1.
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
2.
Sprint (running)
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Sprinting is running over a short distance in a limited period of time. It is used in sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal. In athletics and track and field, sprints are races over short distances and they are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, there are three sprinting events which are currently held at the Summer Olympics and outdoor World Championships, the 100 metres,200 metres, and 400 metres. The set position differs depending on the start, body alignment is of key importance in producing the optimal amount of force. Ideally the athlete should begin in a 4-point stance and push off using both legs for maximum force production, athletes remain in the same lane on the running track throughout all sprinting events, with the sole exception of the 400 m indoors. Races up to 100 m are largely focused upon acceleration to a maximum speed. All sprints beyond this distance increasingly incorporate an element of endurance, the 60 metres is a khaled and Rion indoor event and it is an indoor world championship event. Less common events include the 50 metres,55 metres,300 metres, biological factors that determine a sprinters potential include, The 60 metres is normally run indoors, on a straight section of an indoor athletic track. Since races at this distance can last around six or seven seconds, having good reflexes and this is roughly the distance required for a human to reach maximum speed and can be run with one breath. It is popular for training and testing in other sports, the world record in this event is held by American sprinter Maurice Greene with a time of 6.39 seconds. 60-metres is used as a distance by younger athletes when starting sprint racing. Note, Indoor distances are less standardized as many facilities run shorter or occasionally longer distances depending on available space, the 100 metres sprint takes place on one length of the home straight of a standard outdoor 400 m track. Often, the holder in this race is considered the worlds fastest man/woman. The current world record of 9.58 seconds is held by Usain Bolt of Jamaica and was set on 16 August 2009, the womens world record is 10.49 seconds and was set by Florence Griffith-Joyner. World class male sprinters need 41 to 50 strides to cover the whole 100 metres distances, the 200 metres begins on the curve of a standard track, and ends on the home straight. The ability to run a good bend is key at the distance, as a well conditioned runner will typically be able to run 200 m in an average speed higher than their 100 m speed. Usain Bolt, however, ran 200 m in the time of 19.19 sec, an average speed of 10.422 m/s, whereas he ran 100 m in the world-record time of 9.58 sec
3.
800 metres
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The 800 metres, or 800 meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle-distance running event, the 800 metres is run over two laps of the track and has been an Olympic event since the first games in 1896. During indoor track season the event is run on a 200-metre track. The event was derived from the measurement of a half a mile. Imperial racing distances were common in the United States, american high schools were the last to convert to metric distances in 1980, following the NCAAs conversion in 1976. Countries associated to the English system converted to metric distances after the 1966 Commonwealth Games,800 m is 4.67 m less than half a mile. The event combines aerobic endurance with anaerobic conditioning and sprint speed, both the aerobic and anaerobic systems are being taxed to a high extent, thus the 800 metre athlete is required to combine training between both systems. If they are so inclined,400 m runners are encouraged to run the 200 metres while 800 m runners are encouraged to run the 1500 metres. The 800 m event is known for its tactical racing techniques. Because the 800 m event is the shortest event that has all the runners converge on lane one and it is commonly believed that getting the first or second position early in the race is advantageous as these positions are not usually caught up in the pack. Olympic champions Dave Wottle, Yuriy Borzakovskiy and others have defied that logic by running a more evenly paced race, lagging behind the pack and kicking past the slowing early leaders. Often the winner of 800 m races at high levels are not determined by the strongest runner and this can lead to the most exciting aspect of the 800 m which is its high probability of an upset. Two common tactics for the 800 meters are running a split or a positive split between laps. The positive split is widely considered to be the more effective strategy, a positive split is achieved by running the first lap faster than the second lap, and a negative split is achieved by the opposite, running the second lap faster than the first. The current world record holder, David Rudisha, runs using a positive split strategy, in his 2012 Olympic race, he ran his first lap in 49.28 seconds and his second lap in 51.63 seconds. Theoretically, a split is the most effective strategy. As of August 2016 As of August 2016, World junior records are held by Nijel Amos and Pamela Jelimo. Both marks coincidentally rank them as the third fastest ever, a Known as the World Indoor Games IAAF list of 800-metres records in XML
4.
1500 metres
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The 1500 metres or 1, 500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896, the demands of the race are similar to that of the 800 metres, but with a slightly higher emphasis on aerobic endurance and a slightly lower sprint speed requirement. The 1500 metre race is predominantly aerobic, but anaerobic conditioning is also required, each lap run during the world-record race run by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998 in Rome, Italy averaged just under 55 seconds. 1,500 metres is three and three-quarter laps around a 400-metre track, in the Modern Olympic Games, the mens 1, 500-metre race has been contested from the beginning, and at every Olympic Games since. The first winner, in 1896, was Edwin Flack of Australia, the womens 1, 500-metre race was first added to the Summer Olympics in 1972, and the winner of the first gold medal was Lyudmila Bragina of the Soviet Union. During the Olympic Games of 1972 through 2008, the womens 1, 500-metre race has won by three Soviets plus one Russian, one Italian, one Romanian, one Briton, one Kenyan. The 2012 Olympic results are still undecided as a result of doping cases. The best womens times for the race were set by Chinese runners. At least one of those top Chinese athletes has admitted to being part of a doping program, the womens record was finally surpassed by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2015. Which distance is used depends on which state the school is in. The person who wins the race is behind watching Correct as of November 2016. The world records for the distance in swimming for men are 14,31.02 by Sun Yang,14,08.06 by Gregorio Paltrinieri, and by women 15,25.48 by Katie Ledecky, and 15,19.71 by Mireia Belmonte García. The world records for the distance in speed skating are 1,41.04 by Shani Davis and 1,50.85 by Heather Richardson-Bergsma, IAAF list of 1500-metres records in XML Statistics
5.
