1.
Mile Run (New Jersey)
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Mile Run is a tributary of the Raritan River in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the United States. Its name is derived from the early surveyors estimated it was on the historic Kings Highway, Route 27. Other streams, such as the Six Mile Run and the Nine Mile Run are named similarly, Mile Run drains an area in the suburbs of New Brunswick. Its source is at 40°28′14″N 74°28′48″W, near the intersection of How Lane and it crosses Jersey Avenue and flows through a residential development near Livingston Avenue. It then crosses some railroad tracks and crosses Jersey Ave and it crosses French Street one mile from the Raritan River, giving it its name. It flows between residential areas and crosses Hamilton Street and it joins a tributary from the south and crosses Easton Ave and Landing Lane before draining into the Raritan River at 40°28′38″N 74°28′3″W. Mile Run forms part of the boundary between Somerset and Middlesex Counties, Mile Run flows through a heavily developed area, making it easily accessible. Mile Run has stress on it because of the city surrounding it, list of rivers of New Jersey USGS Coordinates in Google Maps
2.
Arne Andersson
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Arne Anderson was a Swedish middle distance runner who became famous for his rivalry with his compatriot Gunder Hägg in the 1940s. Andersson set a 1500 metres world record in Gothenburg in August 1943 with a time of 3,45.0 min and he was born in Trollhättan, Sweden. However, Hägg had the last word when he ran in Malmö in 1945, andersson won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1943. Andersson won seven titles, two individual and five in relays. In 1946 he was disqualified for violating rules, together with Gunder Hägg
3.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city
4.
Yard
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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
5.
Metre
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The metre or meter, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units. The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds, the metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a metre bar. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted, the imperial inch is defined as 0.0254 metres. One metre is about 3 3⁄8 inches longer than a yard, Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter. Measuring devices are spelled -meter in all variants of English, the suffix -meter has the same Greek origin as the unit of length. This range of uses is found in Latin, French, English. Thus calls for measurement and moderation. In 1668 the English cleric and philosopher John Wilkins proposed in an essay a decimal-based unit of length, as a result of the French Revolution, the French Academy of Sciences charged a commission with determining a single scale for all measures. In 1668, Wilkins proposed using Christopher Wrens suggestion of defining the metre using a pendulum with a length which produced a half-period of one second, christiaan Huygens had observed that length to be 38 Rijnland inches or 39.26 English inches. This is the equivalent of what is now known to be 997 mm, no official action was taken regarding this suggestion. In the 18th century, there were two approaches to the definition of the unit of length. One favoured Wilkins approach, to define the metre in terms of the length of a pendulum which produced a half-period of one second. The other approach was to define the metre as one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant along the Earths meridian, that is, the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. This means that the quadrant would have defined as exactly 10000000 metres at that time. To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more measurements of this meridian were needed. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator
6.
Running
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Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by a phase in which all feet are above the ground. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting and it is assumed that the ancestors of mankind developed the ability to run for long distances about 2.6 million years ago, probably in order to hunt animals. Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas, records of competitive racing date back to the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 BCE, while the first recorded Olympic Games took place in 776 BCE. Running has been described as the worlds most accessible sport and it is thought that human running evolved at least four and a half million years ago out of the ability of the ape-like Australopithecus, an early ancestor of humans, to walk upright on two legs. The theory as first proposed used comparative physiological evidence and the habits of animals when running, indicating the likelihood of this activity as a successful hunting method. Further evidence from observation of modern-day hunting practice also indicated this likelihood, according to Sears scientific investigation of the Nariokotome Skeleton provided further evidence for the Carrier theory. Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various such as Greece, Egypt, Asia. The Tailteann Games, an Irish sporting festival in honor of the goddess Tailtiu, dates back to 1829 BCE, the origins of the Olympics and Marathon running are shrouded by myth and legend, though the first recorded games took place in 776 BCE. Seeing that they were moving and running, from their running nature they were called Gods or runners. Running gait can be divided into two phases in regard to the extremity, stance and swing. These can be divided into absorption, propulsion, initial swing. Due to the nature of running gait, no certain point is assumed to be the beginning. However, for simplicity it will be assumed that absorption and footstrike mark the beginning of the cycle in a body already in motion. Footstrike occurs when a portion of the foot makes initial contact with the ground. Common footstrike types include forefoot, midfoot and heel strike types and these are characterized by initial contact of the ball of the foot, ball and heel of the foot simultaneously and heel of the foot respectively. During this time the hip joint is undergoing extension from being in maximal flexion from the swing phase. For proper force absorption, the joint should be flexed upon footstrike
7.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
8.
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
9.
