1.
Women's World Games
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The Womens World Games were the first international womens sports events in track and field. The games were four times between 1922 and 1934. They were established by Alice Milliat and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale to compensate for the lack of sports at the Olympic Games. The games were an important step towards equality in sports. A forerunner tournament was held in Monte Carlo in March 1921, women were allowed to take part in the Olympic games since 1900. In 1919 Milliat started discussions with the International Olympic Committee and the IAAF to also include womens track, on refusal Milliat organised a first competition in 1921 called the Womens Olympiad in Monte Carlo, further editions were held in 1922 and 1923. A European version of the games was hosted in 1931 in Florence and was known as the Olimpiadi della Grazia. In response to the refusal of the IAAF to include events in the 1924 Olympic Games the FSFI also organized the first Womens Olympic Games in Paris in 1922. The IOC objected to the FSFI using the word Olympic in the title of its events, after negotiations the IOC and the IAAF therefore agreed to include 10 athletic events in the 1928 Olympic Games and in exchange Milliat altered the title to Womens World Games. They finally included only 5 events and only as an experiment, the FSFI did not find this satisfactory and organised the third Womens World Games in Prague in 1930 and the fourth games in London in 1934. The FSFI ceased operations in 1938 without ever accepting or rejecting the IAAFs decisions, four regular events were held, a planned 5th was cancelled as women participated in the 1938 European Athletics Championships
2.
Slottsskogsvallen
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Slottsskogsvallen is a multi-use stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is currently used mostly for football and athletics and it was the home ground of Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC till 2006. The stadium holds 8,480 people and was built in 1923 and it is counted as one of the most beautiful arenas in Sweden. It hosted the second Womens World Games in 1926, the Swedish athlete Gunder Hägg started his record-breaking streak at Slotsskogsvallen in 1942. The annual half marathon race, Göteborgsvarvet, the worlds largest half marathon race, the annual Göteborg Marathon starts and finishes in the arena
3.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city
4.
Alice Milliat
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Alice Milliat was a pioneer of womens sport in France and around the world. Her lobbying on behalf of female athletes forced the inclusion of events in the Olympic Games. Milliat, a translator by profession participated in the sport of rowing and she was also an avid swimmer and hockey player. A member of Femina Sport, a club founded in 1911, she helped form the Federation Francaise Sportive Feminine in 1917, in 1921 she organized the first international womens sporting event in Monte Carlo. She is credited with igniting the pressure on the Olympic Games to allow more female representation in a range of sports. Her name is engraved on the pediment of a gymnasium in the 14th arrondisement in Paris, baron Pierre de Coubertin, a prominent Frenchman, is credited with reviving the Olympic Games and founding the IOC in 1894. 1900 was the first Olympics to allow women athletes, but only in the sports of golf, eventually, the Olympics integrated womens swimming and other events into the games. However, track and field events for women remained conspicuously absent from the Olympics In 1919, Milliat asked the IAAF to include womens track, on 31 October 1921, Milliat formed La Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale to oversee international womens sporting events. The FSFI decided to hold a Womens Olympic Games, which would include all sports, the first informal iteration of the games occurred in 1921 Monte Carlo, and due to the lack of a running track, took place on a pigeon shooting field. In 1922, the experiment was revived, again in Monte Carlo, eleven athletics events were conducted and the 20,000 strong crowd saw eighteen athletes break world records. Infuriated by the use of the term Olympic Games the IOC convinced Milliat and the FSFI to change the name of their event in exchange for adding 10 womens events to the 1928 Olympics. Ten teams took part in this edition of the Games. The Olympic Games and de Coubertin, due to pressure from the FSFI, eventually integrated five womens track, however, to Milliat, this was not enough, since men were allowed to compete in 22 events. The British womens team boycotted the Amsterdam games for the same reason, two further Games were held in Prague in 1930 and in London in 1934. After these games, Milliat issued an ultimatum, fully integrate the 1936 Olympics, to this day, the Olympics does not offer an equal slate of mens and womens sports. However, Milliats pressure greatly expanded womens representation at the Olympics, in a 1934 interview, Milliat said, Womens sports of all kinds are handicapped in my country by the lack of playing space. As we have no vote, we can not make our needs publicly felt, I always tell my girls that the vote is one of the things they will have to work for if France is to keep its place with the other nations in the realm of feminine sport. Milliat was once married for four years and was then widowed, in 1934 Milliat spoke to an interviewer from the Womens Magazine Independent Woman. In her statement, she advocated for suffrage in France
5.
