GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. FIND THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN ATHLETICS TODAY? (10 Points )

Answer:

Track and Field Today

After struggling with drug-use controversies over the past decade, track and field made a significant comeback
during the 2008 Olympics. Several mind-blowing performances, particularly by Jamaica's Usain Bolt, put track and
field squarely back in the public spotlight.
Team USA also celebrated several victories, including seven gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals. And if
participation by young track and field hopefuls is any indication, Team USA has a bright Olympic future ahead of it
as well. According to USA Track & Field (USATF), the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance
running and race walking, athletics are the number-one high school and junior high school participatory sport in
America.
USATF's motto is to make track a field "a sport for everyone, for life," and they accomplish that with a variety of
initiatives: developing grassroots events, such as the Junior Olympics, that create increased interest in the sport and
develop future Olympians; promoting training and competition programs for athletes of all ages; and sanctioning
more than4,000 events each year.
Track and field also has an international governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations,
which regulates timing methods, maintains world records and organizes numerous events, such as the World
Championships in Athletics.

Athletics today

Today, there are two seasons for track and field: an indoor season, run during the winter and an outdoor season, run
during the spring and summer. Many high schools and colleges have track-and-field programs and facilities
(primarily outdoors), with meets being held on the local, state, and regional levels. Athletes can now receive money
for track-and-field competition, putting an end to the so-called "amateurism" that existed before.

Indoor track and field

Most indoor tracks are 200 meters and consist of four to six lanes. Often an indoor track will have banked turns to
compensate for the tight bends.

In an indoor track meet athletes contest the same track events as an outdoor meet with the exception of the 100 m
and 110 m/100 m hurdles (replaced by the 60 m sprint and 60 m hurdles at most levels and sometimes the 55 m
sprint and 55m hurdles at the high school level), and the 10,000 m run, 3000 m steeplechase, and 400 m hurdles.
Indoor meets also have the addition of a 3000 m run normally at both the collegiate and elite level instead of the
10,000 m. The 5000 m is the longest event commonly run indoors, although there are situations where longer
distances have been raced. In the mid twentieth century, there was a series of "duel races" at Madison Square
Garden's (NY) indoor track, some of which featured two men racing a marathon (26.2 miles). However, this is an
extremely rare occurrence, for obvious reasons. In some occasions, there may also be a 500 m race instead of the
open 400 m normally found outdoors, and in many collegiate championship indoor races, both are contested.
In field events, indoor meets only feature the high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and shot put. The longer
throws of javelin, hammer and discus are added only for outdoor meets, as there is normally not enough space in an
indoor stadium to house these events.

Other events unique to indoor meets (especially in North America) are the 300, 600, 1000, and 35 lb. weight throw.
In some countries, notably Norway, the standing long jump and standing high jump are also contested, even in the
National Championships.

For multi-event athletes there is the Pentathlon for women (consisting of 60 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long
jump and 800 m) and heptathlon for men (consisting of 60 m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 m hurdles, pole
vault and 1000 m) indoors. Outdoor there is the heptathlon for women and the decathlon for men.

Outdoor track and field

The outdoor track and field season usually begins in the spring and lasts through the summer. Most tracks are ovals
of 400 meters in circumference. However, some older tracks are 440 yards in length, while there are some tracks
that are neither oval nor 400m/440y due to geographic considerations. Modern tracks are made with a rubberized
surface, while older tracks may be made of dirt or cinders. Tracks normally consist of 6-10 lanes and many include a
steeplechase lane with a water pit on one of the turns. This steeplechase pit can be placed either inside or outside the
track, making for a tighter turn or a wider turn. It is common that tracks will surround a playing field used
for American football, football (soccer), or lacrosse. This inner field is usually known as the infield and has a
surface of either grass or artificial turf.

All field events can be contested on the infield. However the javelin, hammer and discus throws are often contested
on fields outside of the track stadium because they take up a large amount of space, the implements may damage the
infield, and the implements could end up landing on the track.