Mile run
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The mile run is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and fields switch to metric distances in the 1900s and retained its popularity, with the chase for the four-minute mile in the 1950s a high point for the race. In spite of the roughly equivalent 1500 metres race, the run is present in all fields of athletics. The current mile world record holders are Moroccos Hicham El Guerrouj with 3,43.13, the distance of the English mile gained its current definition of 1,760 yards through a statute of the Parliament of England in 1593. Thus, the history of the run began in England. Such contests would attract large numbers of spectators and gamblers – so many that the activity became a one for its more-established participants. The mile run was at the heart of the divide between professional and amateur sports in the late 19th century, separate world record categories were kept for amateurs and professionals, with professional runners providing the faster times. High-profile contests between Britons William Cummings and Walter George brought much publicity to the sport, as did Georges races against the American Lon Myers, the mile run was also one of the foremost events at the amateur AAA Championships. The categories remained distinct but the rise in amateurism and decline of the professional sector saw the division become irrelevant in the 20th century. The mile run continued to be a distance in spite of the metrication of track and field. It was the 1500 metres – sometimes referred to as the metric mile – which was featured on the Olympic athletics programme, the International Amateur Athletics Federation formed in 1912 and ratified the first officially recognised world record in the mile the following year. The fact that the run was the only imperial distance to retain its official world record status after 1970 reflects its continued popularity in the international era. In the 1940s, Swedish runners Gunder Hägg and Arne Andersson pushed times into a new territory, the act of completing a sub-four-minute mile sparked further interest in the distance in the 1950s. The 1960s saw American Jim Ryun set world records near the 3, 50-minute mark, from this period onwards, African runners began to emerge, breaking the largely white, Western dominance of the distance. Kenyas Kip Keino won the mile at the 1966 British Empire, the 1980s was highlighted by the rivalry between British runners Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, who improved the record five times between them, including two records at the Oslo Dream Mile race. Noureddine Morceli brought the record back into African hands in 1993 and Moroccos Hicham El Guerrouj set the current record of 3,43.13. Aside from track races, mile races are also contested in cross country running
6.
3000 metres
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The 3000 metres or 3000-meter run is a track running event, also commonly known as the 3K or 3K run, where 7.5 laps are completed around an outdoor 400 m track or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m should be classified as a distance or long distance event. In elite level competition,3000 m pace is more comparable to the found in the longer 5000 metres event. The world record performance for 3000 m equates to a pace of 58.76 seconds per 400 m, however, the 3000 m does require some anaerobic conditioning and an elite athlete needs to develop a high tolerance to lactic acid, as does the Mile runner. Thus, the 3000 m demands a balance of aerobic endurance needed for the 5000 m, in mens athletics,3000 metres has been an Olympic discipline only as a team race at the 1912,1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. It has not been contested at any of the IAAF outdoor championships and it is often featured in indoor track and field programmes and is the longest distance event present at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. In womens athletics,3000 metres was an event in the Olympic Games. The event was discontinued at World Championship and Olympic level after the 1993 World Championships in Athletics - Qu Yunxia being the gold medal winner at the event. Starting with the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and the 1996 Olympic Games, it was replaced by 5000 metres, skilled runners in this event reach speeds near vVO2max, for which the oxygen requirements of the body cannot continuously be satisfied, requiring some anaerobic effort. The mens world record is 7,20.67 set by Daniel Komen of Kenya in 1996, Komen also holds the world indoor mark with 7,24.90 minutes set in 1998. The womens world record is 8,06.11 set by Wang Junxia of China in 1993, the world indoor womens record is 8,16.60 minutes, set by Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba in 2014. Statistics accurate as of 4 February 2017, a Known as the World Indoor Games IAAF list of 3000-metres records in XML Statistics
7.
500 metres
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The 500 metres is a rarely run uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions. I = indoor performance A = affected by altitude OT = oversized track Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1,00.86, Colin Campbell ran a hand-timed 59.7. Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1,09.35, Lynsey Sharp also ran 1,08.05
8.
Imperial units
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The system of imperial units or the imperial system is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which was later refined and reduced. The Imperial units replaced the Winchester Standards, which were in effect from 1588 to 1825, the system came into official use across the British Empire. The imperial system developed from what were first known as English units, the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 was initially scheduled to go into effect on 1 May 1825. However, the Weights and Measures Act of 1825 pushed back the date to 1 January 1826, the 1824 Act allowed the continued use of pre-imperial units provided that they were customary, widely known, and clearly marked with imperial equivalents. Apothecaries units are mentioned neither in the act of 1824 nor 1825, at the time, apothecaries weights and measures were regulated in England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed by the London College of Physicians, and in Ireland by the Dublin College of Physicians. In Scotland, apothecaries units were unofficially regulated by the Edinburgh College of Physicians, the three colleges published, at infrequent intervals, pharmacopoeiae, the London and Dublin editions having the force of law. The Medical Act of 1858 transferred to The Crown the right to publish the official pharmacopoeia and to regulate apothecaries weights, Metric equivalents in this article usually assume the latest official definition. Before this date, the most precise measurement of the imperial Standard Yard was 0.914398416 metres, in 1824, the various different gallons in use in the British Empire were replaced by the imperial gallon, a unit close in volume to the ale gallon. It was originally defined as the volume of 10 pounds of distilled water weighed in air with brass weights with the standing at 30 inches of mercury at a temperature of 62 °F. The Weights and Measures Act of 1985 switched to a gallon of exactly 4.54609 l and these measurements were in use from 1826, when the new imperial gallon was defined, but were officially abolished in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1971. In the USA, though no longer recommended, the system is still used occasionally in medicine. The troy pound was made the unit of mass by the 1824 Act, however, its use was abolished in the UK on 1 January 1879, with only the troy ounce. The Weights and Measures Act 1855 made the pound the primary unit of mass. In all the systems, the unit is the pound. For the yard, the length of a pendulum beating seconds at the latitude of Greenwich at Mean Sea Level in vacuo was defined as 39.01393 inches, the imperial system is one of many systems of English units. Although most of the units are defined in more than one system, some units were used to a much greater extent, or for different purposes. The distinctions between these systems are not drawn precisely. One such distinction is that between these systems and older British/English units/systems or newer additions, the US customary system is historically derived from the English units that were in use at the time of settlement
9.
