The Track Net

The origins of Track and Field begin around 490 B.C., track and field can be traced to the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece, which began in 776 B.C.

Track and field encompasses a total of 24 different men's and 20 women's competitions, broken down into running events and field events. Track and field events run the range of the spectrum sporting competitions that test an athlete's strength, speed, agility, endurance and coordination.

Track and Field - or athletics - was the foundation on which the modern Olympics and many other sporting events were based. Canada itself has one of the oldest governing bodies for athletics in the world - founded more than a decade before the modern Olympics in 1884.
B E G I N N I N G S
The sport has progressed a lot since starting off with barefoot marathons and 100-metre sprints that were run on a single breath - as per Herculean legend. After ancient Olympics gave way to gladiator games using slaves, athletics were not revived until the 12th century and didn't make a full comeback until the 19th century in England.

After forming the first formal athletic club in the British Isles and establishing athletic standards, the sport again spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Events from 100 to 1,500 metres were included, as was the marathon, which has its roots in ancient battles where Greek soldiers would have to run long distances to bring news of war to far-off villages.

After technological advances, records broken and the adding of new events, a great deal of notable milestones in athletic history - especially at the Olympics - are those of gender equalization between events.

W O M E N I N
A T H L E T I C S
For example, in the 1960s, the longest event for women was 800 metres, compared to many kilometres for men. "It was believed that women would do themselves irreparable damage to their procreational capabilities so no longer events were held," says John Thresher, president and CEO of Athletics Canada. Today, there are women's 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 m races and marathons. Originally in the 60s, the women's multi-event was a pentathlon (i.e. five events). Now it's a heptathalon, with seven events. Presently, officiators are in discussions to increase the women's heptathalon to a decathlon. "A couple of Olympics from now, you may see women doing 10 events instead of seven," says Thresher. "That shows the development of the sport and it shows how far women have come. They're gradually equalizing."

Triathlon. Courtesy TSN

There's also a women's pole vault for the first time. "I suspect that either in the next Olympics or the one after, there will be a women's 3,000 metre steeplechase. (The steeplechase is a 3,000-metre, seven-lap event that contains a variety of barriers and a water jump.) It's a very tough and demanding event. It's not been felt suitable for women up to this point, but has been added as demonstration events at major competitions. I think such changes will find their way into Olympic calendars in not too long."