International Olympic Committee
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The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne and its mission is enshrined in the Olympic Charter, to support the development of competitive sport by ethical and environmentally sustainable means. The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president, today its membership consists of 100 active members,32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, the first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, the first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012. In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status and this decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. This has provided the possibility to promote sport at a new level, during each proclamation at the Olympics, announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by an English translation and the dominant language of the host nation. The stated mission of the International Olympic Committee is to promote Olympic throughout the world and it is the IOC’s supreme organ and its decisions are final. Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members, among others, the powers of the Session are, To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter. To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President, to elect the President, the Vice-Presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board. To elect the host city of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport. For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members, countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their countries to the IOC. The membership of IOC members ceases in the circumstances, Resignation. Non re-election, any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected, age limit, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 80. Failure to attend Sessions or take part in IOC work for two consecutive years. Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to an other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election
6.
Kinue Hitomi
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Kinue Hitomi was a Japanese athlete. She was the record holder in several events in the 1920s – 1930s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. Hitomi was born in what is now part of Okayama-City, in November 1923 during the 2nd Okayama Prefectural Women’s Games, she set an unofficial national record of 4m67 in the long jump event. In April 1924, Hitomi entered what is now the Japan Womens College of Physical Education and she returned to Okayama in October 1924 to participate in the 3rd Okayama Prefectural Women’s Games, where she set an unofficial world record of 10m33 in the triple jump event. She bested this record the following month at the 1924 Meiji Shrine Games in Tokyo, with a distance of 11m35 and also set an unofficial world record for the Javelin throw of 26m37. In October 1925, Hitomi participated in the 4th Osaka Games, winning first place in the 50 metres event, in the 1925 Meiji Shrine Games in Tokyo, she won both the 50 metres event and the triple jump. In April 1926, Hitomi went to work for the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, in May, she set new unofficial national records for the long jump, shot put, 100m hurdles at the 3rd Women’s Olympics held by the newspaper at Miyoshino. In June, in a completion sponsored by the Tokyo Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, she set new national records for the long jump. In August 1926, Hitomi was selected to attend the 2èmes Jeux mondiaux féminins FSFI games at Gothenburg and she travelled by the Trans-Siberian Railway alone to Moscow, where a reporter from the Mainichi Shimbun met her and escorted her to Sweden. She also received a prize from Alice Milliat, president of Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale for the most individual points at 15. In May 1927, at the 3rd Women’s Athletic Meet at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo and she also tied the world record for the 100-meter run at a meet in Osaka in June. At a meet in Tokyo in October of the same year, Hitomi continued to set unofficial new world records in early 1928, with the 400-meter run and 100-meter sprint in Tokyo. At the Olympic qualifying event in Osaka, she set new world records for the long jump and the 100-meter spring. During the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Hitomi was the only Japanese woman athlete to compete and she entered the 100m, discus, and high jump individual events but had been concentrating most on the 100m. However, she lost this event in semifinals and she then decided to join 800m in haste, and as last-minute entries were still permitted, she was allowed to compete. Hitomi passed by 2,26.2 in the preliminary and she became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. In April 1929 Hitomi achieved 217 points in the setting an unofficial world record at the 6th Japan Women’s Olympics at Miyoshino. In May, she set an world record for the 200-meter run with a time 24.7 seconds in Tokyo
7.
60 metres
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60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is an event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a distance, at least for senior athletes. The 60 metres was an Olympic event in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Games but was removed from the schedule thereafter. American Maurice Greene currently holds the world record in the 60 metres with a time of 6.39. In the past, it was common for athletes to compete in the 60 yards race and this is not part of the lineage of the 60 metres, but is the predecessor of the 55 metres race. Indoor results only A = affected by altitude Correct as of March 2017, andre Cason also ran 6.45,6.46. Ronnie Baker also ran 6.46,6.47, + = en route to 100m mark Correct as of February 2017. Merlene Ottey also ran 6.97,6.99, gail Devers also ran 6.98,6.99. + = en route to 100m mark Note, The original winner in 1987 was Ben Johnson, notes, A Known as the World Indoor Games The original silver medal winner in 1987 was Angella Issajenko, who was disqualified in 1989 after admitting long term drug use. The original winner in 2003 was Zhanna Block, who was stripped of the title in 2011, All-time mens best 60 metres from alltime-athletics. com All-time womens best 60 metres from alltime-athletics. com
8.
Relay race
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During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are types of relay races that are part of track. A swimming relay of four swimmers usually follows this strategy, second-fastest, third-fastest, slowest, then fastest. However, it is not uncommon to see either the slowest swimmer racing in the second slot, besides, many swimmers perform better in a relay than in an individual race owing to a team spirit atmosphere. As a result, relay times are typically 2–3 seconds faster than the sum of best times of individual swimmers, the three standard relays raced at the Olympics are the 4 ×100 m freestyle relay,4 ×200 m freestyle relay and 4 ×100 m medley relay. In athletics, the two standard relays are the 4 ×100 metres relay and the 4 ×400 metres relay. Traditionally, the 4 ×400 m relay finals are the last event of a track meet and it is hard to measure exact splits in a 4 ×400 relay. A4 ×400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, a race organizer then puts the third leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running. The faster teams pass first, while the teams have to slide in to the inside lanes as they come available. 4 ×200,4 ×800, and 4 ×1600 relays exist as well, but they are rarer, especially at the school level. Each runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. In sprint relays, runners typically use a blind handoff, where the second stands on a spot predetermined in practice. The second runner opens their hand behind them after a few strides, by time the first runner should be caught up. Usually a runner will give a signal, such as Stick. Repeated several times, for the recipient of the baton to put out his hand, in middle-distance relays or longer, runners begin by jogging while looking back at the incoming runner and holding out a hand for the baton. Although some teams use second-fastest, slowest, third-fastest, then the fastest, but if a runner is better in the starting blocks than the others, he is sometimes moved to the first spot because it is the only spot that uses starting blocks. It is credited with popularizing relay racing in the sport of track & field, the worlds longest relay race is Japans Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, which begins in Nagasaki and continues for 1,064 kilometres
9.