Lon Myers
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Laurence Eugene Lon Myers was an American sprinter and middle distance runner. He also set records at 11 different distances, and held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile. Myers set the world record while running the final 120 yards without his right shoe. He finished another race that he won running sideways, in conversation with a runner who had boasted that he would defeat Myers, Myers was Jewish, and was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Solomon H. Myers, a clerk. He was in the first graduating class of Richmond High School and his father moved the family to Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1875 after he graduated high school, and then to New York City, where he became a bookkeeper. During his 21-year career, Myers held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile and he won 15 United States national championships,10 Canadian national championships, and 3 British national championships. From 1880 to 1888, he held the records in the 100-yard, 440-yard. Myers began running competitively in 1878, for the Knickerbocker Yacht Club and he then ran for the bulk of his career for the Manhattan Athletic Club. Myers was the first runner to run the quarter-mile in under 50 seconds, on September 20,1879, he ran the quarter-mile in 49.5 seconds despite running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, setting a world record. At the 1879 U. S. Amateur Athletic Union national championships, Myers won the 220,440, in 1880, he won the AAU national championship 220,440, and 880 races and the 100-yard dash, all in the same day. He won the four races three days later at the Canadian Nationals. That year, he set an American record in the 100-yard dash, and world records in the 250,300,320,500,600,660,880,1,000, and mile. Unusual distances in some of the races were a product of the fact that tracks at the time varied in length.6 seconds. That year he lowered the world record in the 880 to 1,55.5. In 1881 he also set the record in the half mile. He also set the record in the 350, at 36.8 seconds. Walter George, the top British miler, faced Myers over a series of three races in November 1882, a total of 130,000 attended these races at the Polo Grounds in New York City. In the first, Myers beat George 1, 563⁄5 to 1,57 in the 880 yards, the next week, George led all the way in defeating his rival 4, 212⁄5 to 4, 273⁄5 in the mile
10.
600 metres
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The 600 metres is a rarely run sprinting event in track and field competitions. I = indoor performance A = affected by altitude ht = hand timing Correct as of December 2016, below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1,14.69, John Kipkurgat also ran 1,13. 2+. David Rudisha also ran 1,13.71,1,14. 4+, joseph Mutua Mwengi also ran 1,13.72. Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1,25.23, ajee Wilson also ran 1,24. 48i,1,25. 23i
11.
Santa Monica, California
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Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The Census Bureau population for Santa Monica in 2010 was 89,736, due in part to an agreeable climate, Santa Monica became a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its core, significant job growth. The Santa Monica Pier remains a popular and iconic destination, Santa Monica was long inhabited by the Tongva people. Santa Monica was called Kecheek in the Tongva language, the first non-indigenous group to set foot in the area was the party of explorer Gaspar de Portolà, who camped near the present-day intersection of Barrington and Ohio Avenues on August 3,1769. Named after the Christian saint Monica, there are two different accounts of how the name came to be. One says it was named in honor of the feast day of Saint Monica, another version says it was named by Juan Crespí on account of a pair of springs, the Kuruvungna Springs, that were reminiscent of the tears Saint Monica shed over her sons early impiety. In Los Angeles, several battles were fought by the Californios, following the Mexican–American War, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave Mexicans and Californios living in state certain unalienable rights. US government sovereignty in California began on February 2,1848, in the 1870s the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, connected Santa Monica with Los Angeles, and a wharf out into the bay. The first town hall was a modest 1873 brick building, later a beer hall and it is Santa Monicas oldest extant structure. By 1885, the towns first hotel was the Santa Monica Hotel, around the start of the 20th century, a growing population of Asian Americans lived in and around Santa Monica and Venice. A Japanese fishing village was near the Long Wharf while small numbers of Chinese lived or worked in Santa Monica, the two ethnic minorities were often viewed differently by White Americans who were often well-disposed towards the Japanese but condescending towards the Chinese. The Japanese village fishermen were an economic part of the Santa Monica Bay community. Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. built a plant in 1922 at Clover Field for the Douglas Aircraft Company, in 1924, four Douglas-built planes took off from Clover Field to attempt the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Two planes returned after covering 27,553 miles in 175 days, the Douglas Company kept facilities in the city until the 1960s. The Great Depression hit Santa Monica deeply, one report gives citywide employment in 1933 of just 1,000. Hotels and office building owners went bankrupt, in the 1930s, corruption infected Santa Monica. The federal Works Project Administration helped build several buildings, most notably City Hall, the main Post Office and Barnum Hall were also among other WPA projects
12.
Cuba
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Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
13.
Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha
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Guadalajara is a city and municipality in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, Spain, and in the natural region of La Alcarria. It is the capital of the province of Guadalajara and it is located roughly 60 kilometres northeast of Madrid on the Henares River, and has a population of 84,803. A Roman town called Arriaca, possibly founded by a culture, is known to have been located in that region. There is however no proof of its existence, only references in texts such as the Ruta Antonina. The city, as Caracca, was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis, the city was on the high road from Emerita to Caesaraugusta,22 M. P. northeast of Complutum. The town of Guadalajara was founded by the Andalusians in the 8th century and they named it Wādī-al-Ḥajāra, meaning Valley of Stones, in theory the literal translation of the Iberian name, meaning Stony River. The history of the town during the Al-Andalus period was significant and they built monuments including the Moorish Bridge over the Henares River, the now ruined old Alcázar, and a mosque which later became the former Cathedral of St. Mary. In 1085, Guadalajara was taken by the Christian forces of Alfonso VI, the chronicles say that the Christian army was led by Alvar Fanez de Minaya, one of the lieutenants of El Cid. From 1085 until the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, the city suffered wars against the Almoravid, in 1219, the king Fernando III gave a new fuero to the city. During the reign of Alfonso X of Castile, the protection of the king allowed the city to develop its economy by protecting merchants, during the 14th century, the Mendoza family was prominent in Guadalajara. This family included Íñigo López de Mendoza, also known as Marqués de Santillana, the Mendoza family held the title of Dukes and Duchesses of El Infantado from 1475. In 1460, King Henry IV gave Guadalajara the title of City, Guadalajara was the birthplace of conquistador Nuño de Guzmán, who commissioned in 1542 the foundation of Guadalajara, Mexico. During the War of the Spanish Succession, Guadalajara was sacked, King Philip V ordered the establishment of the Real Fábrica de Paños which was situated in the Alcazar till the early 19th century. In this period, the Mendoza Family ordered the building of El Palacio del Infantado as their main residence and it was completed in the early 1480s and it is considered by many the oldest surviving building built in a pure Renaissance style outside Italy. The 19th century started with two setbacks, the damages caused by the Peninsular War and the closing of the Real Fábrica de Paños in 1822. In 1808, Guadalajara was taken by the French Army led by General Hugo, in 1840 Guadalajara was established as the capital of the province with the same name by the Plan de Burgos. The Academy of Military Engineers was brought to the city, Guadalajara was the scene of many actions during the Spanish Civil War. On 24 July 1936, during the phase after the revolt of 19 July
14.
