Athletics

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Athletics

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking.

Where can we practice it? Athletics can be practiced in different spaces: in an outdoors stadium, in an indoor track, doing cross country, doing mountain races and, at last, taking part in any popular race.

Which modalities has it got? The modalities which are part of track athletics are the following: Races Speed: 100 m, 200 m and 400 m Middle-distance races: 800 m and 1.500 m Long-distance races: 3.000 (women), 5.000 m, 10.000 m and the marathon Hurdle races: 110 m hurdles (men), 100 m hurdles (women) and 400 m hurdles Obstacle races: 3.000 m obstacles Relay races: 4x100 m and 4x400 m Athletic walk: 10 km (women) and 20 km and 50 km (men) Events Jumps: long jump, high jump, triple jump and pole vault.

Throws: shot-putting, discus throw, hammer throw and javelin throw.

Combined events Decathlon (men): 100 m, 400 m, 1.500 m, 110 m hurdles, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot-putting, discus throw and javelin throw.

Heptathlon (women): 200 m, 800 m, 100 m hurdles, long jump, high jump, javelin throw and discus throw.

Races The stride of the race has got two phases: the terrestrial (moment when just one foot is in contact with the floor) and the aerial (moment when there is no contact with the floor). In speed races the aerial phase is much longer than in long-distance races. The reason for this fact is that the speed runner gives himself a hard impulse against the floor, thus making the stride wider.

Let’s run correctly!

•Do not run looking at the floor. Raise your head and look at least 20 m further in front of you.

•The arms form a right angle, more or less, and swing in a relaxed way.

•Avoid twisting or moving your trunk abruptly.

•In the terrestrial phase pay attention to the impulse and the contact with the floor: The impulse. If you give yourself a hard impulse against the floor, your leg and your ankle must be completely stretched. The knee in the “free” leg is elevated.

The contact with the floor. Do not bend your body forwards when falling on the floor!!! Flex your leg slightly and raise your heel.

Hurdle races Hurdle races are not run by jumping very high. They are usual races in which athletes “run over” hurdles, instead of “tripping over” them.

Each of the running phases in a hurdle race requires the following movement: 1. Attacking. Raise your knee and the leg which is “attacking”. Place your body forwards as if you wanted to fall on the hurdle.(1,2,3) 2. Running over the hurdle. Keep your body inclined forwards. The leg which has been left backwards turns so as the thigh and the knee go parallel to the hurdle. (4) 3. Getting in contact with the floor.The leg which gets in contact with the floor is rigid like a stick. The knee in the other leg is placed in the direction of the race.(5,6)

Long jump We began this subject with the “1 and ½” technique, in which the runner takes a step and a half on the air.

These are the four phases of the jump: 1. The race It must be progressive, reaching a “controlled” maximum speed.

2. The raid One leg gives hard impulse against the floor (explosive strength). The knee in the other leg is elevated (“1”).

3. The flying Put your legs together on the air as high as possible (“…and ½”). Turn the arm which is left backwards and put your arms together.

4. The fall Fall on the floor with both feet and both arms facing forwards.

High jump In the Mexico Olympic Games 1968, an American high jumper called Dick Fosbury went down in the history of sport. This athlete, who was an aeronautical engineer, invented a technique to be able to get over the bar at a higher point. It consisted of getting over the bar backwards, instead of doing it forwards, that is, using the rolling effect. Apart from winning the gold medal, he established this technique, known as fosbury, like his name. From that moment on, all the high jumpers use it. Take a look at its steps: The race • It consists of taking from 7 to 9 steps towards the place where the raid is done.

• Facing the bar, start running straight.

• Take the last three steps using a bend turning system until your body is parallel to the bar, so you can make use of the centrifugal force to put your back to the bar.

• Remember that the race must be progressive and you must do the raid in a controlled speed, so as to avoid being too fast or too slow.

The raid • It is an action which uses explosive strength and its objective is to turn horizontal speed into a vertical one, so as to be able to get over the bar.

• Step on the raid zone with one leg straight and placed a little bit forwards, almost at three steps from the bar. Remember that the “raid foot” must be placed far from the bar.Once you step on the raid zone, your leg may flex a little bit so as to jump as high as possible. Try to be fast.

• The leg which is free is also going to help you giving impulse to your body in case you raise the knee. At the same time you must rotate it outwards so as to place your back to the bar.

• Your arms are also going to help you giving impulse to your body, by raising them until your hands are in front of your face.

• At the same time you jump, your body rotates thanks to the centrifugal force of the race, which enables us to get over the bar backwards.

Getting over the bar • We do the right movements so as to get over the bar instead of tumbling it.

