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Athletics Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
(n.)
The art of training by athletic exercises; the games and sports of athletes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter. AboutThe art of training by athletic exercises; the games and sports of athletes.
athletics
\ath*let"ics\ (&?;), n. the art of training by athletic exercises; the games and sports of athletes.
Noun
1. an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
(synonym) sport
(hypernym) diversion, recreation
(hyponym) rock climbing
(class) in play(p)
2. a contest between athletes
(synonym) athletic contest, athletic competition
(hypernym) contest, competition
(hyponym) decathlon
3. participation in sports events as an extracurricular activity
(hypernym) extracurricular activity
Athletics Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
Athletics may refer to:
- Athletics (sport), an umbrella sport, comprising track and field, cross country, road running and racewalking
- Track and field
- Athletics (U.S.), a term for athletic sports and culture based on human, physical competition
- College athletics, athletic sports and organizations at the college (tertiary) level in North America
- Oakland Athletics, a Major League Baseball team in Oakland, California
- Philadelphia Athletics (1860–1876), a former baseball team
- Philadelphia Athletics (American Association), a former baseball team from 1882 through 1890
- Philadelphia Athletics (1890–1891), a former baseball team
- Philadelphia Athletics (American football), a former American football team
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Athletics Definition from Sports Dictionaries & Glossaries
The decathlon consists of 10 individual events. The competition takes place on two consecutive days. The events are: (on day 1) 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m; (on day 2) 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1,500m.
An athlete receives scores for each of the events. The winner is the competitor scoring the highest total of points.
The decathlon was first included in the 1904 Olympic Games.
The discus throw is an athletics throwing event. The discus, the object to be throw, is a heavy disc with a diameter of 22cm and a weight of two kilograms for the men's event, and one kg for the women's.
To make a throw, the competitor starts in a slightly recessed concrete-surfaced circle of 2.5 metres diameter. They typically begin swinging the discus, while standing at the rear of the circle facing opposite to the direction they will throw and then rotate one and half times, before releasing the discus. The discus must land within a 40 or 60 -degree arc marked by lines on the landing zone, and the competitor must not leave the circle until the discus has landed. The distance from the circle to where the discus has landed is measured. The competitor's best throw from the allocated number of throws is recorded, and the competitor who legally throws the discus the furthest is declared the winner.
To make a throw, the competitor starts in a slightly recessed concrete-surfaced circle of 2.5 metres diameter. They typically begin swinging the discus, while standing at the rear of the circle facing opposite to the direction they will throw and then rotate one and half times, before releasing the discus. The discus must land within a 40 or 60 -degree arc marked by lines on the landing zone, and the competitor must not leave the circle until the discus has landed. The distance from the circle to where the discus has landed is measured. The competitor's best throw from the allocated number of throws is recorded, and the competitor who legally throws the discus the furthest is declared the winner.
The hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object to be thrown is a heavy steel ball attached to a wire rope with a handle on the end of the rope. The name hammer throw is derived from older competitions where in fact a hammer was thrown. Such competitions are still part of the Scottish Highland Games.
Like other throwing events, the competition is decided by who can throw the ball the furthest. Competitors gain maximum distance by swinging the 7.26 kg (16 lb) hammer repeatedly around their head while stationary, and then rotating very quickly with the movement of the hammer before releasing the hammer at the front of the throwing circle.
While the men's hammer throw has been in the Olympic Games since 1900, the IAAF did not start ratifying women's marks until 1995. Women's hammer throw was first included in the Olympics at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, after having been included in the World Championships a year earlier.
Like other throwing events, the competition is decided by who can throw the ball the furthest. Competitors gain maximum distance by swinging the 7.26 kg (16 lb) hammer repeatedly around their head while stationary, and then rotating very quickly with the movement of the hammer before releasing the hammer at the front of the throwing circle.
While the men's hammer throw has been in the Olympic Games since 1900, the IAAF did not start ratifying women's marks until 1995. Women's hammer throw was first included in the Olympics at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, after having been included in the World Championships a year earlier.
The heptathlon is the women's version of the decathlon. It replaced the women's pentathlon in 1984. It consists of two series of events: (day 1) 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put; (day 2) 200 m, long jump, javelin, 800 m.