Modern Track and Field

By 2008, the number of Olympic track and field events had grown from these original 12 to a total of 47 events.
This evolution occurred due to at least two major factors.
First, many events were added over time, such as relays, javelin, and cross-country. Combined events, such as the
decathlon (10 total events) and pentathlon (5 total events) were also included. Some events were discontinued, but
more were added than removed during this period.
The second reason for the increase in events is the addition of women's events. Though it's hard for us to imagine
now, women did not have the opportunity to participate in Olympic track and field events until 1928. Many of the
women's events are the same as men's, though there are some exceptions. For example, the combined event known
as a heptathlon (7 events) is held for women instead of the decathlon.

2. HOW DID ATHLETICS CAME TO THE PHILIPPINES OR ASIA? (10 Points)

Answer:

Athletics was well established in many countries by the late 1800s, but not until the revival of the Olympic Games in
1896 did the sport become truly international. Although begun modestly, the Olympics provided the inspiration and
standardizing influence that was to spread interest in athletics worldwide. In 1912 the International Amateur Athletic
Federation (IAAF) was founded, and by the time that organization celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1987 it had
more than 170 national members. Its rules applied only to men’s competition until 1936, when the IAAF also
became the governing body of women’s athletics.
Major international competitions before World War II included the Olympics, the British Empire Games, and the
European Championships, but after the war athletics experienced its greatest period of growth, taking root especially
in the developing countries. By the 1950s world-class athletes from African, Asian, and Latin American nations
were enjoying great success at international meets.

3. FIND THE BIGGEST NAMES IN ATHLETICS TODAY STARTING 2010 OLYMPICS BOTH MALE
AND FEMALE ATHLETES ( in all fields ) 15 Points

Answer:

Allyson Felix, Track and Field: 9 medals (6 G, 3 S)

Felix is the only female track and field athlete to ever

win six Olympic gold medals and her nine medals are
tied for the most ever won by a female track and field
Olympian. She made her Olympic debut in Athens in
2004, winning silver in the 200-meter. She won
another silver in the same event in 2008 and gold in
2012. She also has a silver in the 400-meter, won in
2016, and five relay golds won from 2008-2016.

Sanya Richards-Ross, Track and Field: 5 medals (4 G, 1 B)

Richards-Ross was the best 400-meter runner in the world

for the better part of a decade. She was ranked No. 1 in the
world from 2005-2009 and again in 2012, and she has four
Olympic gold medals to prove it. Her first medal came in
2004, a gold in the 4x400-meter. In 2008, she won bronze
in the 400-meter and helped the U.S. defend its relay title.
A third relay gold came in 2012, as did her long-awaited
400-meter gold.

MEN'S TRACK/CROSS COUNTRY

| Mason Ferlic
MEN'S FIELD | Joe Ellis

With a national title, a school

record, five All-America honors
and six Big Ten titles to his name,
Ferlic (2012-16) highlighted the
decade for Michigan on the track.
Ferlic closed out his historic career
with a national title in the NCAA
Championships 3,000-meter
steeplechase in 2016, winning the race by nearly four seconds in a career-best 8:27.16 -- the No. 2 time in school
history. The national title was among his five All-America awards, including all four years in the steeplechase and
an additional honor in the distance medley relay. He was the anchor leg of the DMR team that broke the school
record in 2016. At the Big Ten level, he won two straight steeplechase crowns in 2015 and 2016 and swept the
indoor and outdoor 5,000-meter titles in both seasons.

In cross country, Ferlic won two All-America honors, a regional title,

WOMEN'S TRACK/CROSS COUNTRY | Erin Finn

WOMEN'S FIELD | Kiley Tobel

Though her Michigan career was often sidetracked by injury,

Finn (2014-19) still turned in a stretch as a Wolverine that is
among the school's all-time greats in any sport. On the track, she
accumulated seven All-America honors in three different events
-- among them three national runner-up finishes -- as well as
seven individual Big Ten titles and a USTFCCCA Regional
Athlete of the Year award in 2014. Her best performance at the
NCAA level came in 2016, when she was the runner-up at the
indoor national championships at both 3,000 and 5,000 meters.
She followed up a year later with another national runner-up
showing at 5,000 meters. She claimed three Big Ten 10,000-meter wins, three 5,000-meter crowns, and a 3,000-
meter victory. She owns school records indoors at 3,000 and 5,000 meters and outdoors at 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

In cross country, Finn was an All-American three times -- including a 19th-place finish in 2015 with only one shoe
for much of the race -- a three-time Big Ten champion and the 2016 NCAA Great Lakes Regional champion. That
2016 regional title led into a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, both as a team and as an individual.
Three times Finn led the Wolverines to top-six finishes at the NCAA Championships, three times to NCAA Great
Lakes Regional team titles and once to a Big Ten team crown. Individually, she was second (2016), 19th (2015) and
30th (2013) at the NCAA meet, and the Big Ten champion in all three of those years.