• First of all, arch your back, so as to avoid jumping like if you were sitting down.

• After that, you must to a movement which is opposite to the one that enables you to arch your back, thus elevating your legs so as you can get over the bar.

The fall • You must fall on the padded mat with your back, your legs elevated and facing the bar.

Triple jump There are three phases of the triple jump: the "hop" phase, the "bound" or "step" phase, and the "jump" phase. These three phases are executed in one continuous sequence.

Pole Vault Is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole (which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber) as an aid to jump over a bar.

Shot-putting These are the five phases in a correct shot-putting: 1.

Holding the shot. Do not hold it with your hand palm; use the lower part of your fingers instead.

2.

The starting position. You have to stand with your back to the place where you are putting the shot; at the same time you have to carry your own body weight with only one leg.

3.

The impulse. Begin the impulse with a “kick” backwards so as to move your body to the centre of the circle. Once you are in the middle, give a hard impulse with the leg used to kick. Twist your waist until it is somehow “blocked”.

4.

The shot-putting itself. When your chest is facing forwards, throw the shot using your maximum explosive strength. Give impulse to the shot with your arm, wrist and fingers.

5. The final step. Balance your body so as to avoid stepping out of the circle.

Discus throw •

•

Discus throw is characterised by the rotating movements done with the aim to give the discus more speed. Athletes throw the discus after one rotation and ½. However, the usual procedure for beginners is to use the school throw, that is, doing only one rotation.

The discus is a round and flat object, which is also wider in the middle.

In your category it weighs 1,5 kilos for men and 1 kg for women. You must try to throw the discus as far as possible from the middle of a circle with a diameter of 2,5 metres. So as to achieve that, you must know the technique:

Holding the discus • You must not hold the discus with your fingers, even if you think that it is going to fall down. The discus must “rest” on the last phalanx of the four fingers, feeling a little pressure on the fingertips. The thumb is separated from the index and placed at one side of the discus, without holding it.

The starting position • Your must place your left foot forwards facing the direction towards which you are going to throw the discus. Hold the discus with your right arm.

Preliminary impulses You must do three swings with your arm from the right to the left, at the height of your shoulder. Once the discus is placed there, so as to prevent it from falling down, you hold it from the lower part with your left hand.

The turn • The objective is to do a rotation and accelerate the discus by means of the centrifugal force.

• In the last swing, when the discus is placed behind your back, the turn begins.

• Using your left foot tip as a pivot, do a half rotation, placing your right foot at the centre of the circle. Before you place your right foot on the floor, keep it elevated for a moment, doing a little “flying”.

• Once you have done this, do a half rotation again placing your left leg forwards, so as to complete the entire rotation.

• At the end of the rotation you must put your back to the place you are going to throw the discus, with your right leg slightly flexed and the other one completely straight. The discus is still “hidden” behind your back.

The throw • Turn your right foot using your foot tip and give a hard impulse with all your leg.

• Turn your waist forwards until it is blocked and, together with the block produced by the left leg (which is completely straight with the left foot on the floor) take your right arm out of your back, as strong as possible, so as to throw the discus.

• Remember that the discus must be thrown using your index finger at first, because this way you are going to give the discus some gyroscopic effects which are going to help “cutting” the air and sending the discus the farthest possible.

Hammer throw Implement:Both current men’s and women’s hammers consist of a metal ball (normally stainless steel, steel, or brass) attached to a thin wire using a swivel. A handle is attached to the other end of the wire. See the photo above to get a better idea of what it looks like.

Technique:Hammer throwers grab the implement with both hands, with their dominant hand on top of their other hand. After swinging the hammer around their head a few times to gain momentum, throwers will then execute three or four turns through the circle before releasing the hammer into the field.

Javelin Throw Is a track and field athletics event where the javelin, a spear about 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in length, is thrown. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptahlon. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area.

Paralympic Athletics Is a disabled sport practiced by athletes with a physical disability have competed at separate international events since 1952. It is governed by International Paralympic Committee Athletics, and is one of the sports at the Summer Paralympic Games since 1960.

Classification Competiors at elite level competitions, are classified by disability, to arrange athletes with a similar disability in the same event. A classified T12 athlete for example, is a track athlete with a visual impairment.

•F = Field athletes •T = Track athletes •11–13 – Visual Impairment.

Compete with a sighted guide.

•20 – Intellectual disability •31–38 – Cerebral Palsy •41–46 – Amputation, and others (including athletes with dwarfism) •51–58 – Wheelchair In wheelchair racing athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs. Most major marathons have wheelchair divisions and the elite racers consistently beat the runners on foot.