Hurdling
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Hurdling is the act of running and jumping over an obstacle at speed. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle, after experimenting with different step patterns the 3-step for high hurdles, 7-step for low hurdles, and 15-step for intermediate hurdles was decided on. In the sport of athletics, hurdling forms the basis of a number track, in these events, a series of barriers known as hurdles are set at precisely measured heights and distances which each athlete must pass by running over. Failure to pass over, by passing under, or intentionally knocking over hurdles will result in disqualification, accidental knocking over of hurdles is not cause for disqualification, but the hurdles are weighted to make doing so disadvantageous. Hurdle design improvements were made in 1935, when they developed the L-shaped hurdle, with this shape, the athlete could hit the hurdle and it will tip down, clearing the athletes path. The two shorter distances take place on the straight of a track, while the 400 m version covers one whole lap of a standard oval track. Events over shorter distances are commonly held at indoor track and field events. Women historically competed in the 80 meters hurdles at the Olympics in the mid-20th century, hurdles race are also part of combined events contests, including the decathlon and heptathlon. In track races, hurdles are normally between 68–107 cm in height, and vary depending on the age and gender of the hurdler, events from 50 to 110 meters are technically known as high hurdles races, while longer competitions are low hurdles races. The track hurdles events are forms of sprinting competitions, although the 400 m version is less anaerobic in nature, a hurdling technique can also be found in the steeplechase, although in this event athletes are also permitted to step on the barrier to clear it. Similarly, in cross country running athletes may hurdle over various natural obstacles, such as logs, mounds of earth, horse racing has its own variant of hurdle racing, with similar principles. The standard sprint or short hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women, the standard amount of steps to the first hurdle should be 8. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for men and women. Each of these races is run over ten hurdles and they are all Olympic events, the mens 200 meters low hurdles event was on the Olympic athletics programme for the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics. These low hurdles events were widely participated in the part of the 20th century. However, beyond these two Olympic outings, they never gained a consistent place at international competitions and became increasing rare after the 1960s and this 10-hurdle race continues to be run in places such as Norway. Other distances are run, particularly indoors but occasionally outdoors, the sprint hurdle race indoors is usually 60 meters for both men and women, although races 55 meters or 50 meters long are sometimes run, especially in the United States. A60 meter indoor race is run over 5 hurdles, a shorter race may occasionally have only 4 hurdles
10.
High jump
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The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern most practised format, a bar is placed between two standards with a mat for landing. In the modern era, athletes run towards the bar and use the Fosbury Flop method of jumping, leaping head first with their back to the bar, performed since ancient times, competitors have introduced increasingly more effective techniques to arrive at the current form. The discipline is, alongside the pole vault, one of two vertical clearance events to feature on the Olympic athletics programme and it is contested at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Indoor Championships, and is a common occurrence at track and field meetings. The high jump was among the first events deemed acceptable for women, Javier Sotomayor is the current mens record holder with a jump of 2.45 m set in 1993 – the longest standing record in the history of the mens high jump. Stefka Kostadinova has held the world record at 2.09 m since 1987. The rules for the jump are set internationally by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Jumpers must take off on one foot, a jump is considered a failure if the bar is dislodged by the action of the jumper whilst jumping or the jumper touches the ground or breaks the plane of the near edge of the bar before clearance. The technique one uses for the jump must be almost flawless in order to have a chance of clearing a high bar, competitors may begin jumping at any height announced by the chief judge, or may pass, at their own discretion. Three consecutive missed jumps, at any height or combination of heights, the victory goes to the jumper who clears the greatest height during the final. If two or more tie for first place, the tie-breakers are, 1) The fewest misses at the height at which the tie occurred. If the event remains tied for first place, the jumpers have a jump-off, the bar is then alternately lowered and raised until only one jumper succeeds at a given height. The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century, early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a scissors technique. In the later years, the bar was approached diagonally, around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to modernise, starting with the Irish-American Michael Sweeneys Eastern cut-off. By taking off like the scissors, but extending his back and flattening out over the bar, Sweeney achieved a more economic clearance, another American, George Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the Western roll. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, Horine increased the world standard to 2.01 m in 1912. His technique was predominant through the Berlin Olympics of 1936, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at 2.03 m, American and Soviet jumpers held the playing field for the next four decades, and they pioneered the evolution of the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll, but rotated their torso around the bar, straddle-jumper Charles Dumas was the first to clear 7 feet, in 1956, and American John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 m in 1960
11.
