Running for sport dates back to ancient Greece and the first Olympic games. Through the years since then, running track has gone from short foot races on a rectangular track to a variety of events run on oval tracks. Track and field competitions have evolved from amateur sport to professional competitions for elite athletes.
The Early Days
Track and field events date back at least to the ancient Olympic Games of 776 B.C., when a cook ran 600 feet, winning a foot race called the stadion or stade. From then on, the games were held every 4 years. At first, three foot races—the stade (one length of the stadium), the diaulos (two lengths), and the dolichos (a longer race)—were the main events, along with the pentathalon, which included the stade, as well as long jump, javelin, discus and wrestling. The games spread from Greece to Italy around 200 B.C.
Competitive Track and Field
The concept of track was combined with field athletics in the early Greek days, but it wasn't until the 1800s that track and field events began appearing in Europe and the United States. In 1873, the country's first athletic organization, the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, began holding collegiate competitions. The Amateur Athletic Union, or AAU, held its first championships in 1888.
The Track Itself
At first, the lengths of the running track varied. At the first Olympics, the stadium was rectangular. At the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, the 200 meter race was run on a straight track. As the sport developed, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) standardized the length to 400 meters in oval shape and dictated that the track be split into six or eight running lanes. The lane widths were standardized as was the curve of the track. Synthetic tracks were introduced in the 1960s.
Women and Disabled Athletes Compete
Running track and participating in field events at first was considered an amateur sport. The rules were so strict that Jim Thorpe became famous when he was stripped of his 1912 Olympic track and field medals after it became known that he had played semi-professional baseball. Until the 1920s, running track was male-dominated. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, five track and field events for women were introduced. Disabled athletes were able to compete in track and field competitions for the first time at the 1960 Summer Paralympics.
Modern Track
In the late 1970s, professionalism began to emerge in track. In 1983, the IAAF World Championships in Athletics was held, a competition for track and field's most elite athletes. In the 1980s, superstar track runners, such as Carl Lewis and Florence Griffith-Joyner, became household names as they broke world records. In 1997, prize money was offered for professional competitors at the IAAF World Championships. In 2010, the IAAF Diamond League held the first global series of track and field meetings.
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