1.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
2.
Kenenisa Bekele
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Kenenisa Bekele, an Ethiopian long-distance runner, is the current world record and Olympic record in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres events. He won a double at the 2008 Summer Olympics in these events and he is married to Danawit Gebregziabher and has one brother Tariku Bekele. He is the most accomplished runner in IAAF World Cross Country Championships history, with six long course and he won the 10,000 m title at the World Championships in Athletics four times running from 2003 to 2009. Kenenisa was unbeaten over 10,000 m from his debut in 2003 until 2011, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he became the first man to win both 5000 m and 10,000 m title at the same championships. Over 5000 m he has won an Olympic silver, World Championship bronze. He also won the 3000 metres title at the World Indoor Championships in 2006, Kenenisa is considered one of the greatest distance runners of all time, owning several world records and an array of medals. On 6 April 2014, he produced the sixth fastest marathon debut ever on a record eligible course with his victory at the Paris Marathon, in a course record time of 2,05,04. On 25 September 2016, Bekele won the 2016 Berlin Marathon in a time of 2,03,03 which set a new personal best time for him at the Marathon distance and he is the older brother of Tariku Bekele, also an accomplished world-class distance runner. Kenenisa was born in 1982 at Bekoji, Ethiopia, the town as the Dibaba sisters. In August 2001 he set a new 3000 metres world record,7,30.67 minutes in Brussels. The record lasted for three and a half years, being broken by Augustine Choge with a run of 7,28.78 minutes, in December 2000 and 2001 Kenenisa wins the 15k roadrace Montferland Run in the Netherlands. For five years in a row, from 2002 through 2006, in 2004, he broke the world records for the indoor 5000 m, outdoor 5000 m and outdoor 10,000 m. Again in Lausanne on 1 July 2003, Kenenisa recorded a 200 m segment during the last lap in 24 seconds, Kenenisa has faced his mentor Haile Gebrselassie twice in road competition, once in cross country, and six times on the track. Kenenisas outstanding track career led to his involvement in a project to break the barrier for the marathon. On 4 January 2005, Kenenisas fiancee, 18-year-old Alem Techale, although it was initially stated that no autopsy was performed, Alem and Kenenisas manager, Jos Hermens, later said that an autopsy had revealed nothing conclusive about the young womans death. She was the 2003 World Youth Champion in the 1500 metres, over the next several weeks following Alems death, Kenenisa grieved. Such confusion was presumed to have been caused by his grief, a few weeks later he lost to fellow Ethiopian Markos Geneti over two miles. In March, Kenenisa faced his toughest challenge yet, despite his grief and recent losses on the track, he lined up to defend his long and short course titles at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
3.
Great Britain at the Olympics
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Great Britain or Team GB is the team that sends athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its overseas territories, and the three Crown dependencies, to the Olympic Games. From 1896 to 2016 inclusive, Great Britain has won 847 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and it is organised by the British Olympic Association as the National Olympic Committee for the UK. Great Britain was one of 14 teams to compete in the first Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, and is one of only three nations to have competed at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Sir Chris Hoy holds the record for medals in different events, having reached the top step in four different disciplines - mens kilo, mens team sprint, mens match sprint. Cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins has the most overall medals by a British Olympian with eight, Sir Steve Redgrave is the only British Olympian to win a Gold Medal in five consecutive Olympic Games, winning his first in 1984 Los Angeles and last in 2000 Sydney. With five golds and a bronze, Redgrave is the most successful Olympic male rower of all time, alongside five time gold medalist Redgrave, Grainger, Ainslie, Wiggins and Jack Beresford are the only British Olympians to win medals of any colour in five successive Games. The most successful Winter Olympians from Great Britain are Jeannette Altwegg, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, each with one gold and one bronze medal, as a non-alpine nation, Great Britain has found the bulk of its success in the Summer Olympics. Prior to the 2014 Games all Britains winter olympic medals had been won in sports performed on ice. Snowboarder Jenny Jones became the first British athlete to win a medal on snow in the 90 years of the games when she won a bronze medal in the womens slopestyle event. Great Britain has hosted the Summer Games on three occasions -1908,1948 and 2012, all in London - second only to the United States, under the IOC charter, the Olympic Council of Ireland is responsible for the entire island of Ireland. However, athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent either the UK or Ireland at the Olympics, a number of Northern Ireland born athletes, particularly in boxing, have won medals for Ireland at the Games. London is the city in the UK that has hosted the games. *Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil, according to official data of the International Olympic Committee. This is a list of people who have won three or more Olympic gold medals for Great Britain, medals won in the 1906 Intercalated Games are not included. It includes top-three placings in 1896 and 1900, before medals were awarded for top-three placings, kathleen McKane Godfree also won five medals, but were one gold, two silvers, and two bronzes. Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Ben Ainslie and Alastair Brownlee are the most successful Olympic competitors in their sports, as of 2016. Steve Redgrave and Reginald Doherty are the most successful athletes in their respective sports, rowing and tennis. Great Britain has competed in all Badminton events held at the Summer Olympics since badminton made its debut as an Olympic sport in 1992
4.