Metric system
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The metric system is an internationally agreed decimal system of measurement. Many sources also cite Liberia and Myanmar as the other countries not to have done so. Although the originators intended to devise a system that was accessible to all. Control of the units of measure was maintained by the French government until 1875, when it was passed to an intergovernmental organisation. From its beginning, the features of the metric system were the standard set of interrelated base units. These base units are used to larger and smaller units that could replace a huge number of other units of measure in existence. Although the system was first developed for use, the development of coherent units of measure made it particularly suitable for science. Although the metric system has changed and developed since its inception, designed for transnational use, it consisted of a basic set of units of measurement, now known as base units. At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, most countries, the metric system was designed to be universal—in the words of the French philosopher Marquis de Condorcet it was to be for all people for all time. However, these overtures failed and the custody of the metric system remained in the hands of the French government until 1875. In languages where the distinction is made, unit names are common nouns, the concept of using consistent classical names for the prefixes was first proposed in a report by the Commission on Weights and Measures in May 1793. The prefix kilo, for example, is used to multiply the unit by 1000, thus the kilogram and kilometre are a thousand grams and metres respectively, and a milligram and millimetre are one thousandth of a gram and metre respectively. These relations can be written symbolically as,1 mg =0, however,1935 extensions to the prefix system did not follow this convention, the prefixes nano- and micro-, for example have Greek roots. During the 19th century the prefix myria-, derived from the Greek word μύριοι, was used as a multiplier for 10000, prefixes are not usually used to indicate multiples of a second greater than 1, the non-SI units of minute, hour and day are used instead. On the other hand, prefixes are used for multiples of the unit of volume. The base units used in the system must be realisable. Each of the units in SI is accompanied by a mise en pratique published by the BIPM that describes in detail at least one way in which the base unit can be measured. In practice, such realisation is done under the auspices of a mutual acceptance arrangement, in the original version of the metric system the base units could be derived from a specified length and the weight of a specified volume of pure water
10.
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
11.
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
12.
Sport of athletics
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Athletics is a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running. The results of racing events are decided by finishing position, while the jumps, the simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most commonly competed sports in the world. Athletics is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of relay races and competitions which combine athletes performances for a team score, organized athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BCE. The rules and format of the events in athletics were defined in Western Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th century. Most modern top level meetings are conducted by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the athletics meeting forms the backbone of the Summer Olympics. The foremost international athletics meeting is the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, other top level competitions in athletics include the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. Athletes with a disability compete at the Summer Paralympics and the IPC Athletics World Championships. The word athletics is derived from the Ancient Greek ἀθλητής from ἆθλον or ἆθλος, initially, the term was used to describe athletic contests in general – i. e. sporting competition based primarily on human physical feats. In the 19th century, the term acquired a more narrow definition in Europe. This definition continues to be the most prominent one in the United Kingdom, furthermore, foreign words in many German and Roman languages which are related to the term athletics also have a similar meaning. In much of North America, athletics is synonymous with sports in general, the word athletics is rarely used to refer to the sport of athletics in this region. Track and field is preferred, and is used in the United States and Canada to refer to most athletics events, including racewalking, Athletic contests in running, walking, jumping and throwing are among the oldest of all sports and their roots are prehistoric. Athletics events were depicted in the Ancient Egyptian tombs in Saqqara, with illustrations of running at the Heb Sed festival, the Tailteann Games were an ancient Celtic festival in Ireland, founded around 1800 BCE, and the thirty-day meeting included running and stone-throwing among its sporting events. The original and only event at the first Olympics in 776 BCE was a running event known as the stadion. This later expanded to include throwing and jumping events within the ancient pentathlon, Athletics competitions also took place at other Panhellenic Games, which were founded later around 500 BCE. The Cotswold Olimpick Games, a festival which emerged in 17th century England. Annually, from 1796 to 1798, LOlympiade de la République was held in revolutionary France, the premier event of this competition was a running event, but various ancient Greek disciplines were also on display
13.
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
14.
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
15.
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
16.
