Track and Field Researched via: Student Name: J.R. Date: 5/24/10

History: The history of track and field traces back to the earliest of times. People have been walking, running or throwing things since the beginning of man. Competition as a natural means of manhood took root and individuals began to run against one another. The first race of record is noted to have taken place at the first Olympic Festival in Ancient Rome in 776 B.C. It was said to have been a stadium race or one length around the stadium.

Events The 200 and 400 meter races are the other two track and field events that can be considered sprints. The only other short events are hurdles events, in which the runner must leap over evenly spaced hurdles throughout the run. Men typically compete in the 110-meter high hurdles or 400- meter intermediate hurdles, while women compete in the 100 hurdles.

Olympics and World Championships The world championships happen ever year during non-Olympic years. The Olympics are for all sports, where each sport has its own championship which is govern by the sport's official governing body. IOC oversees the Olympics but uses the rules of each sport's governing for rules or other judgements.

PSAL: Public School Athletic Leagues Public Schools Athletic League, the public high school league for all the boroughs of New York City in continuous existence since its founding in 1903, is one of the most storied leagues in interscholastic sports. The genesis of the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) came from the appointment in early 1903 of Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick as director of physical training for the New York public school system. Compared to other major cities, the athletics program for the New York boroughs were backwards, underdeveloped, and rife with corruption. Luther Halsey Gulick

Famous people/role model: Since 1896 famous track runners competing in Olympic track events like the 100, 400 or 800 meter race have determined the fastest runners in the world. Vying for medals of gold, silver and bronze many runners train their bodies hoping to be given the title of one of the fastest on earth to compete in a race. Typically for the shorter metered races, Americans have naturally dominated, turning out swift competitors like Carl Lewis or Archie Hahn, the only two athletes to have ever twice won the gold medal in the 100-meter race. In other events, like the 4x400 meter relay, American competitors have placed first in the race since 1984.

What do you like most about Track and Field? NOTHING, not the people or the sport.