Honorable Mention (Track): Rebecca Addison, Cindy Ofili, Jaimie Phelan, Jillian Smith

Honorable Mention (Field): Erin Busbee, Aaron Howell, Claire Kieffer-Wright, Emily and Erin Pendleton
Honorable Mention (Cross Country): Avery  Evenson, Jamie Morrissey, Shannon Osika, Gina Sereno

Oscar Pistorius

Photo:  Gabludlow / flickr / CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; Afrikaans: [pis
ˈtɔrjus]; born 22 November 1986) is a South
African former professional sprinter. In 2015 he
was convicted of the 2013 murder of his girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp.Both of Pistorius' feet had been
amputated when he was 11 months old due to a
congenital defect. When he was born he was
missing the outside of both feet along with both
fibula bones in his legs. Pistorius ran in both non-
disabled sprint events and in sprint events for
below-knee amputees. He was the tenth athlete to
compete at both the Paralympic Games and
Olympic Games. After becoming a Paralympic champion, Pistorius attempted to enter non-disabled international
competitions.

Jason Young

Jason Young is an American discus thrower who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 19th. At Texas
Tech, Young was a two-time All-American in track and field and placed second in the discus at the 2004 NCAA
Outdoor Championship. In 2010 and 2011, he was the runner-up in discus at the USA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships. He finished 2010 as the number two ranked discus thrower in the world, and has been ranked
among the top ten in the United States six times.

Ivan Horvat

Ivan Horvat is a Croatian pole vaulter. He won the silver medal at the 2012 World Junior Athletics Championship
in Barcelona. He also competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he finished 20th

Genki Dean

Roderick Genki Dean is a Japanese athlete that competes in the javelin throw. He was born to a Japanese mother
and a British father from Chester-le-Street, England. He started throwing the javelin at age 15 in high school and
immediately displayed an aptitude for the discipline. He won a silver medal at the 2010 World Junior
Championships in Athletics throwing a new personal best of 76.44 m. He first came to prominence at the 2012
Japan Championships in Athletics, throwing 84.03 m, setting a new championship record, beating veteran Yukifumi
Murakami and sealing his place in the Japanese team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Javelin throw. He was
selected as the Most Valuable Male Athlete.

Kevin Mayer

Kévin Mayer is a French decathlete. Mayer excelled in combined events from a young age and won at the 2009
World Youth Championships and the 2010 World Junior Championships. He competed at the 2012 Summer
Olympics, finishing 15th. He won a silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor
Championships with a new personal best of 6297 points. At the 2013 European Cup Combined Events he topped the
podium and set personal bests in the 100 metres, long jump, shot put and the discus throw.
4. WHAT IS THE INTERNATIONAL GOVERNING BODY OF ATHLETICS AND WHAT IS THEIR
FUNCTION AND ROLE?

Answer:
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is the worldwide governing body for
professional level athletics and track and field. Its purpose is to create and regulate professional level meets
and to set the standards for administering competitions, using equipment, and documenting world records.
Its role as a world leader in athletics, transforming an amateur fad into a professional industry, has made a
huge impact on professional sports.
The major aims of the IAAF are to establish friendly cooperation among members; eliminate hindrance to
participation in international meets on racial, religious, or political grounds; and compile rules and
regulations governing competition.

REFERENCES:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-history-of-track-field.html
https://www.sportsdestinations.com/sports/track-field/the-worlds-first-sport-track-field-4533
https://mgoblue.com/news/2019/12/31/general-best-of-the-decade-top-wolverines-in-every-sport-2010-
19.aspx
Coe, S. (n.d.). International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved from Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Association-of-Athletics-Federations.
Ducksters (2020). International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Retrieved from
Ducksters.com https://www.ducksters.com/sports/track_and_field/iaaf.php#:~:text=The
%20International%20Association%20of%20Athletics,equipment%2C%20and%20documenting
%20world%20records.