English mile
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The mile is an English unit of length of linear measure equal to 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards, and standardised as exactly 1,609.344 metres by international agreement in 1959. The Romans divided their mile into 5,000 feet but the importance of furlongs in pre-modern England meant that the statute mile was made equivalent to 8 furlongs or 5,280 feet in 1593. This form of the mile then spread to the British-colonized nations who continue to employ the mile, the US Geological Survey now employs the metre for official purposes but legacy data from its 1927 geodetic datum has meant that a separate US survey mile continues to see some use. Derived units such as miles per hour and miles per gallon, however, continue to be abbreviated as mph, mpg. The modern English word mile derives from Middle English myl and Old English mīl, the present international mile is usually what is understood by the unqualified term mile. When this distance needs to be distinguished from the nautical mile, in British English, the statute mile may refer to the present international miles or to any other form of English mile since the 1593 Act of Parliament which set it as a distance of 1,760 yards. Under American law, however, the statute mile refers to the US survey mile, the mile has been variously abbreviated—with and without a trailing period—as m, M, ml, and mi. The American National Institute of Standards and Technology now uses and recommends mi in order to avoid confusion with the SI metre and millilitre. Derived units such as miles per hour and miles per gallon, however, continue to be abbreviated in the United States, United Kingdom, the BBC style holds that There is no acceptable abbreviation for ‘miles’ and so it should be spelt out when used in describing areas. The Roman mile consisted of a thousand paces as measured by every other step—as in the distance of the left foot hitting the ground 1,000 times. The ancient Romans, marching their armies through uncharted territory, would push a carved stick in the ground after each 1000 paces. Well-fed and harshly driven Roman legionaries in good weather thus created longer miles, the distance was indirectly standardised by Agrippas establishment of a standard Roman foot in 29 BC, and the definition of a pace as 5 feet. An Imperial Roman mile thus denoted 5,000 Roman feet, surveyors and specialized equipment such as the decempeda and dioptra then spread its use. In modern times, Agrippas Imperial Roman mile was empirically estimated to have been about 1,481 metres in length, in Hellenic areas of the Empire, the Roman mile was used beside the native Greek units as equivalent to 8 stadia of 600 Greek feet. The mílion continued to be used as a Byzantine unit and was used as the name of the zero mile marker for the Byzantine Empire. The Roman mile also spread throughout Europe, with its local variations giving rise to the different units below, also arising from the Roman mile is the milestone. All roads radiated out from the Roman Forum throughout the Empire –50,000 miles of stone-paved roads, at every mile was placed a shaped stone, on which was carved a Roman numeral, indicating the number of miles from the center of Rome – the Forum. Hence, one knew how far one was from Rome
17.
Parliament of England
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The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Over the centuries, the English Parliament progressively limited the power of the English monarchy which arguably culminated in the English Civil War, the Act of Union 1707 merged the English Parliament with the Parliament of Scotland to form the Parliament of Great Britain. When the Parliament of Ireland was abolished in 1801, its members were merged into what was now called the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under a monarchical system of government, monarchs usually must consult, early kings of England had no standing army or police, and so depended on the support of powerful subjects. The monarchy had agents in every part of the country, however, under the feudal system that evolved in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the laws of the Crown could not have been upheld without the support of the nobility and the clergy. The former had economic and military bases of their own through major ownership of land. The Church was virtually a law unto itself in this period as it had its own system of law courts. In order to seek consultation and consent from the nobility and the clergy on major decisions. A typical Great Council would consist of archbishops, bishops, abbots, barons and earls, when this system of consultation and consent broke down, it often became impossible for government to function effectively. The most prominent instances of prior to the reign of Henry III are the disagreements between Thomas Becket and Henry II and between King John and the barons. Becket, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1162 and 1170, was murdered following a long running dispute with Henry II over the jurisdiction of the Church. John, who was king from 1199 to 1216, aroused such hostility from many leading noblemen that they forced him to agree to Magna Carta in 1215, johns refusal to adhere to this charter led to civil war. The Great Council evolved into the Parliament of England, the term itself came into use during the early 13th century, deriving from the Latin and French words for discussion and speaking. The word first appears in documents in the 1230s. As a result of the work by historians G. O. Sayles and H. G. Richardson, during the 13th and 14th centuries, the kings began to call Knights of the Shire to meet when the monarch saw it as necessary. A notable example of this was in 1254 when sheriffs of counties were instructed to send Knights of the Shire to parliament to advise the king on finance, initially, parliaments were mostly summoned when the king needed to raise money through taxes. Following the Magna Carta this became a convention and this was due in no small part to the fact that King John died in 1216 and was succeeded by his young son Henry III. Leading peers and clergy governed on Henrys behalf until he came of age, among other things, they made sure that Magna Carta would be reaffirmed by the young king
18.