Track and field
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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sports venue, a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorised under the sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also combined events or multi events, such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, in these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a victor, the most prominent team events are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the mens and womens competitions are held at the same venue. It is one of the oldest sports, in ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won the stadium race. According to some traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. In modern times, the two most prestigious track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body. Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, however, if athletes are deemed to have violated the events rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased. In North America, the track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon. The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory, Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, Track and field events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this period, and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC
5.
1988 Summer Olympics
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The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia, in the Seoul Games,159 nations were represented by a total of 8,391 athletes,6,197 men and 2,194 women. 263 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics,11,331 media showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games for two of the worlds dominating sport powers, the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympic Games. North Korea, still officially at war with South Korea, and its allies, Albania, Ethiopia, Cuba, Madagascar, Nicaragua boycotted the games because of the U. S. military support to the Contra rebels. However, the much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations during the Cold War era, before the opening of the games, thousands of homeless were captured by the police and sent to work camps. Several died under torture. ′ Seoul was chosen to host the Summer Games through a vote held on 30 September 1981, below was the vote count that occurred at the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden, West Germany. After the Olympics were awarded, Seoul also received the opportunity to stage the 10th Asian Games in 1986, Soviet Vladimir Artemov won four gold medals in gymnastics. Daniela Silivaş of Romania won three and equalled compatriot Nadia Comănecis record of seven Perfect 10s in one Olympic Games, to these medals, she added a gold in the 4×100 relay and a silver in the 4×400. Just after the Games, she announced her retirement, Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100 m final with a new world record, but was disqualified after he tested positive for stanozolol. Johnson has since claimed that his positive test was the result of sabotage, the US finishes in fourth place after the completion of the optional rounds with a combined score of 390.575, three tenths of a point behind the German Democratic Republic. The USSR won their team gold medals in artistic gymnastics on both the mens and womens sides with scores of 593.350 and 395.475 respectively. The mens team was led by Vladimir Artemov, while Elena Shushunova lead the womens team, lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor in the Finn class, was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. He arrived in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with the Pierre de Coubertin medal honoring his bravery and sacrifice. U. S. diver Greg Louganis won back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only hitting the springboard with his head in the 3 m event final. This became a minor controversy years later when Louganis revealed he knew he was HIV-positive at the time, since HIV cannot survive in open water, no other divers were ever in danger. Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany became the first athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and she added a cycling silver to the speed skating gold she won earlier in the Winter Olympics of that year in Calgary. Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany won six gold medals, other multi-medalists in the pool were Matt Biondi and Janet Evans
6.
2008 Summer Olympics
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A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. China became the 22nd nation to host the Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the time that the Summer Olympic Games were held in East Asia and Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and Seoul, South Korea. Beijing was awarded the Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, the official logo of these Olympic Games, titled Dancing Beijing, refers to the host city by featuring a stylized calligraphic character jīng. The Games were the second most watched Olympics in history, attracting 4.7 billion viewers worldwide, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games, Chinese athletes won the most gold medals with 51, and with 100 medals in total became only the 7th different Olympic team to top an overall medal tally. The United States won the most total medals with 110, the games were deemed highly successful with the rising standard of competition among nations across the world. Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities had submitted bids to the IOC, after the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated, in the second round, Beijing was supported by a majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds. Torontos bid was their 5th failure since 1960, the size of China, its increased enforcement of doping controls, and sympathy concerning its loss of the 2000 Summer Olympics to Sydney were all factors in the decision. Eight years earlier, Beijing had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round. Human rights concerns expressed by Amnesty International and politicians in both Europe and the United States were considered by the delegates, according to IOC Executive Director François Carrard, Carrard and others suggested that the selection might lead to improvements in human rights in China. In addition, a number of IOC delegates who had formerly been athletes expressed concern about heat and air quality during the Games, China outlined plans to address these environmental concerns in its bid application. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics at USD6.8 billion in 2015-dollars and this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e. g. The Beijing Olympics cost of USD6.8 billion compares with costs of USD4.6 billion for Rio 2016, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion. They went on to claim that revenues from the Games would exceed the original target of $16 million
7.