800 m
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The 800 metres, or 800 meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle-distance running event, the 800 metres is run over two laps of the track and has been an Olympic event since the first games in 1896. During indoor track season the event is run on a 200-metre track. The event was derived from the measurement of a half a mile. Imperial racing distances were common in the United States, american high schools were the last to convert to metric distances in 1980, following the NCAAs conversion in 1976. Countries associated to the English system converted to metric distances after the 1966 Commonwealth Games,800 m is 4.67 m less than half a mile. The event combines aerobic endurance with anaerobic conditioning and sprint speed, both the aerobic and anaerobic systems are being taxed to a high extent, thus the 800 metre athlete is required to combine training between both systems. If they are so inclined,400 m runners are encouraged to run the 200 metres while 800 m runners are encouraged to run the 1500 metres. The 800 m event is known for its tactical racing techniques. Because the 800 m event is the shortest event that has all the runners converge on lane one and it is commonly believed that getting the first or second position early in the race is advantageous as these positions are not usually caught up in the pack. Olympic champions Dave Wottle, Yuriy Borzakovskiy and others have defied that logic by running a more evenly paced race, lagging behind the pack and kicking past the slowing early leaders. Often the winner of 800 m races at high levels are not determined by the strongest runner and this can lead to the most exciting aspect of the 800 m which is its high probability of an upset. Two common tactics for the 800 meters are running a split or a positive split between laps. The positive split is widely considered to be the more effective strategy, a positive split is achieved by running the first lap faster than the second lap, and a negative split is achieved by the opposite, running the second lap faster than the first. The current world record holder, David Rudisha, runs using a positive split strategy, in his 2012 Olympic race, he ran his first lap in 49.28 seconds and his second lap in 51.63 seconds. Theoretically, a split is the most effective strategy. As of August 2016 As of August 2016, World junior records are held by Nijel Amos and Pamela Jelimo. Both marks coincidentally rank them as the third fastest ever, a Known as the World Indoor Games IAAF list of 800-metres records in XML
15.
Race track
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A race track is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals. A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses, racetracks are also used in the study of animal locomotion. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways, a racetrack is a permanent facility or building. Racecourse is a term for a horse racing track, found in countries such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Hong Kong. Race tracks built for bicycles are known as velodromes, circuit is a common alternate term for racetrack, given the circuit configuration of most race tracks, allowing races to occur over several laps. A race course, as opposed to a racecourse, is a term for non-permanent tracks for sports, particularly running, water sports, road racing. Many sports usually held on racetracks also can occur on temporary tracks, there is some evidence of racetracks being developed in several ancient civilizations. The most developed ancient racetracks were the hippodromes of the Ancient Greeks, both of these structures were designed for horse and chariot racing. The stadium of the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome could hold 200,000 spectators, racing facilities existed during the Middle Ages, and there are records of a public racecourse being opened at Newmarket in London in 1174. In 1780 the Earl of Derby created a course on his estate at Epsom. Racecourses in the British Isles are based on grass, known as turf tracks, in the United States, the race tracks are dirt. With the advent of the automobile in the late twentieth century. The earliest tracks were modified horse racing courses, racing automobiles in such facilities began in September 1896, at Narragansett Park in Cranston, Rhode Island. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was opened in August 1909, beginning in the early 1900s, motorcycle races were run on high, banked, wooden race tracks called board tracks. During the 1920s, many of the races on the AAA Championship circuit were run on board tracks. Modern racetracks are designed with safety being paramount, following incidents of spectator. These often involve run off areas, barriers, and high fencing, several racetracks are incorporated into larger venues or complexes, incorporating golf courses, museums, hotels, and conference centres. Some racetracks are small enough to be contained indoors, for such as motocross, cycling
16.
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
17.
David Rudisha
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David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS is a Kenyan middle-distance runner. He is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion, World champion and world record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha is the first and only person to run under 1,41 for the event. Rudisha has won a record 3 consecutive Track & Field Athlete of the Year awards, initially he was a 400 metres runner, but his coach, Irishman Colm OConnell, prompted him to try 800 m. In 2006 he became the junior champion over that distance. Rudisha competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, reaching the 800 metres semifinals. In September 2009, Rudisha won the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Rieti, Italy, posting a new African record of 1,42.01 and that effort put him in fourth place on the all-time list. In the 2010 IAAF Diamond League, he took on Abubaker Kaki at the Bislett Games in June. On 10 July 2010, Rudisha ran the 800 m in 1,41.51 at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden, Belgium, this new personal record placed him No.2 all-time in the world for the 800 m. On 22 August 2010 Rudisha broke Wilson Kipketers 800 m World Record two days before the anniversary of record with a time of 1,41.09 while racing in the ISATF meeting in Berlin. He also won the Kenyan Sportsman of the Year award, with a time of 1,41.74, Rudisha set the United States all comers 800 m record at the 2012 adidas Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium in New York City. He guaranteed his selection for the Kenyan Olympic team for the first time with a win at the Kenyan trials, Rudisha currently holds the world record of 1,40.91 for the 800 m, set at the London 2012 Olympics on 9 August 2012. He has the three fastest times recorded and six of the top eight fastest times in the 800m, on 9 August 2012 at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Rudisha led from start to finish to win gold in what was acclaimed The Greatest 800 Meter Race Ever. In so doing, he became the first and, so far, from the start of the race, Rudisha led and pulled away from the rest of the field after 200 metres, completing the first lap in 49.28 seconds. By 600 metres his lead had grown to several metres and he continued to pull away until the final straight, where second place Nigel Amos was able to slightly gain some ground as Rudisha strained. But the gap was much too great to close, and Rudisha crossed the line in a time of 1,40.91. Rudishas competitors all ran exceptional times, sports Illustrateds David Epstein reported that the race is best told, perhaps, in 16 letters, WR, NR, PB, PB, PB, NR, SB, PB. With Rudisha breaking 1,41, two men under 1,42, five under 1,43 and all eight under 1,44, noted the IAAF, every competitor ran the fastest time in history for their placing
18.
