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Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking.
See the fact file below for more information on the athletics or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Athletics worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
HISTORY OF ATHLETICS
- The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC in Ancient Olympia in Greece. Only one track and field event was held, which was the stadium footrace.
- The winner of that event, and the first ever Olympic winner, was Koroibos.
- The ideas and main concepts of athletics in the Panhellenic Games held in Greece soon spread to Italy around the year 200 BC.
- Ancient Greek athletics included running, jumping, discus, and javelin.
- These events, plus wrestling, made up the pentathlon.
- Unlike today, the ancient Olympics were male-dominated, both in terms of participants and spectators.
- In time, Greek women created their own Heraea Games, which were held every four years.
MODERN ERA ATHLETICS
- By the beginning of the 17th century, Europe embraced the concept of the Olympics and held the Cotswold Olimpick Games and L’Olympiade de la République.
- Before going worldwide, some countries conducted their own competitions. The Amateur Athletic Association was established in England in 1880 and the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1876 by the New York Athletic Club.
- An athletics competition was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
- An international governing body, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), was founded in 1912 to organize known athletic sports.
- The rules followed in the competitions are established and enforced by the IAAF and its representatives from each nation. Until 1936, these rules applied only to men’s competitions. The IAAF then became the governing body of women’s athletics.
- In 1960, the Paralympic Games also included athletics. Competitions included athletes with amputation, cerebral palsy and visual impairment, in addition to wheelchair events.
- In 1983, the IAAF established quadrennial World Championships. Events included walking, cross-country, marathon and other road races, indoor track and field, and junior competitions.
EVENTS
- The athletics governing body, World Athletics, provided six disciplines: track and field, road running, race walking, cross country running, mountain running (2003), and trail running (2015).
- It also included jumping events: long jump, triple jump, pole vault, and high jump.
- There were also throwing events: shot put, discus throw, javelin and hammer throw.
- Athletics at the Paralympic Games includes wheelchair racing using lightweight racing chairs.
- Athletes with visual impairment compete with a sighted guide.
Athletics Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the athletics across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Athletics worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the athletics which is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- The Greatest
- The Athlete
- Lightning Bolt
- Track Events
- Throwing Events
- Jumping Events
- Race Walking
- Marathon
- Combined Events
- Twenty Words
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Link will appear as Athletics Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, July 22, 2021
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.