Long jump
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The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point. Along with the jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a group are referred to as the horizontal jumps. This event has a history in the Ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympic event for men since the first Olympics in 1896 and for women since 1948. If the competitor starts the leap with any part of the foot past the foul line, a layer of plasticine is placed immediately after the board to detect this occurrence. An official will also watch the jump and make the determination, therefore, it is in the best interest of the competitor to get as close to the foul line as possible. Competitors are allowed to place two marks along the side of the runway in order to assist them to jump accurately. At a lesser meet and facilities, the plasticine will likely not exist, at a smaller meet, the number of attempts might also be limited to four or three. Each competitor has a set number of attempts and that would normally be three trials, with three additional jumps being awarded to the best 8 or 9 competitors. All legal marks will be recorded but only the longest legal jump counts towards the results, the competitor with the longest legal jump at the end of competition is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, then comparing the next best jumps of the tied competitors will be used to determine place. In a large, multi-day elite competition, a set number of competitors will advance to the final round, a set of 3 trial round jumps will be held in order to select those finalists. For record purposes, the maximum accepted wind assistance is two metres per second, the long jump is the only known jumping event of Ancient Greeces original Olympics pentathlon events. All events that occurred at the Olympic Games were initially supposed to act as a form of training for warfare, the long jump emerged probably because it mirrored the crossing of obstacles such as streams and ravines. After investigating the surviving depictions of the ancient event it is believed that unlike the modern event, the athletes carried a weight in each hand, which were called halteres. These weights were swung forward as the athlete jumped in order to increase momentum and it is commonly believed that the jumper would throw the weights behind him in midair to increase his forward momentum, however, halteres were held throughout the duration of the jump. Swinging them down and back at the end of the jump would change the center of gravity and allow the athlete to stretch his legs outward. The jump itself was made from the bater and it was most likely a simple board placed on the stadium track which was removed after the event. The jumpers would land in what was called a skamma, the idea that this was a pit full of sand is wrong
12.
Standing long jump
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The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912 and it is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump and standing triple jump. In performing the standing jump, the jumper stands at a line marked on the ground with the feet slightly apart. The athlete takes off and lands using both feet, swinging the arms and bending the knees to provide forward drive, in Olympic rules, the measurement used was the longest of three tries. The jump must be repeated if the athlete falls back or takes a step at take-off, ray Ewry set the first world record for the standing long jump at 3.47 m on 3 September 1904. The current record is held by Byron Jones, who recorded a jump of 3.73 m at the NFL Combine on 23 February 2015, beating the competition world record of 3.71 m set by Norwegian shot putter Arne Tvervaag from Ringerike FIK Sportclub in 1968. When indoor arenas were built, the long jump began to disappear as an event. Today, Norway is the country where the standing long jump is a national championship event. The Norwegian Championships in Standing Jumps has been held in Stange every winter since 1995, in the Brazilian police forces, a minimum performance in a standing long jump test is required to join the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police
13.
Discus throw
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The discus throw is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by the fifth-century-B. C, although not part of the modern pentathlon, it was one of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon, which can be dated back to at least to 708 BC. Discus is a part of most modern track-and-field meets at all levels and is a sport which is particularly iconic of the Olympic Games. The mens competition has been a part of the modern Summer Olympic Games since the first Olympiad in 1896. Images of discus throwers figured prominently in advertising for early modern Games, such as fundraising stamps for the 1896 games, the discus was re-discovered in Magdeburg, Germany, by Christian Georg Kohlrausch and his students in the 1870s. His work around the discus and the throwing techniques have been published since the 1880. The first modern athlete to throw the discus while rotating the body was František Janda-Suk from Bohemia. He invented this technique when studying the position of the statue of Discobolus. After only one year of developing the technique he gained the silver in 1900. The womens competition was added to the Olympic program in the 1928 games, the mens discus is a heavy lenticular disc with a weight of 2 kilograms and diameter of 22 centimetres, the womens discus has a weight of 1 kilogram and diameter of 18 centimetres. Under IAAF rules, Youth boys throw the 1.5 kilograms discus, the Junior men throw the unique 1.75 kilograms discus, in international competition, men throw the 2 kg discus through to age 49. The 1.5 kilograms discus is thrown by ages 50–59, women throw the 1 kilogram discus through to age 74. Starting with age 75, women throw the 0.75 kilograms discus, the typical discus has sides made of plastic, wood, fiberglass, carbon fiber or metal with a metal rim and a metal core to attain the weight. The rim must be smooth, with no roughness or finger holds, a discus with more weight in the rim produces greater angular momentum for any given spin rate, and thus more stability, although it is more difficult to throw. However, a higher rim weight, if thrown correctly, can lead to a farther throw, a solid rubber discus is sometimes used. To make a throw, the starts in a circle of 2.5 m diameter. The thrower typically takes an initial stance facing away from the direction of the throw and he then spins anticlockwise around one and a half times through the circle to build momentum, then releases his throw. The discus must land within a 34. 92-degree sector, the distance from the front edge of the circle to where the discus has landed is measured, and distances are rounded down to the nearest centimetre
14.