Kenya
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Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi and it is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2, and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017, Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea, in the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period, by the first millennium AD, the Bantu expansion had reached the area from West-Central Africa. Bantu and Nilotic populations together constitute around 97% of the nations residents, European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which starting in 1920 gave way to the Kenya Colony, Kenya obtained independence in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, the capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East, agriculture is a major employer, the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also an economic driver. Additionally, Kenya is a member of the East African Community trading bloc, the Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa, if so, then the British may not so much have mispronounced it, as misspelled it. In the 19th century, the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf was staying with the Bantu Kamba people when he first spotted the mountain. On asking for the name of the mountain, he was told Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa probably because the pattern of black rock, the Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, which is quite similar to the Kamba name. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia believed by most to be a corruption of the Kamba version, others say that this was—on the contrary—a very precise notation of a correct African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/
19.
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
20.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
21.
Heptathlon
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A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek hepta and ἄθλος, a competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete. There are two heptathlons – the womens heptathlon and the mens – composed of different events, the mens heptathlon is older and is held indoors, while the womens is held outdoors and was introduced in the 1980s, first appearing in the Olympics in 1984. Womens heptathlon is the event for women contested in the Athletics program of the Olympics. The IAAF World Combined Events Challenge determines a yearly womens heptathlon champion and it was first contested at the Olympic level in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Jessica Ennis-Hill, representing Great Britain, is the 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist, there is also a Tetradecathlon, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day. The heptathlon scoring system was devised by Dr Karl Ulbrich, a Viennese mathematician, the formulae are constructed so that, for each event, a designated standard performance scores 1000 points. Each event also has a minimum recordable performance level, corresponding to zero points, the formulae are devised so that successive constant increments in performance correspond to gradually increasing increments in points awarded. A, b and c have different values for each of the events, the following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000,900,800 and 700 points in each event. The other version is a competition, normally contested by men only. It is the combined event in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. In each event, the athlete scores points for performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The athlete accumulating the highest number of wins the competition. Carolina Kluft also scored 7001,6952,6887, as of March 2017 Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6319 pts, Ashton Eaton also scored 6632,6568,6499,6470. Roman Šebrle also scored 6420,6358,6350,6319
22.
Rieti
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Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, the town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding from the southern edge the wide Rieti valley, at the bottom of Sabine mountains and of monti Reatini, among which mount Terminillo. The plain was once a lake, drained by ancient Romans. Only the small Ripasottile and Lungo lakes remain of the large one. According to the legend, Reate was founded by Rea, a divinity and it was founded at the beginning of the Iron Age. Probably in earlier times the lands around Rieti were inhabited by Umbri, then by Aborigines and later on by Sabines, Reate was originally a major site of the Sabine nation well before the foundation of Rome. According to the legend, when Romulus founded Rome, Romans kidnapped Sabine women in order to populate the town, so there was a war between Romans and Sabines. The battle of the Lacus Curtius came to an end only when the women threw themselves among the armies, Romulus and Titus Tatius reprieved and a collaboration between the two people started. According to a version based on history, Sabines settled on the Quirinale because of their continuous need. Many lands of Reate and Amiternum were confiscated and allocated to Romans, at the very beginning, Sabines were offered Roman citizenship but with no right of voting, but yet in 268 BC they gained the full citizenship, being included in two new tribes. Curius Dentatus drained a large portion of the lake by making the Velino a distributary of the Nera river, the wide area once occupied by the lake turned into a fertile plain. Following Roman customs, the land was split into characteristic square allotments, the town itself underwent significant development, being re-organised according to typical Roman urbanistic standards, and was fortified with strong walls. A stone bridge was laid across the Velino river, and a viaduct was built to bring goods from the Salaria road directly to Rietis southern door. Roman Reate receives a number of mentions in Latin literature, thanks to its soil, its valued assets. Cicero, for instance, describes the tensions between Reate and Interamna following the drainage, and refers to the country houses that his friend Q. One of the most important Sabine families that gained success in Rome was the Gens Flavia, the Reatin poet and writer Marcus Terentius Varro was born in 116 BC and he is usually referred to as the father of Roman erudition. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire Rieti suffered destruction by Barbarians, under the Franks, it was county capital. It was sacked by the Saracens in the 9th and 10th century, the city was rebuilt with the help of the Roman comune, and from 1198 was also a free commune, of Guelph orientation, with a podestà of its own
23.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
24.