Gambling
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Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Gambling thus requires three elements be present, consideration, chance and prize, the term gaming in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. However, this distinction is not universally observed in the English-speaking world, for instance, in the United Kingdom, the regulator of gambling activities is called the Gambling Commission. Gambling is also an international commercial activity, with the legal gambling market totaling an estimated $335 billion in 2009. In other forms, gambling can be conducted with materials which have a value, many popular games played in modern casinos originate from Europe and China. Games such as craps, baccarat, roulette, and blackjack originate from different areas of Europe, a version of keno, an ancient Chinese lottery game, is played in casinos around the world. In addition, pai gow poker, a hybrid between pai gow and poker is also played, many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban gambling or heavily control it by licensing the vendors. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling in the areas where it is not allowed, there is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a bias can quite easily be missed unless the odds are checked carefully. Most jurisdictions that allow gambling require participants to be above a certain age, in some jurisdictions, the gambling age differs depending on the type of gambling. For example, in many American states one must be over 21 to enter a casino, E. g. Nonetheless, both insurance and gambling contracts are typically considered aleatory contracts under most legal systems, though they are subject to different types of regulation. Under common law, particularly English Law, a contract may not give a casino bona fide purchaser status. For case law on recovery of gambling losses where the loser had stolen the funds see Rights of owner of money as against one who won it in gambling transaction from thief. This was a plot point in a Perry Mason novel, The Case of the Singing Skirt. Religious perspectives on gambling have been mixed, ancient Hindu poems like the Gamblers Lament and the Mahabharata testify to the popularity of gambling among ancient Indians. However, the text Arthashastra recommends taxation and control of gambling, ancient Jewish authorities frowned on gambling, even disqualifying professional gamblers from testifying in court. For these social and religious reasons, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling, in at least one case, the same bishop opposing a casino has sold land to be used for its construction. Although different interpretations of law exist in the Muslim world
19.
Amateur sports
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Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are financially remunerated for the time they spend competing and training, the majority of worldwide sporting participants are amateurs. Modern organized sports developed in the 19th century, with the United Kingdom, sporting culture was especially strong in private schools and universities, and the upper and middle class men who attended these institutions played as amateurs. Opportunities for working classes to participate in sport were restricted by their long six-day work weeks, in the UK, the Factory Act of 1844 gave working men half a day off, making the opportunity to take part in sport more widely available. Working class sportsmen found it hard to top level sport due to the need to turn up to work. On occasion, cash prizes, particularly in competitions, could make up the difference. Proponents of the amateur ideal deplored the influence of money and the effect it has on sports, working class sportsmen didnt see why they shouldnt be paid to play. Hence there were competing interests between those who wished sport to be open to all and those who feared that professionalism would destroy the Corinthian spirit and this conflict played out over the course of more than one hundred years. Corinthian has come to describe the most virtuous of amateur athletes—those for whom fairness, to that end, club rules ensured that crews consisted of amateurs, while no professional or paid hand is allowed to touch the tiller or in any way assist in steering. The earlier origins of the term are somewhat murky, though it must certainly be linked to the Isthmian games of ancient Corinth, it more proximately originates from common slang usage in early 19th century England. The Seawhanaka Yacht Club—founded in 1874—added Corinthian to its name in 1881, the Corinthian Football Club was founded in 1882. The Corinthian Yacht Club was founded in 1886 in Tiburon, California in the United States, the Yale Yacht Club was renamed the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club in 1893. By the early 21st century the Olympic Games and all the team sports accepted professional competitors. However, there are some sports which maintain a distinction between amateur and professional status with separate competitive leagues. The most prominent of these are golf and boxing, in particular, only amateur boxers could compete at the Olympics up to 2016. This may jeopardise their status as amateurs, and if allowed to let slide, where professionals are permitted, it is hard for amateurs to compete against them. Whether this is a triumph of capitalism or an example of corruption depends on the viewers perspective, to some an amateur means an incompetent or also-ran, and to others it means an idealist. To say that the athlete should not be paid can prevent performances only possible for an athlete who is free to pursue the sport full-time without other sources of income, the term shamateurism is used to describe state-sponsored athletes
20.