Javelin
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A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the bow and arrow and slingshot, however, hurling devices do exist to assist the javelin thrower in achieving greater distance. The Roman javelin is called a pilum, the word javelin comes from Middle English and it derives from Old French javelin, a diminutive of javelot, which meant spear. The word javelot probably originated from one of the Celtic languages, there is archaeological evidence that javelins and throwing sticks were already in use by the last phase of the lower Paleolithic. Seven spear-like objects were found in a mine in the city of Schöningen. Stratigraphic dating indicates that the weapons are about 400,000 years old, the excavated items were made of spruce trunk and were between 1.83 and 2.25 metres long. They were manufactured with the thickness and weight situated at the front end of the wooden shaft. The frontal centre of gravity suggests that these weapons were used as javelins. A fossilized horse shoulder blade with a wound, dated to 500,000 years ago, was revealed in a gravel quarry in the village of Boxgrove. Studies suggested that the wound was caused by a javelin. The peltasts, usually serving as skirmishers, were armed with several javelins, the peltasts hurled their javelins at the enemys heavier troops, the hoplite phalanx, in order to break their lines so that their own armys hoplites could destroy the weakened enemy formation. He decided to ambush it with his force of peltasts, by launching repeated hit-and-run attacks against the Spartan formation, Iphicrates and his men were able to wear the Spartans down, eventually routing them and killing just under half. This marked the first recorded occasion in ancient Greek military history in which an entirely made up of peltasts had defeated a force of hoplites. The thureophoroi and thorakitai, who replaced the peltasts, carried javelins in addition to a long thrusting spear. Javelins were often used as a hunting weapon, the strap adding enough power to take down large game. Javelins were also used in the Ancient Olympics and other Panhellenic games and they were hurled in a certain direction and whoever hurled it the farthest, as long as it hit tip-first, won that game. In the ancient world javelins were thrown with the aid of a throwing string. In 387 BC, the Gauls invaded Italy, inflicted a defeat on the Roman Republican army
15.
Shot put
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The shot put is a track and field event involving throwing/putting a heavy spherical object —the shot—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, homer mentions competitions of rock throwing by soldiers during the Siege of Troy but there is no record of any dead weights being thrown in Greek competitions. The first evidence for stone- or weight-throwing events were in the Scottish Highlands, in the 16th century King Henry VIII was noted for his prowess in court competitions of weight and hammer throwing. The first events resembling the modern shot put likely occurred in the Middle Ages when soldiers held competitions in which they hurled cannonballs, shot put competitions were first recorded in early 19th century Scotland, and were a part of the British Amateur Championships beginning in 1866. Competitors take their throw from inside a marked circle 2.135 metres in diameter, the following rules are adhered to for a legal throw, Upon calling the athletes name, the athlete may enter from any part of the throwing circle. They have sixty seconds to commence the throwing motion otherwise they are banned from the game, the athlete may not wear gloves, IAAF rules permit the taping of individual fingers. The athlete must rest the shot close to the neck, the shot must be released above the height of the shoulder, using only one hand. The athlete may touch the surface of the circle or toe board. Limbs may however extend over the lines of the circle in the air, the shot must land in the legal sector of the throwing area. The athlete must leave the circle from the back. The athlete may enter the circle at the location of their choice. Foul throws occur when an athlete, Does not pause within the circle before beginning the throwing motion, does not complete the throwing movement within sixty seconds of having their name called. Allows the shot to drop below his shoulder or outside the plane of his shoulder during the put. At any time if the shot loses contact with the neck then it is technically an illegal throw, during the throwing motion, touches with any part of the body, the top or ends of the toe board the top of the iron ring anywhere outside the circle. Throws a shot which either falls outside the sector or touches a sector line on the initial impact. Leaves the circle before the shot has landed, does not leave from the rear half of the circle. The following are either obsolete or non-existent, but commonly believed rules within professional competition, the athlete entering the circle, then exiting and re-entering it prior to starting the throw results in a foul. Each competition has a set number of rounds of throws, typically there are three preliminary rounds to determine qualification for the final, and then three more rounds in the final
16.