2016 Summer Olympics
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More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf and these sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city, and at five in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus. These were the first Summer Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee presidency of Thomas Bach, the host city Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics, the United States topped the medal table for the fifth time in the past six Summer Olympics, winning the most golds and most medals overall, as well as its 1, 000th Olympic gold medal overall. Great Britain finished second and became the first country in the history of the modern Olympics to increase its tally of medals in the subsequent games after being the host nation. Host country Brazil won seven medals, its most at any single Summer Olympics. Bahrain, Fiji, Jordan, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tajikistan, Ivory Coast and Vietnam each won their first gold medals, the bidding process for the 2016 Olympic Games was officially launched on 16 May 2007. The first step for each city was to submit an application to the International Olympic Committee by 13 September 2007. Completed official bid files, containing answers to a 25-question IOC form, were to be submitted by each 14 January 2008. Four candidate cities were chosen for the shortlist on 4 June 2008, Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, prague and Baku also failed to make the cut. Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco headed the 10-member Evaluation Commission, having chaired the evaluation commission for the 2012 Summer Olympics bids. The commission made on-site inspections in the quarter of 2009. They issued a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members on 2 September, many restrictions are in place designed to prevent bidding cities from communicating with or influencing directly the 115 voting members. Cities may not invite any IOC member to visit nor may they send anything that could be construed as a gift, the final voting was held on 2 October 2009, in Copenhagen with Madrid and Rio de Janeiro perceived as favourites to land the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively, the lead held and Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of 2016 Summer Olympics. This comes just five months after CCO Flávio Pestana quit for personal reasons, Pestana withdrew later during the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Renato Ciuchin was then appointed as COO, events took place at eighteen existing venues, nine new venues constructed specifically for the Games, and seven temporary venues. Each event was held in one of four geographically segregated Olympic clusters, Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro, the same was done for the 2007 Pan American Games
8.
Paavo Nurmi
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Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish middle- and long-distance runner. He was nicknamed the Flying Finn as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century, Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races, throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m. Born into a family, Nurmi left school at 12 to provide for his family. In 1912, he was inspired by the Olympic feats of Hannes Kolehmainen, Nurmi started to flourish during his military service, setting national records en route to his international debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics. After a silver medal in the 5000 m, he took gold in the 10,000 m and the cross country events. In 1923, Nurmi became the first, and so far only, runner to hold the record in the mile, the 5000 m. He went on to set new records for the 1500 m. Seemingly untouched by the Paris heat wave, Nurmi won all his races and returned home five gold medals. Struggling with injuries and motivation issues after his exhaustive U. S. tour in 1925, Nurmi found his long-time rivals Ville Ritola and Edvin Wide ever more serious challengers. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nurmi recaptured the 10,000 m title but was beaten for the gold in the 5000 m and he then turned his attention to longer distances, breaking the world records for events such as the one hour run and the 25-mile marathon. Nurmi intended to end his career with a gold medal. In a controversial case that strained Finland–Sweden relations and sparked an inter-IAAF battle, two days before the opening ceremonies, the council rejected his entries. Although he was never declared a professional, Nurmis suspension became definite in 1934, in 1952, he was the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Nurmi, who ran without a stopwatch in his hand, has been credited for introducing the even pace strategy and analytic approach to running. Nurmi was born in Turku, Finland, to carpenter Johan Fredrik Nurmi, Nurmis siblings, Siiri, Saara, Martti and Lahja, were born in 1898,1902,1905 and 1908, respectively. In 1903, the Nurmi family moved from Raunistula into a 40-square-meter apartment in central Turku, the young Nurmi and his friends were inspired by the English long-distance runner Alfred Shrubb. They regularly ran or walked six kilometres to swim in Ruissalo, by the age of eleven, Nurmi ran the 1500 metres in 5,02
9.