Walter George (athlete)
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In one of those races on 23 August 1886, he set a mile record which was not surpassed for almost 30 years. At 16, George was apprentice to a chemist and working long hours, accordingly, he entered cycling and then walking races on weekends for exercise. Before turning 20 in 1878, he trained for three months and boasted, to his friends amusement, that he would one day run a mile in 4,12. This was at a time when the amateur record was 4, 24½. He wrote in a then the quarter-mile splits required to achieve such a time. In his first race, he was given a 45-yard handicap and promptly won in 4,29 and he never again was given a handicap. His unorthodox training technique, necessitated by his apprenticeship, was to do what he called 100-up which involved running in place with knee lifts and springing. He found quick success, winning the 1879 Amateur Championships of England in the mile, the next year, the first Amateur Athletic Association championship was held and George won the mile in 4, 28 3⁄5 and the four miles. Then, on 16 August at Stamford Bridge, London, George held his ideal pace for one lap – 59s – then slowed to 2, though he was disappointed to finish in 4, 23 1⁄5, the time established a new amateur world record. On the professional side of racing, William Cummings was also running impressive mile times, setting a record of 4. But George responded in 1882 and ran another amateur world record in the mile on 3 June in 4, 19 2⁄5, leaving only Cummings, George applied to the AAA to race the professional Cummings, but was denied permission. Travelling to America, George faced the top American miler Lon 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, 56 3⁄5 to 1,57 in the 880 yards, the next week, George led all the way in defeating his rival 4, 21 2⁄5 to 4, 27 3⁄5 in the mile. In the final 3/4 mile showdown,60,000 watched George, George led narrowly with a 61 2⁄5 and 2, 02¾ before Myers took the lead. But Myers staggered at the end and collapsed after crossing in 3,13 – behind George who won in 3, both fell unconscious after the race and George described it as the most gruelling race I ever ran. In 1883, George was ill and William Snook won the mile championship, the next year, George sought revenge on Snook, as they met on 21 June at the Astor Lower Grounds in Birmingham for the AAA championships. George prevailied in the race at 4, 18 2⁄5, setting his third amateur mile record in the process and that same year he won titles over the 4-miles, 10-miles, the 880 yards and in cross country. He additionally set world records in the 2 miles,3 miles,6 miles,10 miles
21.
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
22.
John Landy
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John Michael Landy AC, CVO, MBE is an Australian former Olympic track athlete. He was the man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and held the world records for the 1500 metre run. He was also the 26th Governor of Victoria from 2001 to 2006, born in Melbourne, John Landy attended Malvern Memorial Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School. He graduated from Melbourne University in 1954, receiving a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, during his school years, Landy enjoyed watching middle distance track events. He became a serious runner during his years, joining the Geelong Guild Athletic Club in 1949. He was a member of the Australian Olympic team at both the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and he took the Olympic Oath at the 1956 Olympics. That record held for more than three years, worldwide, Landy is probably best known for his part in a mile race in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held at Vancouver, British Columbia. Landy ran his second sub-4-minute mile in the race, but lost to Roger Bannister, on the final turn of the last lap, as Landy looked over his left shoulder, Bannister passed him on the right. In 2015 it returned to the site of the stadium, regarding this sculpture, Landy quipped that While Lots wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back. In Australia, Landy is remembered for his performance in the one final at the 1956 Australian National Championships prior to the Melbourne Olympic Games. In the race, Landy stopped and doubled back to check on fellow runner Ron Clarke after another runner clipped Clarkes heel, Clarke, the then-junior mile world record holder, who had been leading the race, got back to his feet and started running again, Landy followed. Incredibly, in the two laps Landy made up a large deficit to win the race, something considered one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history. Said the National Centre for History and Education in Australia, It was a gesture of sportsmanship. Sculptor Mitch Mitchell created a sculpture of the moment when Landy helps Clarke to his feet. It has recently moved from the north west corner of Punt Road. On 1 January 2001, Landy was sworn in as the 26th Governor of Victoria and he was appointed by Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks, who remained premier throughout his term. He retired as governor on 7 April 2006, being succeeded by Professor David De Kretser, John Landy worked as senior manager at ICI Australia, and had a successful public speaking career. For eight years Landy served on the Victorian Land Conservation Council, contributing to debates, an avid naturalist, Landy has written two books on natural history
23.
