refers to sports that are played in high school and college. These sports can be divided into several categories:

-Team sports: These include sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and hockey.
-Individual sports: These include sports such as tennis, golf, and track and field.
-Racquet sports: These include sports such as tennis and badminton.
-combat sports: These include boxing, wrestling, and fencing.

Track and Field

There are a total of 47 disciplines in track and field. These disciplines include:

Athletics is a sport that involves running, jumping, throwing, and sometimes walking. There are different types of events that athletes can compete in, such as track events, field events, and road events.

Cross Country

Cross country is a sport in which teams of runners compete against each other over courses ranging from 3 to 6 miles (4.8 to 9.7 km) long. The object of the race is to run from the start to the finish line in the shortest possible time.

Cross country races are held outdoors, on grassy or dirt courses. Some races are held on roads, but these are generally reserved for shorter distances such as 5 km (3 mi) races. The course over which a cross country race is run may include natural obstacles such as hills, streams, and trees, as well as man-made obstacles such as barriers and walls.

Cross country running is one of the oldest sports in existence, dating back to 19th-century England. It gained popularity in the United States in the early 20th century, and today it is one of the most popular sports at high schools and colleges across the country.

Road Running

Running on roads and pavements is one of the most popular ways to keep fit and is often used as a training method for other sports such as football and rugby. Many people also take part in road running events such as marathons, half-marathons, 10K and 5K runs.

Marathon

A marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. The marathon has an extensive history and associated cultural meaning.

Racewalking

Racewalking, also known as race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although it is a footrace, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. This contact is achieved through a constant and rapid forward motion of the leg combined with a sideways or rearward-facing movement of the arms.

Combined Events

Combined events involve athletes competing in a number of different track and field events. The most common format is the decathlon for men and the heptathlon for women, which both consist of ten events. However, there are other variations, such as the pentathlon (five events) and octathlon (eight events).

The ten events in a decathlon are: 100m sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m sprint, 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m run. The seven events in a heptathlon are: 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m sprint, long jump, javelin throw, and 800m run.

Combined events require athletes to have a broad range of skills and a good level of fitness. They need to be able to sprint over short distances; they must be able to jump or throw accurately; and they need endurance for the longer track or field events.