Olympic Games ceremony
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Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games, the modern Olympic games have opening, closing and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry, an example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies. During the 2004 Games, the winners received a crown of olive branches. The various elements of the ceremonies are mandated by the Olympic Charter, even the artistic portion of the opening and closing ceremonies must meet the approval of the International Olympic Committee. The ceremonies have evolved over the centuries, Ancient Games incorporated ceremonies to mark the beginning and ending of each successive game. There are both similarities and differences between the ancient Olympic ceremonies and their modern counterparts, the presentation of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies continue to increase in scope, scale and expense with each successive celebration of the Games, but they are still steeped in tradition. The Ancient Games, held in Greece from ca.776 BC to ca.393 AD, the victory celebration, elements of which are in evidence in the modern-day medal and closing ceremonies, often involved elaborate feasts, drinking, singing, and the recitation of poetry. The wealthier the victor the more extravagant the celebration, the victors were presented with an olive wreath or crown harvested from a special tree in Olympia by a boy, specially selected for this purpose, using a golden sickle. The festival would conclude with the victors making solemn vows and performing sacrifices to the various gods to which they were beholden. There is evidence of changes in the format of the Ancient Games over the nearly 12 centuries that they were celebrated. Eventually, by roughly the 77th Olympiad, a standard 18-event program was established, in order to open a Games in ancient Greece the organizers would hold an Inauguration Festival. This was followed by a ceremony in which took an oath of sportsmanship. The first competition, a competition of trumpeters and heralds. The Olympic opening ceremonies represent the official commencement of an Olympic Games, in recent Olympics, athletic competition began prior to the opening ceremonies. For example, the competitions for both men and women at the 2008 Summer Olympics began two days prior to the opening ceremonies. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the Opening Ceremonies of a celebration of the Olympic Games, most of these rituals were canonized at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. The artistic program is what creates the idiosyncratic element of each ceremony, Coubertins initial vision of the Modern Olympics featured both athletic competitions and artistic achievements. As the modern Olympics have evolved into a celebration of sport, the opening ceremonies are an important ritual of the Olympic games
17.
Oscar von Sydow
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Oscar Fredrik von Sydow was a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 23 February to 13 October 1921. Oscar von Sydow was the son of Henrik August von Sydow and he was born in Kalmar and raised in Norrland. In 1890, he passed his maturity examination and proceeded to study Law at Uppsala University, in 1894, he graduated with a degree in civil service. In 1906, von Sydow was appointed Undersecretary of State at the Ministry for Civil Affairs, in the governments of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld and Carl Swartz he was Minister for Public Administration, during which he established the Unemployment Commission. Between 1917 and 1934 he was Governor of Gothenburg and Bohus County, following the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Louis De Geer in 1921, the King had difficulties finding a candidate willing to form a new government as the elections were drawing near. After Hjalmar Branting declined upon being asked twice to become Prime Minister, von Sydow gave an ultimatum that he would not lead a powerless government and he demanded that the Social Democratic Party promise to support him in important finance and defence issues. Despite these agreements, all of the propositions made by the new government were voted down by the opposition, von Sydows lasting legacy as Prime Minister is for presenting the bill that abolished the death penalty in Sweden. Von Sydow was Marshal of the Realm from 1934 until his death in 1936, von Sydow Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Swedish-language Wikipedia article
18.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
19.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
20.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
21.
Inga Gentzel
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Inga Kristina Gentzel was a Swedish runner, who won a bronze medal in the 800 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Shortly before the Olympics she set a new record in this event. Gentzel won the medal in the 1000 m at the 1926 Womens World Games. Gentzel held Swedish titles in the 200 m in 1929 and in the 800 m in 1928–31 and she worked as a piano teacher in Nyköping and often appeared on the Swedish radio as a member of the vocal group Trio Rita, together with Ulla Castegren and Anna-Lisa Cronström. She was a niece of the actor Ludde Gentzel
22.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
23.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
24.
Czechoslovakia
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From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate. From 1948 to 1990, Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc with a command economy and its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949, and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955. A period of liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Form of state 1918–1938, A democratic republic, 1938–1939, After annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany in 1938, the region gradually turned into a state with loosened connections among the Czech, Slovak, and Ruthenian parts. A large strip of southern Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine was annexed by Hungary, 1939–1945, The region was split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic. A government-in-exile continued to exist in London, supported by the United Kingdom, United States and its Allies, after the German invasion of Russia, Czechoslovakia adhered to the Declaration by United Nations and was a founding member of the United Nations. 1946–1948, The country was governed by a government with communist ministers, including the prime minister. Carpathian Ruthenia was ceded to the Soviet Union, 1948–1989, The country became a socialist state under Soviet domination with a centrally planned economy. In 1960, the country became a socialist republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was a state of the Soviet Union. 1989–1990, The federal republic consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic, 1990–1992, Following the Velvet Revolution, the state was renamed the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, consisting of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Neighbours Austria 1918–1938, 1945–1992 Germany Hungary Poland Romania 1918–1938 Soviet Union 1945–1991 Ukraine 1991–1992 Topography The country was of irregular terrain. The western area was part of the north-central European uplands, the eastern region was composed of the northern reaches of the Carpathian Mountains and lands of the Danube River basin. Climate The weather is mild winters and mild summers, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean from the west, Baltic Sea from the north, and Mediterranean Sea from the south. The area was long a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire until the Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, the new state was founded by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who served as its first president from 14 November 1918 to 14 December 1935. He was succeeded by his ally, Edvard Beneš. The roots of Czech nationalism go back to the 19th century, nationalism became a mass movement in the last half of the 19th century
25.