Hicham El Guerrouj
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Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Gerrouj is the current world record holder in the 1500 meters, mile and outdoor 2000 meters events and he is considered the greatest middle-distance runner of all time. El Gerrouj holds seven of the ten fastest times run in the mile, in November 2014 he was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame. A year later, he was the #2 man on the Moroccan team at the World Junior Cross Country Championships, in 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the 1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time. El Guerrouj rose to prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the 1500 metres. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres to then world record holder Noureddine Morceli at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best over 1500 metres in 3,29.59 in Stockholm, El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 at Atlanta. Running the 1500 metres final, as he was moving into position to challenge for the lead, he fell with 400 m to go and he had been expected to challenge the world record holder and three-time World champion, Noureddine Morceli. One month later, at the Grand Prix final in Milan, in the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutive world titles in 1997,1999,2001, and 2003. In 1998 in Rome, El Guerrouj broke Morcelis 1500 m world record with a time of 3,26.00. In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the record in the mile set by Noureddine Morceli in 1993. Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who ran second, was also under the world record with a time of 3,43.40. This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the world record in the same race. Later that season he set a new record over 2000 m in Berlin at 4,44.79. He also ran the second fastest 3000 m ever in Brussels, El Guerrouj successfully defended his 1500 m title in the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and came close to breaking his own 1500 m record in Brussels in 2001 with a time of 3,26.12. He also won 3 consecutive IAAF Golden League prizes in 2001,2002 and 2003 and he was the only middle distance athlete to produce the winning streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the jackpot of 50 kilograms of gold or USD1 million. He remains the only athlete to have won it three times in a row, in 2003, El Guerrouj set a personal best of 12,50.24 in the 5000 metres. Only 20 days before the Olympic final,2000 Olympic bronze medalist Bernard Lagat ran the fastest 1500 m in 2004, on August 24, in the final straight of the Olympic 1500m final, El Guerrouj narrowly beat Lagat by 0.12 seconds, winning the gold medal
25.
Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
26.
Genzebe Dibaba
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Genzebe Dibaba Keneni is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She is the sister of three-times Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba and Olympic silver medallist Ejegayehu Dibaba, and she was the 2012 World Indoor Champion for the 1500 m, and is the reigning 2014 World Indoor Champion and World Indoor Record Holder in the 3000 m. She represented Ethiopia at the 2012 Summer Olympics and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics. She was highly successful as an athlete, having won two junior world cross country titles and one world junior 5000 m gold medal. At the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, she became World Champion in 1500 m as well as claiming the bronze medal in the 5000 m event. She was named Laureus Sportswoman of the Year for the 2014 year alongside male winner counterpart Novak Djokovic. and was 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year. She is the current world record holder for the 1500 m, the indoor 2000 m, the indoor 3000 m, the indoor 5000 m, the mile. Genzebe Dibaba comes from an athletic Oromo family and her older sister Tirunesh is a celebrated athlete who won many major medals. Another older sister, Ejegayehu, won the medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics. And brother Dejene is also an athlete and her cousin is Derartu Tulu,1992 and 2000 Olympic champion in 10,000 m. Genzebe won the womens title at both the 2008 and 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and finished fifth in the same event in 2007. Genzebe became the second woman ever to win two junior cross country championships in a row. She also competed in IAAF Golden League meetings, including the Reebok Grand Prix, at the 2008 Bislett Games she recorded a personal best time of 15,02.41 in the 5000 metres, during the same race where her sister Tirunesh set a new world record. She did the same a year later in the same race, after winning the 5000 m at the Ethiopian Athletics Championships, she was included in the Ethiopian squad for the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Championships. In Berlin she replaced Tirunesh on Ethiopias 5000 m team, who due to injury. Genzebe ran an excellent heat, finishing fourth and qualifying for the final where, in her first major championship race. She also won the 5000 m gold at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships and she began her 2009–10 cross country campaign with a win at the Cross de Atapuerca. She also competed indoors, improving her 1500 m best to 4,04.80 at the Indoor Flanders meeting, despite her wins on the senior circuit, she failed to complete a hat-trick of junior race titles at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships
27.
Monaco
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Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 38,400 according to the last census of 2015. With 19,009 inhabitants per km², it is the second smallest, Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km, a coastline of 3.83 km, and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m. The highest point in the country is a pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward. Monacos most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins, through land reclamation, Monacos land mass has expanded by twenty percent, in 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2. Monaco is known as a playground for the rich and famous, in 2014, it was noted about 30% of the population was made up of millionaires, more than in Zürich or Geneva. Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, although Prince Albert II is a constitutional monarch, he wields immense political power. The House of Grimaldi have ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, the official language is French, but Monégasque, Italian, and English are widely spoken and understood. The states sovereignty was recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monacos independence and separate foreign policy, its defense is the responsibility of France, however, Monaco does maintain two small military units. Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the countrys first casino, Monte Carlo, since then, Monacos mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principalitys status as a tourist destination and recreation center for the rich. In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking center and has sought to diversify its economy into services and small, high-value-added, the state has no income tax, low business taxes, and is well known for being a tax haven. It is also the host of the street circuit motor race Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union, but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs, through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency. Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004 and it is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Monacos name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony, according to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos, because the only temple of this area was the House of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, an ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control
28.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
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Yards
