Athletics (redirected from track-and-field games)

athletics

 or track and field also track-and-field games

Variety of sport competitions held on a running track and on the adjacent field. It is the oldest form of organized sports, having been a part of the ancient Olympic Games from c. 776 BC to AD 393. Modern events include various sprint and middle- and long-distance races, relay races, hurdling, steeplechase, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw, decathlon, pentathlon, and heptathlon. Cross-country running, marathons, and speed walking, which are rarely held on a track, are usually considered adjuncts of athletics. Events are held indoors and outdoors, and records are kept separately; some events are modified or eliminated for indoor competition.

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athletics

1. 

a. track and field events

b. (as modifier): an athletics meeting

2. sports or exercises engaged in by athletes

3. the theory or practice of athletic activities and training
www.iaaf.org

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Athletics 

(1) The art of developing strength, agility, and other qualities through physical exercise. In modern physical training the term “athletics” is used only in the categories of light athletics and heavy athletics. However, athletics is a part of almost every sport in one form or another.

(2) A form of circus art that includes exercises demanding strength and agility. In the early 19th century circus performances began to include acts demonstrating feats of strength. In the USSR the genre of athletics has been used in the circus since the 1930’s. Athletic acts are built on the best achievements of Soviet sport. The greatest Soviet athletes include N. Zherebtsov, G. Novak, V. Khertsa, and the NeUpovich brothers.