Track and field

Track and field is a sport in which athletes compete in running, walking, jumping, and throwing events.
Track events consist of running and walking races of various distances.
Field events are contests in jumping or throwing.
Track and field meets can be held indoors or outdoors. Men and women compete separately in a meet.

Track and field is one of the most popular sports in the world.
More than 200 nations belong to the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), the governing body of track and field.

. The track. Outdoor running tracks are oval in shape and usually are laid out in a stadium. Older tracks consist of dirt or cinders, but most new tracks are made of a waterproof synthetic material and can be used in rainy weather.
Indoor tracks have a wooden or synthetic surface, and they often have banked turns.
Outdoor tracks are divided into eight or nine lanes. Runners must stay in their lanes.

The field.
Most field events take place in an area enclosed by the track. But in some meets, one or more throwing events are held outside the stadium to protect other athletes and spectators who crowd the field area or to avoid damaging the artificial turf that covers many athletic fields.
The field includes runways for the jumping events. It also has circular areas of material such as concrete or asphalt for most of the throwing events.

Track events
Track events include a variety of races. Short races, called sprints, stress maximum speed.
In certain running races, such as the hurdles and steeplechase, runners must go over barriers. Other races, called relays, involve teams of runners

Running races on an outdoor track cover distances from 100 meters to 10,000 meters.
. Cross-country races and road races are run outside the stadium.
Hurdle races are events in which the competitors run over obstacles called hurdles. Most of these races have 10 hurdles spaced at equal intervals.
There are two types of hurdle races, intermediate and high

The steeplechase is a race, usually of 3,000 meters, over two kinds of obstacles, hurdles and water jumps. . Runners must cross water jumps seven times.
Walking races are events in which athletes must follow certain rules of walking technique.
The steeplechase is a race, usually of 3,000 meters, over two kinds of obstacles, hurdles and water jumps.
Relays are run by teams of four runners The most common relays are run at distances of 400 meters or 1,600 meters.

Field events
Field events take place in specially prepared areas, usually within the oval track. Typical field competition consists of four jumping events and four throwing events.

The jumps are the long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault. The throwing events are the discus, hammer, javelin, and shot-put.
Jumping events. In the long jump and triple jump, the athletes jump as far forward as they can. In the high jump and pole vault, they leap over a bar as high as possible.

The long jump, once called the broad jump, is completed in a single jump into a pit filled with sand. To begin the long jump, the competitor sprints down a long runway and leaps from a take-off board. If the athlete steps past the board before jumping, the jump is a foul.
The triple jump, originally called the hop, step, and jump, consists of three continuous jumps, the first two completed on the runway. On the first jump, the athlete takes off on one foot and lands on the same foot. On the second jump, the athlete lands on the other foot. At the end of the third jump, the athlete lands on both feet in a pit of sand.

High-jumpers and pole-vaulters try to propel themselves over a long thin crossbar held up by two posts called uprights. The athletes land on a cushion of foam rubber.
If a jumper knocks the crossbar off the uprights, the jump counts as a miss. Three consecutive misses eliminate the jumper.
The winner is the one who clears the greatest height. In case of a tie, the winner is the one with the fewest misses at that height. If still tied, the winner is the one with the fewest overall misses.

Throwing events require athletes to propel an object as far as they can. Competitors in the discus, hammer, and shot-put all throw from inside a circle. In the discus and hammer events, athletes throw from an enclosure, called a cage, to protect spectators from wild throws. In the javelin event, the athlete runs down a runway and throws the javelin before reaching a foul line. In each event, the thrown object must land within a marked area. Ties are decided by the next-best throw.