Metrication
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Metrication or metrification is conversion to the metric system of units of measurement. Since 2006, three countries formally do not use the system as their main standard of measurement, the United States, Myanmar. In the United Kingdom metric is the system for most regulated trading by weight or measure purposes. For example, miles, yards, and feet remain the official units for road signage –, the Imperial pint also remains a permitted unit for milk in returnable bottles and for draught beer and cider in British pubs. Television screen and clothing sizes tend to be denominated in inches only, some sources now identify Liberia as metric, and the government of Myanmar has stated that the country would metricate with a goal of completion by 2019. Both Myanmar and Liberia are substantially metric countries, trading internationally in metric units, visiting advocates of metrication have stated that they use metric units for many things internally with exceptions such as old petrol pumps in Myanmar, calibrated in British Imperial gallons. These and other countries have adopted measures to some degree through international trade and standardization for example. The United States mandated the acceptance of the system in 1866 for commercial and legal proceedings. The United Kingdom followed suit in 1897 and did not make the use of metric units compulsory for most purposes until 1995, in 1971 the National Bureau of Standards completed a three-year study of the impact of increasing worldwide metric use on the U. S. The study concluded with a report to Congress entitled A Metric America – A Decision Whose Time Has Come, since then metric use has increased in the U. S. principally in the manufacturing and educational sectors. On 23 December 1975, President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-168 and this act declares a national policy of coordinating the increasing use of the metric system in the U. S. Metric Board whose functions as of 1 October 1982 were transferred to the Dept of Commerce, Office of Metric Programs, most countries have adopted the metric system officially over a transitional period where both units are used for a set period of time. Some countries such as Guyana, for example, have adopted the metric system. Antigua and Barbuda, also officially metric, is moving toward total implementation of the metric system, the government had announced that they have plans to convert their country to the metric system by the first quarter of 2015. Other Caribbean countries such as Saint Lucia are officially metric but are still in the process toward full conversion, the European Union used the Units of Measure Directive to attempt to achieve a common system of weights and measures and to facilitate the European Single Market. Throughout the 1990s, the European Commission helped accelerate the process for member countries to complete their metric conversion processes, the United Kingdom secured permanent exemptions for the mile and yard in road markings, and for the pint of draught beer sold in pubs. In 2007, the European Commission also announced that it was to abandon the requirement for metric-only labelling on packaged goods, other countries using the imperial system completed official metrication during the second half of the 20th century or the first decade of the 21st century. The most recent to complete this process was the Republic of Ireland, in January 2007 NASA decided to use metric units for all future moon missions, in line with the practice of other space agencies
24.
Athletics at the Summer Olympics
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Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics, the modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions, the events contested have varied widely. From 1900 to 1920, tug of war was considered to be part of the Olympic athletics programme, although the sports of tug of war, no new events have been added to the mens athletics programme since the 1952 addition of the short racewalk. The roster of events has not changed since then, with the exception of the omission of the long racewalk in 1976, the last womens event added to the roster was the 3000 metres steeplechase in 2008. A total of 52 different events have held in the mens competition. The current list comprises 24 events, many of the discontinued events were similar to modern ones but at different lengths, especially in the steeplechasing, hurdling, and racewalking disciplines. Team racing events have been eliminated after appearing in six editions of the Games. The athletic triathlon and pentathlon events were phased out in favor of the decathlon. Standing jump competitions are no longer held, nor are the various modified throwing events which were experimented with in 1908 and 1912, cross country running was on the program from 1912 to 1924 and is the most prominent form of athletics not to feature at the Olympics. Womens competition in athletics began at the 1928 Summer Olympics Nearly every nation that has competed at the Olympics has entered the athletics competition, the number in each box represents the number of athletes the nation sent. Updated after the 2016 Summer Olympics, considering stripped medals as of February 10,2017 Sources, Olympic sports
25.
John Paul Jones (athlete)
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Jones entered Cornell University in 1909, majoring in mechanical engineering. He showed little promise in track, not making the team until his last year. An extremely popular and handsome man, Jones worked long hours on his studies, played basketball and tennis in the summer, as a senior, he was selected for membership in the Quill and Dagger society. But he worked and trained hard as a runner and had the most successful coach of the era, initially a cross country runner, he won the freshman intercollegiate championships easily and in the fall of his second year won the IC4A cross country championship. On May 27,1911, Jones ran in the IC4A championships at the Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium in Allston, entered in the mile, Boyle of Penn State led at the quarter in 59 2⁄5 followed by his teammate Wilton Paull. Jones hung back in fifth place, Hanavan of Michigan State led at the half-mile mark with a 2, 08 1⁄5, with Paull in second and Jones in third. Paull grabbed the lead at 1,000 yards, but Hanavan regained it for a lap, then, Jones lengthened his stride and passed Paull and Hanavan, winning by 10 yards. His time,4, 15 2⁄5, a new world record, finally surpassing Thomas Conneffs 4. However the time was inferior to the record of 4. Jones was not done for the day and he additionally ran and won the 880 yards to give Cornell the IC4A championship. He spent the summer playing baseball and tennis, won the IC4A cross country championship again in the fall, then tied for first in the mile with a 4 and he won the 880 in a collegiate record time of 1, 53 4⁄5. He had no desire to compete in the Olympics, but was talked into it, the 1912 Olympic 1500 metre competition featured the greatest field of mile/1500 m runners ever assembled to that point. Besides Jones, the 1908 Olympic champion Mel Sheppard was entered, as was the speedy Arnold Jackson of Britain, additionally, American Abel Kiviat, who held the world record in the 1500 m, was in the field. In the end, Jackson prevailed in the final, held July 10, with Kiviat and he also participated in the 800 metres event but he was eliminated in the first round. At the same Olympics he competed in the event which was held as demonstration sport. Jones, out of the medals, won his third IC4A cross country championship that fall, then ran a mile in 4, 19 4⁄5 early in 1913 in Ann Arbor. On 31 May, Jones ran again in the IC4A championships in Cambridge, Taber led at the first three quarters, in 61.6,2,09.3 and 3,16.1. But Jones launched into his drive as the bell for the final lap sounded, Jones subsequently lost his next race, the 880 yd, and this proved to be his final race
26.
