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⚽ Sports and games 🏅 The Olympics and athletics

Athletics

Athletics

📖 In short

Athletics is a group of sports in which athletes compete in running, walking, jumping and throwing. It's one of the oldest sports and the heart of the Olympic Games. It takes place in outdoor stadiums or indoor halls.

🤩 Did you know?

  • A running race was the only event at the first Olympic Games in 776 BC.
  • In a relay the baton must be passed within a 20-meter zone.
  • The men's shot is about 12 centimeters across.
  • The marathon is more than 42 kilometers long.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Track races

On the oval track there are short, fast races like the 100 meters, long races that need patience, hurdle races where runners jump over barriers, and relays between teams.

🔍 The relay

In a relay race four runners from one team each run part of the distance and hand a small baton to a teammate in a set zone. A fast, clean handover is very important for winning.

💡 Jumps

In the long jump the athlete jumps as far as possible into a sand pit, in the high jump they leap over a bar, and in the pole vault they use a long, bendy pole to fly over a very high bar.

🎯 Throws

Athletes throw the heavy metal shot, the round discus, the long javelin and the hammer on a wire. The winner is whoever throws farthest.

📸 More pictures

Athletics
Athletics
Athletics

🧩 Test yourself

1 What do runners pass to each other in a relay?

2 Where does a long jumper land?

3 A running race was the only event at the first Olympic Games in ?? BC.

4 Which picture shows “Athletics”?

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📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons