athletics

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

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

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.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.