Paavo Nurmi
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Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish middle- and long-distance runner. He was nicknamed the Flying Finn as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century, Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races, throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m. Born into a family, Nurmi left school at 12 to provide for his family. In 1912, he was inspired by the Olympic feats of Hannes Kolehmainen, Nurmi started to flourish during his military service, setting national records en route to his international debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics. After a silver medal in the 5000 m, he took gold in the 10,000 m and the cross country events. In 1923, Nurmi became the first, and so far only, runner to hold the record in the mile, the 5000 m. He went on to set new records for the 1500 m. Seemingly untouched by the Paris heat wave, Nurmi won all his races and returned home five gold medals. Struggling with injuries and motivation issues after his exhaustive U. S. tour in 1925, Nurmi found his long-time rivals Ville Ritola and Edvin Wide ever more serious challengers. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nurmi recaptured the 10,000 m title but was beaten for the gold in the 5000 m and he then turned his attention to longer distances, breaking the world records for events such as the one hour run and the 25-mile marathon. Nurmi intended to end his career with a gold medal. In a controversial case that strained Finland–Sweden relations and sparked an inter-IAAF battle, two days before the opening ceremonies, the council rejected his entries. Although he was never declared a professional, Nurmis suspension became definite in 1934, in 1952, he was the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Nurmi, who ran without a stopwatch in his hand, has been credited for introducing the even pace strategy and analytic approach to running. Nurmi was born in Turku, Finland, to carpenter Johan Fredrik Nurmi, Nurmis siblings, Siiri, Saara, Martti and Lahja, were born in 1898,1902,1905 and 1908, respectively. In 1903, the Nurmi family moved from Raunistula into a 40-square-meter apartment in central Turku, the young Nurmi and his friends were inspired by the English long-distance runner Alfred Shrubb. They regularly ran or walked six kilometres to swim in Ruissalo, by the age of eleven, Nurmi ran the 1500 metres in 5,02
27.
Jack Lovelock
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Dr. John Jack Edward Lovelock, MB ChB, was a New Zealand athlete, and the 1936 Olympic champion in the 1500 metres. Lovelock was born in the town of Crushington as the son of English immigrants, from his early days at school he participated and excelled in fields beyond athletics. At Fairlie School he was dux of the school, represented the school in rugby, competed in swimming and athletics. At Timaru Boys High School, which he attended as a boarder from 1924, in 1928, his final year, Lovelock was school dux, head prefect, and won the schools boxing championship cup. The following year he went to University of Otago to study medicine, Lovelock showed a talent for sports while at the university, and competed for the university team in the New Zealand 1-mile championships. In 1931 he became a Rhodes Scholar at Exeter College, Oxford from 1931 to 1934 and he graduated as a medical practitioner. In 1932—by then holder of the British Empire record for the mile—Lovelock competed in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the following year, he set a world mile record of 4,07.6 when running at Princeton against its emerging champion Bill Bonthron. Later, in September, he represented New Zealand in the first World Student Games where he renewed his rivalry with the 1500m champion from Los Angeles in 1932, Beccali edged Lovelock in the final and equalled the world record for the event. In 1934 Lovelock won the medal in the mile at the British Empire Games. He also lost some races, and believed that he could make one supreme effort in a season. The highlight of Lovelocks career came in 1936, when he won the medal in the 1500 m at the Berlin Olympics. Lovelock had plotted ever since his defeat at Los Angeles and developed a revolutionary tactic, the race is regarded as one of the finest 1500 m Olympic finals and included one of the finest fields assembled. The final was a culmination of the first great era of mile running from 1932–36 in which the records for the 1500m. Bonthron, who held the world 1500m record, failed to make the US team, while Wooderson was found to have a fracture in his ankle, in the final, Lovelock beat Glenn Cunningham, who came in second, by making the unprecedented break from 300 m out. Lovelock had been regarded as a sprinter in the straight but cleverly disguised his plan. Cunningham, who broke the world record in the race, was considered by many to be the greatest American miler of all time. Lovelock maintained his interest in athletics until at least the outbreak of the Second World War as a newspaper contributor, Lovelock was a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War II. He married Cynthia James in 1945 and had two daughters, a year later, he began working at Manhattan Hospital in New York City
28.
