London Olympics. A guide to Athletics
Athletics
Capturing the true ancient Olympic principles, athletics is the largest event on the Olympic program. Out of the 10,500 athletes that will descend on London for the Games, 2000 will compete in track and field, including 52 Australians - our largest representation across all sports on the Olympic program.
Over one million people applied for tickets to the men’s 100m final and the eyes of the world will be on defending Champion Usain Bolt. Fellow IAAF Athlete of the Year Sally Pearson will lead an exceptional Australian charge aiming to beat the four medal haul from Beijing- Australia’s best result since Mexico 1968. In 2008 Steve Hooker won gold, Pearson won silver and race walker Jared Tallent won silver and bronze. This Olympiad, Australia has more athletes capable of winning medals than it has for decades and the target is six medals.
There are four main strands to the athletics competition, track events which are divided into sprints, middle distance and long distance events, as well as those that include obstacles such as the hurdles and steeplechase.
Then there are the field events which can be divided into throwing (for example shot put) and jumping (for example high jump).
There are also combined events which are a combination of both track and field such as the heptathlon which includes seven events and finally there are road events which include the marathon and race walks.
RUNNING
The running and walking disciplines are staged over events ranging from 100m to 50km.
Besides the marathon and race walk events which are held on the road, the running will take place on a 400m oval track inside London’s Olympic stadium where the finish line is at the end of the ‘home straight’.
While the majority of races are on the flat, the hurdles and steeplechase competitions require athletes to jump over obstacles as they race it out to the finish line.
Words you need to know
Anchor: The last runner in a relay race.
Sprint: Technically defined as a race of 400m or under.
Heat: An early race of an event, where the top finishers (usually the top three or four, plus fastest losers) advance to the finals or semi-finals of the competition.
JUMPING
In long jump, athletes sprint down a runway before propelling themselves as far as possible into a sand pit.
Triple jump is similar in form, although competitors have to complete a hop and a step before completing the jump.
For the high jump, the object is to leap over a bar that is then raised with each successful attempt. Three attempts are possible at every stage and the winner is the athlete who arches over the bar at the greatest height.
And finally the Pole vault adheres to the same rules, but here competitors must use a long, flexible pole to launch themselves higher into the air.
Words you need to know
Fosbury flop: A style of high-jumping – named after the man who perfected it, American Dick Fosbury, where the athlete clears the bar facing upwards and lands with his or her back on the mat.
Take-off board: The board long and triple jumpers jump sprint towards and jump from.
Box: A three sided box where vaulters plant their poles as they attempt to clear the bar.
THROWING
The throws are divided into javelin, shot put, discus and hammer and the athletes are given six attempts to throw the object as far as possible into a field.
Words you need to know
Rhythm: The flow of the athlete while progressing through the motion of throwing.
Orbit: The path of the object thrown.
Throwing circle: The circle that athletes must not exit while attempting a discuss or hammer throw.
