Athletics (Track and Field) Summer Games Information
Athletics is also known as track and field or track and field athletics. It is a collection of sports events that including running, throwing and jumping. The name is derived from the Greek word "athlon" meaning "contest".
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics will be held during the last 10 days of the games starting on August 15th. The events will take place at Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of Athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track events, field events, combined events, and road events.<
Both men and women have very similar schedules of events. Men will compete in 24 events and women will compete in 23
Sprints (100 m, 200 m, 400 m), middle-distance running (800 m and 1500 m) and long-distance running (5000 m and 10,000 m) will be included into the track portion of Athletics. Obstacled events will include hurdling (100 m and 400 m for women, 110 m and 400 m for men), relays (4 x 100 m and 4 x 400 m) and the 3000 m steeplechase.
The field portion will include the long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, discus, shot put, javelin, and hammer throw for both men and women.
Combined events will include the decathlon for men and the heptathlon for women. Each competition will last over two days. The heptathlon combines 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, javelin, 200 m, and 800 m. The decathlon combines 100 m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 m, 110 m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500 m.
The road portion of Athletics will include a marathon and a 20 km race walk for both men and women. In addition, the men compete in a 50 km race walk.
