Contents 4 Going for Gold 6 Sprint Races 10 Relay Races 12 Hurdles 14 Longer Races 16 The Marathon 18 Long Jump 20 High Jump 22 Discus 24 Javelin 26 Other Field Events 28 Gold Medal Greats 30 Glossary 31 Books and Web Sites 32 Index
Going for Gold The Olympics is the greatest sporting event on Earth More than 10,000 athletes Olympians flock to one country every four years to compete in their sport during 17 action-packed days Winning an Olympic gold silver or bronze medal for finishing first second or third in an event is the highlight of many athletes sports careers The U S 4 x 400m relay team from left to right LaShawn Merritt Angelo Taylor David Neville and Jeremy Wariner with their gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics Ancient Athletics The ancient Olympics began in Greece in 776 BC At first there was just one event a race over a distance called a stade about 623 ft or 190 m from which the word stadium comes Over time other events were added Most were track and field events such as races run over varying distances or throwing and jumping events including the discus and long jump Modern Games The ancient Olympics were held for more than 1,000 years before they were banned by the Roman emperor Theodosius He was a 4
Track And Field
An introduction to the summer Olympic events, including track and field, long and short distance races, and more.
About This Book
By: Clive Gifford
Illustrated by:
Published by: Amicus provided by the Creative Company