Halina Konopacka
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Halina Konopacka was a Polish athlete. She won the discus event at the 1928 Summer Olympics, breaking her own world record. After retiring from athletics she became a writer and poet and she immigrated to the United States after World War II and died there. Konopacka was born in Rawa Mazowiecka, Russian Empire, and grew up in Warsaw and her whole family also played tennis, including father Jakub, sister Czesława and brother Tadeusz. While studying at the Faculty of Philology of the Warsaw University she also took up skiing and athletics, in 1926 she set her first world record in the discus throw, after only a few months of training, which followed by two more records in 1927 and 1928. Konopacka had dark skin and brown eyes owing to her Tatar ancestors and she always wore a red beret while competing, and had a model-like body shape, for which she was nicknamed Miss Olympia. In 1928 she married Ignacy Matuszewski, the secretary of Poland. She retired from athletics in 1931, but continued to do sports recreationally, including skiing, tennis and car races and she was a guest of honor at both the 1936 Winter and Summer Olympics, and a member of the Polish Olympic Committee in 1938–1939. Being a well-educated woman fluent in three languages, she engaged in writing. In September 1939, at the onset of World War II, after France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, the couple immigrated to the United States, arriving there through Spain, Portugal and Brazil in September 1941. Her husband suddenly died in New York in 1946, after which Konopacka remarried, founded a school near New York, designed clothing. After her second died in 1959, she moved from New York to Florida. She mostly painted flowers under the alias Helen George and she died in 1989 and the same year was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the Polish government. Her ashes were buried in her parents grave at the Bródno Cemetery in Warsaw, karol Wiktor Zawodziński, Poezje Konopackiej, in id. Wśród poetów, Cracow, Wydawnictwo Literackie,1964, pages 306–308, and passim
26.
Mary, Lady Heath
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Mary, Lady Heath was an Irish aviator and began life as Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans in Knockaderry, County Limerick, near the town of Newcastle West. She was one of the best known women in the world for a period from the mid-1920s. When the young Sophie Peirce-Evans was one old, her father John Peirce-Evans. He was found guilty of murder and declared insane and his daughter was taken to the home of her grandfather in Newcastle West where she was brought up by two maiden aunts, who discouraged her passion for sports. The college was designed to produce the educated farmers which the country then needed, Sophie, one of the few women in the college, duly took a top-class degree in science, specialising in agriculture. She also played with the hockey team and contributed to a student magazine. Before becoming a pilot Lady Heath had already made her mark, during the First World War, she spent two years as a dispatch rider, based in England and later France, where she had her portrait painted by Sir John Lavery. She was Britains first womens champion and set a disputed world record for the high jump. She was also a delegate to the International Olympic Committee in 1925, after her great flight from the Cape, she took a mechanics qualification in the USA, the first woman to do so. In an era when the world had gone due to the exploits of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Britains Lady Lindy, as she was known in the United States, made news as the first pilot, male or female. She had thought it would take her three weeks, as it turned out, it took her three months, from January to May 1928, a scale model of the plane used by Lady Mary is on display at The Little Museum of Dublin. She wrote about the later in a book Woman and Flying. In July 1928 she became the first woman appointed as a co-pilot with a civil airline, before her accident Lady Heath applied for American citizenship, intending to promote aviation among American women. Lady Heath was never the same, after divorce in Reno, Nevada, from Heath in 1930, she returned to Ireland with her third husband G. A. R. Lady Heath first marriage was to Major William Elliot Lynn after which she was known as Mrs Elliot Lynn. Her husband died in London in early 1927, and then she married Sir James Heath on 11 October 1927 at Christ Church in Mayfair, London. In January 1930 she filed for a divorce from Heath, on the grounds of alleged cruelty, in Reno, Nevada and she was married on 12 November 1931 to English airman G. A. R Williams in Lexington, Kentucky, United States
27.
