Athletics............
Athletics............
Athletics is the sport which embodies the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius," "faster, higher, stronger." Athletics is about running faster, jumping higher and throwing further than your competitors. The ancient Games at Olympia began with only running races. Today, athletics remains one of the most popular Olympic sports. From the 100m dash to the 42.195km marathon, from the hammer throw to the high jump, it contains many of the Olympic Games' blue-ribbon events and many of the highest-profile competitors.
The Competition.
Athletics can be divided into four areas: track, field, road and combined events. The track events include sprints (100m, 200m, 400m), middle-distance running (800m and1500m) and long-distance running (5000m and 10,000m), hurdling (100m and 400m for women, 110m and 400m for men), relays (4 x 100m and 4 x 400m) and the men's 3000m steeplechase.
Field events, for both men and women, include the long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw. The women's pole vault and hammer throw debut the Sydney 2000 Games.
Road events consist of the men's and women's marathons, the men's 20km and 50km race walks and the women's 10km race walk.
In the combined events &emdash; the heptathlon for women and the decathlon for men &emdash; athletes compete in a series of track and field events over two days. Points are based upon their finishes in each event, and the person with the most points wins.
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Chantal Brunner is hoping to compete in the long jump. She has already competed in the World Championships. A long jumper has to sprint down the runway, take off on a board,and jump as far as possible into a sand pit. |
Chris Donaldson is a sprinter. He will compete in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Sprinters run in lanes marked on the track. They run at full speed from start to finish. |
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Beatrice Faumuina throws the discus. It weighs 1 kilogram and is 18.42 cms in diameter. The discus is thrown from a circle after the athlete has spun around a few times to give more distance and speed to the flying discus. |
Craig Barrett is walking 50 kilometres. |
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Glen Howard is entering the High Jump competition. He is doing the flop method to get over the bar, head first with his back to the bar. |
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Toni Hodgkinson runs middle distances, the 800 metres and the 1500 metres.She was a finalist in the last Olympic Games in the 800metres |
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