Athletics

Athletics, also known as track and field or track and field athletics, is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing and jumping. The name is derived from the Greek word “athlon” meaning “contest”.

Some languages such as German and Russian refer to these sports as “light athletics” to differentiate them from sports like weight lifting, wrestling, etc.

Athletics was the original event at the first Olympics in 776 BC where the only event held was the stadium-length foot race or “stade”.