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The yard is an English unit of length, in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement, that comprises 3 feet or 36 inches. It is by international agreement in 1959 standardized as exactly 0.9144 meters, a metal yardstick originally formed the physical standard from which all other units of length were officially derived in both English systems. In the 19th and 20th centuries, increasingly powerful microscopes and scientific measurement detected variation in these prototype yards which became significant as technology improved. In 1959, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the name derives from the Old English gerd, gyrd, &c. which was used for branches, staves, and measuring rods. It is first attested in the late-7th century laws of Ine of Wessex, where the yard of land mentioned is the yardland, an old English unit of tax assessment equal to 1⁄4 hide. Around the same time, the Lindisfarne Gospels account of the messengers from John the Baptist in the Book of Matthew used it for a branch swayed by the wind. In addition to the yardland, Old and Middle English both used their forms of yard to denote the lengths of 15 or 16 1⁄2 ft used in computing acres. A unit of three English feet is attested in a statute of c. 1300 but there it is called an ell, the use of the word yard to describe this length is first attested in Langlands poem on Piers Plowman. The usage seems to derive from the prototype standard rods held by the king, the word yard is a homonym of yard in the sense of an enclosed area of land. This second meaning of yard has a related to the verb to gird and is probably not related. The origin of the measure is uncertain, both the Romans and the Welsh used multiples of a shorter foot, but 2 1⁄2 Roman feet was a step and 3 Welsh feet was a pace. The Proto-Germanic cubit or arms-length has been reconstructed as *alinâ, which developed into the Old English ęln, Middle English elne and this has led some to derive the yard of three English feet from pacing, others from the ell or cubit, others from Henry Is arm standard. Based on the etymology of the yard, others suggest it originally derived from the girth of a persons waist. But the yard was the standard adopted by the early English soverigns. The yard continued till the reign of Henry VII. when the ell was introduced, that being a yard, the ell was borrowed from the Paris drapers. Subsequently, however, Queen Elizabeth re-introduced the yard as the English standard of measure, the earliest record of a prototype measure is the statute II Edgar Cap. 8, which survives in several variant manuscripts, in it, Edgar the Peaceful directed the Witenagemot at Andover that the measure held at Winchester should be observed throughout his realm. The statutes of William I similarly refer to and uphold the measures of his predecessors without naming them
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International System of Units
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The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system, and is the most widely used system of measurement. It comprises a coherent system of units of measurement built on seven base units, the system also establishes a set of twenty prefixes to the unit names and unit symbols that may be used when specifying multiples and fractions of the units. The system was published in 1960 as the result of an initiative began in 1948. It is based on the system of units rather than any variant of the centimetre-gram-second system. The motivation for the development of the SI was the diversity of units that had sprung up within the CGS systems, the International System of Units has been adopted by most developed countries, however, the adoption has not been universal in all English-speaking countries. The metric system was first implemented during the French Revolution with just the metre and kilogram as standards of length, in the 1830s Carl Friedrich Gauss laid the foundations for a coherent system based on length, mass, and time. In the 1860s a group working under the auspices of the British Association for the Advancement of Science formulated the requirement for a coherent system of units with base units and derived units. Meanwhile, in 1875, the Treaty of the Metre passed responsibility for verification of the kilogram, in 1921, the Treaty was extended to include all physical quantities including electrical units originally defined in 1893. The units associated with these quantities were the metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, in 1971, a seventh base quantity, amount of substance represented by the mole, was added to the definition of SI. On 11 July 1792, the proposed the names metre, are, litre and grave for the units of length, area, capacity. The committee also proposed that multiples and submultiples of these units were to be denoted by decimal-based prefixes such as centi for a hundredth, on 10 December 1799, the law by which the metric system was to be definitively adopted in France was passed. Prior to this, the strength of the magnetic field had only been described in relative terms. The technique used by Gauss was to equate the torque induced on a magnet of known mass by the earth’s magnetic field with the torque induced on an equivalent system under gravity. The resultant calculations enabled him to assign dimensions based on mass, length, a French-inspired initiative for international cooperation in metrology led to the signing in 1875 of the Metre Convention. Initially the convention only covered standards for the metre and the kilogram, one of each was selected at random to become the International prototype metre and International prototype kilogram that replaced the mètre des Archives and kilogramme des Archives respectively. Each member state was entitled to one of each of the prototypes to serve as the national prototype for that country. Initially its prime purpose was a periodic recalibration of national prototype metres. The official language of the Metre Convention is French and the version of all official documents published by or on behalf of the CGPM is the French-language version
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International Association of Athletics Federations
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The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organizations first congress in Stockholm, since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco. Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word amateur in its name until its 2001 congress, the IAAFs president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom. He was elected at the 2015 congress before the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, the process to found the IAAF was started at a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on July 17,1912 soon after the completion of the 1912 Summer Olympics in that city. The congress that started on August 20,1913 in Berlin is when the foundation of the IAAF was formally completed, in 2015, a whistleblower leaked IAAFs blood test records from major competitions. After reviewing the results, Robin Parisotto, a scientist and leading anti-doping expert, said, so many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen. Craig Reedie, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said his organisation was very disturbed by these new allegations, which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide, and that its independent commission will investigate the claims. On 1 November 2015, former IAAF president Lamine Diack was arrested in France and is under investigation on suspicion of corruption, Diack allegedly accepted $1.2 million from the Russian athletics federation to cover up the positive doping tests of at least six Russian athletes in 2011. The report continued that the IAAF allowed the conduct to occur and must accept its responsibility and that corruption was embedded in the organization. In January 2016, as a result of the scandal and WADAs report. The BBC reported that as a result the IAAF would lose $33 million worth of revenue, the 11-year sponsorship deal with Adidas was due to run until 2019. World-record holding sprinter, Michael Johnson, described the scandal as more serious than that faced by FIFA, in February,2016, Nestle announced that it was ending its IAAF sponsorship. In June 2016, following a meeting of the IAAFs ruling council, in Ferbuary 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation disqualified by decision of the IAAF Council for 8 years for the creation of a doping system. Since the establishment of the IAAF, it has had six presidents, The IAAF has a total of 215 member federations divided into 6 area associations
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Millrose Games
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The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, the games were started when employees of the New York City branch of Wanamakers department store formed the Millrose Track Club to hold a meet. The featured event is the Wanamaker Mile, Millrose was the name of the country home of Rodman Wanamaker. In 1914, after overflowing the armory the year before, the Millrose Games moved to Madison Square Garden, for 10 years beginning in 1916, the Wanamaker 1 ½ Mile race was a highlight of the meet. Run for the last time in 1925, the edition was won by Paavo Nurmi. In 1926, the distance was shortened, and the Wanamaker Mile was born. It has often run at 10 p. m. a carryover from the days beginning in the 1930s when legendary sports announcer Ted Husing would broadcast the race live on his 10 p. m. radio show. For 70 of its first 96 years, the role of Millrose meet director was an affair, Fred Schmertz took the helm in 1934. In 2003, the title of Meet Director Emeritus was bestowed on the younger Schmertz, the games, operated by the New York Road Runners, are also notable for their rigid anti-doping policies. In 2017, Millrose race director Ray Flynn told an ESPN reporter and we want to keep our meet free of any athlete that really has a violation. The most prolific winner in event history is Loren Murchison, a sprinter who won 13 titles between 1919 and 1926 and he is followed by pole vaulter Bob Richards, hurdler Greg Foster and 500-600-800m runner Mark Everett, and hurdler Harrison Dillard and miler Eamonn Coghlan. Coghlan’s total includes seven Wanamaker Mile victories and two Masters Mile wins,202 athletes share the distinction of being both Millrose Games and Olympic champions. Official website Millrose Games & Wanamaker Mile