The event was added to the Olympic programme - as pentathlon - at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and - as heptathlon - at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The event was added to the Olympic programme - as pentathlon - at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and - as heptathlon - at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The javelin throw is an athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is a spear-like object made of metal and fibreglass, called a javelin.
Rules are similar to other throwing events: competitors take a number of throws, their best legal throw is recorded and the winner is the individual with the longest legal throw. The most noticeable difference with the other events is that rather than a throwing circle as used in discus, shot put and hammer throw, the competitors have a run-up area coated with the same rubberised surface used for coating running tracks, and a painted line on the surface from which they must release the javelin. The javelin's point must touch the ground first for the throw to be legal.
Javelin throwers gain considerable forward velocity in their run-up to their throws, and as well as strength demonstrate athleticism more similar to running and jumping events. Thus, the athletes share more similar physical characteristics to those athletes rather than the bulky frames of the strength throwers.
The javelin throw has been part of the Summer Olympics since its inception. Although the javelin is currently used only for sport in most areas, it has a long history of use for hunting and warfare. There are, for instance, numerous references to the javelin in ancient Hellenic civilization, who practised a form of javelin throwing at the ancient Olympics. The objective there, however was to throw at a target rather than for distance.
Rules are similar to other throwing events: competitors take a number of throws, their best legal throw is recorded and the winner is the individual with the longest legal throw. The most noticeable difference with the other events is that rather than a throwing circle as used in discus, shot put and hammer throw, the competitors have a run-up area coated with the same rubberised surface used for coating running tracks, and a painted line on the surface from which they must release the javelin. The javelin's point must touch the ground first for the throw to be legal.
Javelin throwers gain considerable forward velocity in their run-up to their throws, and as well as strength demonstrate athleticism more similar to running and jumping events. Thus, the athletes share more similar physical characteristics to those athletes rather than the bulky frames of the strength throwers.
The javelin throw has been part of the Summer Olympics since its inception. Although the javelin is currently used only for sport in most areas, it has a long history of use for hunting and warfare. There are, for instance, numerous references to the javelin in ancient Hellenic civilization, who practised a form of javelin throwing at the ancient Olympics. The objective there, however was to throw at a target rather than for distance.
The shot put is an athletics event involving throwing (putting) a heavy metal ball, also called the shot, as far as possible.
Competitors take their throw from inside a circle of 2.1 metres in diameter. They must rest the shot put in between the neck and shoulder, and push their throwing arm straight when they throw. The shotputters must not leave the circle until the shot lands on the ground. The distance thrown is measured from the centre of the circle to where the shotput has landed.
Each competitor gets a certain number of throws, usually 3 in elite competition, with the best competitor winning with best out of 3 attempts, and the competitor with the furthest legal put is declared the winner. In men's competition, the shotput weighs approximately 7.3 kilogram (16 pounds). The women's shotput weighs 4 kg.
There are currently two putting styles in use by shot put competitors. The first involves sidestepping to the front of the circle and releasing the shotput (the glide); a newer technique involves rotating like a discus thrower (the spin). In both cases, the key is to gain maximum forward velocity to help speed the shot on its way. Currently, most top shot putters use the spin, but the glide remains popular especially at the amateur level since the technique is easier to master.
Shot put competitions have been held at the Summer Olympics since their inception.
The information in this glossary is based on Wikipedia’s material on the Olympic Games, and has been additionally edited by Babylon. A list of Wikipedia authors on the Olympic Games can be found here. This glossary is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.Competitors take their throw from inside a circle of 2.1 metres in diameter. They must rest the shot put in between the neck and shoulder, and push their throwing arm straight when they throw. The shotputters must not leave the circle until the shot lands on the ground. The distance thrown is measured from the centre of the circle to where the shotput has landed.
Each competitor gets a certain number of throws, usually 3 in elite competition, with the best competitor winning with best out of 3 attempts, and the competitor with the furthest legal put is declared the winner. In men's competition, the shotput weighs approximately 7.3 kilogram (16 pounds). The women's shotput weighs 4 kg.
There are currently two putting styles in use by shot put competitors. The first involves sidestepping to the front of the circle and releasing the shotput (the glide); a newer technique involves rotating like a discus thrower (the spin). In both cases, the key is to gain maximum forward velocity to help speed the shot on its way. Currently, most top shot putters use the spin, but the glide remains popular especially at the amateur level since the technique is easier to master.
Shot put competitions have been held at the Summer Olympics since their inception.