Haile Gebrselassie
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Haile Gebrselassie is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event and he won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. Further to this, he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion. Haile had major wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He broke 61 Ethiopian national records ranging from 800 metres to the marathon, set 27 world records, and is widely regarded as the greatest distance runner in history. In September 2008, at the age of 35, he won the Berlin Marathon with a record time of 2,03,59. The record stood for three years, since he was over the age of 35, that mark still stands as the Masters Age group world record. Haile was born as one of ten children in Asella, Oromiya Region, as a child growing up on a farm he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same back every evening. This led to a running posture, with his left arm crooked as if still holding his school books. The next year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world titles in the mens 10,000 metres at the 1993,1995,1997. His win at the 1993 was however his most infamous as he stepped on the heel of Moses Tanuis shoe at the bell. After the contact, with just one shoe, an angered Tanui moved out to a 10 meter lead, also at the 1993 World Championships he ran in the 5, 000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Later that year he set his first world record by running a 12,56.96 in the 5, 000-metres, in 1995, Haile ran the 10, 000-metres in 26,43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands, lowering the world record by nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12,44.39 and this world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year for 1995 by Track & Field News magazine.09. In 1997, Haile turned the tables on Komen at the same meet, Komen, in turn, took Hailes record only nine days later when Komen ran a 12,39.74 performance in Belgium. In June 1998 in Hengelo, Netherlands, Haile set a 10,000 metres world record 26,22.75, breaking Paul Tergats world record 26,27.85, running evenly paced 13, 11/13,11 5K splits. Just 13 days later, Haile took on the 5000 metres mark of Komen in Helsinki, croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out slowly, hitting 1000 metres in 2,33.91 and dropping out at the mile
10.
Long-distance running
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Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least three kilometres. Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength, among mammals, humans are well adapted for running significant distances, and particularly so among primates. The endurance running hypothesis suggests that running endurance in the Homo genus arose because travelling over large areas improved scavenging opportunities, the capacity for endurance running is also found in migratory ungulates and a limited number of terrestrial carnivores, such as dogs, wolves and hyenas. Long distance running can also be used as a means to improve cardiovascular health, Running improves aerobic fitness by increasing the activity of enzymes and hormones that stimulate the muscles and the heart to work more efficiently. Endurance running is often a component of military training and has been so historically. Professional running is most commonly found in the field of sports, long-distance running as a form of tradition or ceremony is known among the Hopi and Tarahumara people, among others. Distance running can also serve as an exercise for family, friends, colleagues. The social element of distance running has been linked with improved performance, in the sport of athletics, long-distance events are defined as races covering three kilometres and above. The three most common types are track running, road running and cross country running, all of which are defined by their terrain – all-weather tracks, roads and natural terrain, respectively. In collegiate cross country races in the United States, men race 8000 or 10000 meters, depending on their division, the Summer Olympics features three long-distance running events, the 5000 metres,10,000 metres and marathon. Since the late 1980s, Kenyans, Moroccans and Ethiopians have dominated in major international long-distance competitions, in this method, the hunter would run at a slow and steady pace between one hour and a few days, in an area where the animal has no place to hide. The Old Testament has a few mentions of messengers running to deliver messages, for example, in 2 Samuel 18, two runners, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and a Cushite run to deliver King David the message of the death of his son Absalom. Running messengers are reported from early Sumer, were named lasimu as military men as well as the officials who disseminated documents throughout the kingdom by running. Ancient Greece was famous for its running messengers, who were named hemerodromoi and he collapsed and died as he delivered the message “we won”.2 miles /42.195 km is based on this legend. Humans are considered among the best distance runners among all running animals, game animals are faster over short distances, but they have less endurance than humans. Unlike other primates whose bodies are designed to walk on four legs or climb trees and this leads to different bone and muscular demands especially in the legs and pelvis. Dissipation of metabolic heat, humans’ ability to cool the body by sweating through the surface provides many advantages over panting through the mouth or nose. These include a surface of evaporation and independence of the respiratory cycle
11.
Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics
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Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from 12–21 August 2016, at the Olympic Stadium. The sport of athletics in the 2016 Summer Olympics was split into three sets of events, track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. Track and field events were held at João Havelange Olympic Stadium, while the walks and marathon start and finish in Recreio dos Bandeirantes and Sambódromo. Apart from the walks and marathon, ten track and field events held finals in the morning session for the first time since 1988. In the tables below, M stands for morning and A for afternoon, the Olympic qualification criteria were simplified by the International Association of Athletics Federations from a two-tiered A and B standard approach to a single qualification standard. Each National Olympic Committee was entitled to send up to three athletes per event that had reached that standard in the period from 2015 to 11 July 2016, nations without a qualified athlete could enter one male and one female athlete who had not achieved the standard. Marathon runners had additional ways to qualify in that top 20 World Championship or top 10 IAAF Gold Label race finishers were treated as having achieved the standard. The relay teams entered were the top eight finishers at the 2015 IAAF World Relays plus the eight highest ranking teams on the seasonal lists. Unlike most Summer Olympic Games, the stadium was not the venue for the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro – that honour went to Brazils foremost soccer venue. On the first day, the first gold medal was won by Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, the race as a whole was historically fast, setting four of the five fastest times ever for the distance and seeing eight national records broken. Chinas Wang Zhen was the first male winner of the 2016 Olympic athletics, with her final throw of the event, Michelle Carter won the United States first ever title in the womens shot put, preventing Valerie Adams from winning a third straight title. The first half of the heptathlon saw two athletes set a world heptathlon best, Belgiums Nafissatou Thiam and Great Britains Katarina Johnson-Thompson both cleared 1.98 m for the high jump. The second day opened with a first in Olympic history as a man succeeded his brother as Olympic champion. Mo Farah – a double-Olympic champion from 2012 – defended his 10,000 m crown in spite of a fall which saw him slip to the back of the pack during the middle of race. Farah had been one of three gold medallists for Great Britain on a Super Saturday for the host nation at the 2012 London Games, defending Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford was reduced to third place as American Jeff Henderson won the closely fought mens competition. The morning final for the day was the womens marathon. The race was unusual in two sets of twins crossed the line together, North Koreas Kim Hye-song and Kim Hye-gyong took tenth and eleventh while Germans Anna and Lisa Hahner were 81st. Furthermore, Estonias Lily, Leila and Liina Luik became the first triplets to feature in an Olympic final, in the womens triple jump Caterine Ibargüen won Colombias first Olympic gold medal in athletics
12.
1906 Intercalated Games
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The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the Second International Olympic Games in Athens by the International Olympic Committee. This was apparently a compromise, after the games of Athens 1896. Since they had the accommodation and had proven they could hold well-organized games, however, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, opposed this. Coubertin had intended the first games to be in Paris in 1900, after Paris lost the premiere Olympics, Coubertin did not want the games to be permanently hosted elsewhere. This was a departure from the ancient schedule, but it was expected that, if the ancient Greeks could keep a four-year schedule, as 1902 was now too close, and Greece experienced internal difficulties, the 2nd Olympic Games in Athens were scheduled for 1906. The IOC as a whole gave the Greek NOC full support for the organization, the 1906 games were quite successful. Unlike the 1900,1904 or 1908 games, they were stretched out over months nor overshadowed by an international exhibition. Their crisp format was most likely instrumental in the existence of the games. These Games also were the first games to have all athlete registration go through the NOCs and they were also the first with an Olympic Village, at the Zappeion. They introduced the ceremony, the raising of national flags for the victors. The Games were held from 22 April to 2 May 1906, in Athens and they took place in the Panathenaic Stadium, which had already hosted the 1896 Games and the earlier Zappas Olympics of 1870 and 1875. The games excluded several disciplines that had occurred during the past two games, it was whether they ought to have been part of the Olympic Games. Added to the program were the javelin throw and the pentathlon, the games included a real opening ceremony, watched by a large crowd. The athletes, for the first time, entered the stadium as national teams, the official opening of the games was done by King Georgios I. There were only two standing jump events in Athens, but Ray Ewry successfully defended his titles in both of them, bringing his total up to 8 gold medals. In 1908 he would defend them one last time for a total of 10 Olympic titles. Paul Pilgrim won both the 400 and 800 metres, a feat that was first repeated during Montreal 1976 by Alberto Juantorena, canadian Billy Sherring lived in Greece for two months, to adjust to the local conditions
Mo Farah (GBR)
Almaz Ayana (ETH)
Finland (FIN)
Czechoslovakia (TCH)
France (FRA)
Kenya (KEN)
Sweden (SWE)
Tunisia (TUN)
Soviet Union (URS)
Morocco (MAR)
United States (USA)
Italy (ITA)
Poland (POL)
Hungary (HUN)
United Team of Germany (EUA)
Belgium (BEL)
Portugal (POR)
Australia (AUS)
Eritrea (ERI)
China (CHN)
South Africa (RSA)
Turkey (TUR)