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Four-minute mile
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In the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile means completing the mile run in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3,59.4, the four-minute barrier has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all male professional middle distance runners. In the last 50 years the record has been lowered by almost 17 seconds. Running a mile in four minutes translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour, breaking the four-minute barrier was first achieved on 6 May 1954 at Oxford Universitys Iffley Road Track, by Englishman Roger Bannister, with the help of fellow-runners as pacemakers. The races end is memorialised in a statue of the two placed in front of the Pacific National Exhibition entrance plaza, algerias Noureddine Morceli was the first under 3,45. Currently, the record is held by Moroccos Hicham El Guerrouj. In 1964, Americas Jim Ryun became the first high-school runner to break four minutes for the mile, running 3,59.0 as a junior and a then American record 3,55.3 as a senior in 1965. Tim Danielson and Marty Liquori also came in four minutes. Ten years later, in 2011, Lukas Verzbicas became the fifth high-schooler under four minutes, in 2015, Matthew Maton and Grant Fisher became the sixth and seventh high-schoolers to break four minutes, both running 3,59.38 about a month apart. Webb was the first high schooler to run sub-4 indoors, running 3,59.86 in early 2001. On 6 February 2016, Andrew Hunter significantly improved upon Webbs mark, Hunter achieved the 4 minute mile mark outdoors later in the season at the Prefontaine Classic. At that same meet Michael Slagowski joined the list of high school athletes under 4 minutes, many elite athletes made the attempts to extend their careers beyond age 40 to challenge that mark. Over 18 years after Coghlan, that was achieved by UKs Anthony Whiteman. No woman has yet run a four-minute mile, as of 2015, the womens world record is held by retired Russian Svetlana Masterkova, with a time of 4,12.56 in 1996. In 1997, Daniel Komen of Kenya ran two miles in less than eight minutes, doubling up on Bannisters accomplishment and he did it again in February 1998, falling just.3 behind his previous performance, still the only individual to accomplish the feat. Some sources contend the first successful four-minute mile was run in London by James Parrott on 9 May 1770, parrotts route began on Goswell Road, before turning down Old Street, finishing at St Leonards, Shoreditch. Neal Bascomb notes in The Perfect Mile that even nineteenth-century historians cast an eye on the account. In other words, the reports that he ran a mile in three minutes, fifty eight seconds
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Roger Bannister
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Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CH, CBE is an English former middle-distance athlete, physician and academic, who ran the first sub-four-minute mile. In the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and this strengthened his resolve to be the first 4-minute miler. He achieved this feat on 6 May 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford, with Chris Chataway, when the announcer declared The time was three. The cheers of the crowd drowned out Bannisters exact time, which was 3 min 59.4 sec, Bannisters record lasted just 46 days. He had reached this record with minimal training, while practising as a junior doctor, Bannister went on to become a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, before retiring in 1993. When asked whether the 4-minute mile was his proudest achievement, he said he felt prouder of his contribution to medicine through research into the responses of the nervous system. Bannister is patron of the MSA Trust and he was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in 2011. Bannister was born in Harrow, England, Bannister was inspired by miler Sydney Woodersons remarkable comeback in 1945. Wooderson lost to Andersson but set a British record of 4,04.2 in Gothenburg on 9 September, like Wooderson, Bannister would ultimately set a mile record, see it broken, and then set a new personal best slower than the new record. Bannister started his career at Oxford in the autumn of 1946 at the age of 17. He had never worn running spikes previously or run on a track and his training was light, even compared to the standards of the day, but he showed promise in running a mile in 1947 in 4,24.6 on only three weekly half-hour training sessions. He was selected as an Olympic possible in 1948 but declined as he felt he was not ready to compete at that level, however, he was further inspired to become a great miler by watching the 1948 Olympics. He set his goals on the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. In 1949, he improved in the 880 yards to 1,52.7, then, after a period of six weeks with no training, he came in third at White City in 4,14.2. The year 1950 saw more improvements as he finished a relatively slow 4,13 mile on 1 July with an impressive 57.5 last quarter. Then, he ran the AAA880 in 1,52.1, losing to Arthur Wint, chastened by this lack of success, Bannister started to train harder and more seriously. His increased attention to training paid dividends, as he won a mile race in 4,09.9 on 30 December. Then in 1951 at the Penn Relays, Bannister broke away from the pack with a 56.7 final lap, finishing in 4,08.3
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Oxford
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Oxford is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With an estimated 2015 population of 168,270, it is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, the city is situated 57 miles from London,69 miles from Bristol,65 miles from both Southampton and Birmingham and 25 miles from Reading. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold, Oxford has a broad economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a number of information technology and science-based businesses. Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was known as Oxenaforda, meaning Ford of the Oxen. It began with the establishment of a crossing for oxen around AD900. In the 10th century, Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes, Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Following the conquest, the town was assigned to a governor, Robert DOyly, the castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains survive to this day. DOyly set up a community in the castle consisting of a chapel. The community never grew large but it earned its place in history as one of Britains oldest places of formal education and it was there that in 1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, a compilation of Arthurian legends. Mary at Oseney and to the canons serving God in that place and we have made this concession and confirmation in the Common council of the City and we have confirmed it with our common seal. These are those who have made this concession and confirmation, a grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order, and friars of various orders all had houses of varying importance at Oxford. Parliaments were often held in the city during the 13th century, the Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort, these documents are often regarded as Englands first written constitution. Richard I of England and John, King of England the sons of Henry II of England, were born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford, on 8 September 1157 and 24 December 1166 respectively. A plaque in Beaumont Street commemorates these events, the University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Of the hundreds of Aularian houses that sprang up across the city, what put an end to the halls was the emergence of colleges. Oxfords earliest colleges were University College, Balliol and Merton and these colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers
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