Javelin throw
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The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about 2.5 m in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area, Javelin throwing is an event of both the mens decathlon and the womens heptathlon. The javelin was part of the pentathlon of the Ancient Olympic Games beginning in 708 BC in two disciplines, distance and target throw, the javelin was thrown with the aid of a thong, called ankyle wound around the middle of the shaft. Athletes would hold the javelin by the thong and when the javelin was released this thong unwound giving the javelin a spiraled flight, throwing javelin-like poles into targets was revived in Germany and Sweden in the early 1870s. In Sweden, these developed into the modern javelin, and throwing them for distance became a common event there. The rules continued to evolve over the decades, originally, javelins were thrown with no run-up. Limited run-ups were introduced in the late 1890s, and soon developed into the modern unlimited run-up, swedens Eric Lemming, who threw his first world best in 1899 and ruled the event from 1902 to 1912, was the first dominant javelin thrower. Competitions for the hand only were less common, though not unknown. At the Olympics a both-hands contest was only once, in 1912, Finland swept the medals. Hungarys Mór Kóczán used a freestyle end grip to break the 60-meter barrier in 1911, the first known womens javelin marks were recorded in Finland in 1909. Originally, women threw the same implement as men, a lighter, shorter javelin for women was introduced in the 1920s, womens javelin throw was added to the Olympic program in 1932, Mildred Babe Didrikson of the United States became the first champion. For a long time, javelins were made of wood, typically birch. The current mens record is held by Jan Železný at 98.48 m. Of the 69 Olympic medals that have been awarded in the javelin,32 have gone to competitors from Norway. Finland has, however, never been nearly as successful in the womens javelin, the javelin was also part of some of the many early forms of womens pentathlon, and has always been included in the heptathlon after it replaced the pentathlon in 1981. The size, shape, minimum weight, and center of gravity of the javelin are all defined by IAAF rules. In international competition, men throw a javelin between 2.6 and 2.7 m in length and 800 g in weight, the javelin has a grip, about 150 mm wide, made of cord and located at the javelins center of gravity. Unlike the other throwing events, the used to throw the javelin is dictated by IAAF rules
28.
Mark Weston (athlete)
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Mark Weston, nicknamed the Devonshire Wonder, was one of the best British field athletes of the 1920s. He was a champion in the womens javelin throw and discus throw in 1929. At the 1926 Womens World Games he finished sixth in the shot put. Weston had an abnormality and was assigned as female at birth. In April–May 1936, Weston underwent a series of gender changing operations at the Charing Cross Hospital and he changed his first name to Mark, retired from competitions and later worked as a masseur. In July 1936 Weston married Alberta Matilda Bray and they had three children, following his example, his elder sibling Harry also changed his gender and name in the 1930s. Harry hanged himself during a depression in 1942, Mark Weston died in the Freedom Fields Hospital in Plymouth in 1978
29.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
30.
1922 Women's World Games
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The 1922 Womens World Games were the first regular international Womens World Games and the first Track and field competitions for women. The tournament was held on a day on August 20 at the Pershing Stadium in Paris. The games were organized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale under Alice Milliat as a response to the IOC refusal to include events in the 1924 Olympic Games. The games were attended by 77 participants from 5 nations, Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, the athletes competed in 11 events, running, high jump, long jump, standing long jump, javelin and shot put. The tournament was opened with an olympic style ceremony, the games attended an audience of 20,000 spectators and 18 world records were set. Nb Each athlete in the put and javelin throw events threw using their right hand. Their final mark was the total of the best mark with their right-handed throw, film from the 1922 Womens World Games Mixed pictures from the Womens World Games Picture of the British team Picture of the American team
31.
1930 Women's World Games
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The 1930 Womens World Games were the third regular international Womens World Games, the tournament was held between September 6 - September 8 at the Letná Stadium in Prague. The games were organized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale under Alice Milliat as a response to the IOC decision to only a few womens events in the 1928 Olympic Games. Canada attended with a basketball team, the athletes competed in 12 events, running, high jump, long jump, discus throw, javelin, shot put and triathlon. The tournament also held events in basketball, handball, fencing, shooting and canoeing. The tournament was opened with an olympic style ceremony, the games attended an audience of 15,000 spectators and several world records were set. On September 8 the sole basketball match was played between Canada and France, Canada won by 18-14, a special commemorative medal was issued for the participants. Participation medal Picture British team Picture Canadian basketball team Picture Czechoslovak team
32.
1934 Women's World Games
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The 1934 Womens World Games were the fourth edition of the international games for women. The tournament was held between 9–11 August at the White City Stadium in London, United Kingdom, the first major tournament were the 1938 European Athletics Championships even though the tournament was split up into two separate events. The 3rd European Athletics Championships were the first combined championships for men and women. The games were organized by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale under Alice Milliat as a response to the IOC decision to only a few womens events in the 1928 Olympic Games. The athletes competed in 12 events, running, high jump, long jump, discus throw, javelin, shot put, the tournament also held exhibition events in basketball, handball and football. The tournament was opened with an olympic style ceremony, the Canadian flag bearer was Lillian Palmer as captain of the Canadian team. The games attended an audience of 15,000 spectators and several records were set. The games were the first to include a womens pentathlon, a special commemorative medal was issued for the participants and the games were closed with a formal banquet. Participation medal Film 1934 Womens World Games Picture Grieme Selma at the jump event Menue from the closing banquet
United Kingdom
France
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
Japan
Poland
Latvia