Sydney Wooderson
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Sydney Charles Wooderson MBE, dubbed The Mighty Atom, was an English athlete whose peak career was in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of Britain’s greatest middle-distance runners and had a sprint finish. His slightly built and bespectacled appearance disguised immense reserves of strength and he set the world mile record of 4,06.4 at London’s Motspur Park on 28 August 1937. This record stood for five years. Born in Camberwell, London, he was 5 ft 6 in and he attended Sutton Valence School, Kent. At 18 he became the first British schoolboy to break 4min 30sec for the mile and he won the British mile title for the five years up to the outbreak of the war in 1939. In 1934 he won the medal in the one mile event at the British Empire Games. At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, he suffered an ankle injury, however, in 1937, after surgery, his performance increased and culminated in his world mile record of 4,06.4 in 1937. In 1938 he set records in the 800 m and 880 yards with times of 1,48.4 and 1,49.2. Off the track Wooderson was a City of London solicitor and missed the 1938 Empire Games in Sydney because he was taking his law finals and his poor eyesight ruled him out of active service during the Second World War. He joined the Royal Pioneer Corps and was a firefighter during the Blitz and then later, in 1944, he spent several months in hospital suffering from rheumatic fever and was warned by doctors he might never run again. Immediately after the war, however, in 1945, he ran his fastest mile,4,04.2, in Oslo at the 1946 European Championships, he won the 5,000 m in 14,08.6, the second-fastest time to that point. His versatility was demonstrated when he won the national title in 1948. He was the choice to carry the Olympic torch into Wembley Stadium for the 1948 Summer Olympics. However he was turned away at the last minute because members of the committee wanted a more handsome final runner. They chose the relatively unknown John Mark instead and he was awarded an MBE in the 2000 Birthday Honours List for services to Blackheath Harriers and athletics. Wooderson lived in retirement in Dorset in the South of England and he remained a life member of Blackheath Harriers and was twice its president. He died on Thursday 21 December 2006 in a home at Wareham
29.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
30.
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
31.
Christopher Chataway
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Sir Christopher John Chataway, often known as Chris Chataway, was a British middle- and long-distance runner, television news broadcaster, and Conservative politician. Born in Chelsea, London, Chataway spent his childhood in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Chataway had a short but distinguished athletics career. Chataway managed to finish the race in fifth place, on leaving university he took an executive job with Guinness. When Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile on 6 May 1954 at Oxford Universitys Iffley Road Track, Chataway, the contest was televised via the Eurovision network and made Chataway a sporting celebrity, that December he won the first BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. After competing in the 1956 Olympics, Chataway retired from athletics, though he continued to race for Thames Hare. Soon after leaving Oxford with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics and he thought a suitable job in the rapidly expanding world of television might help. He refused offers in sports TV and with panel and quiz shows and he and Robin Day were its first two newscasters. By this time he was considering another career, this time in politics. He had been elected as a Conservative to the London County Council in 1958 in Lewisham North. Lewisham North was a marginal seat won by Labour in a by-election in 1957. His maiden speech expressed the hope that the England cricket team would refuse to play a tour in apartheid South Africa, a highly unusual opinion for a Conservative. In Parliament, Chataway took up the issue of refugees, especially in Africa and he served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary before being appointed as a junior Education Minister in July 1962. In the 1964 election, his majority was slashed to 343, Chataway, with relevant ministerial experience, was persuaded to take over. He was elected an Alderman and appointed Leader of the Education Committee, Chataway was keen to return to Parliament, and the opportunity came in a byelection in Chichester in May 1969. He then resigned as ILEA Leader, in this post he took charge of introducing commercial radio for the first time, ending the BBC monopoly. After a reshuffle in April 1972 he was Minister for Industrial Development, when the Conservatives were defeated in the February 1974 election, Chataway announced his retirement from politics and he did not seek re-election at the October 1974 election. He then went into business becoming a Managing Director of Orion Bank, a consortium bank later acquired by one of its shareholders and he stayed with Orion, later as Vice Chairman, for 15 years. He was also the first Chairman of Groundwork, the environmental charity and his principal outside interest was ActionAid, a small overseas development charity, of which he became Hon Treasurer in 1974 and later Chairman
32.
Pacemaker (running)
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A pacemaker, pace-setter, or rabbit is a runner who leads a middle- or long distance running event for the first section to ensure a fast time and avoid excessive tactical racing. Pacemakers are frequently employed by race organisers for world record attempts with specific instructions for lap times, some athletes have become essentially professional pacemakers. A competitor who chooses the tactic of leading in order to win is called a rather than a pacemaker. A trusted team of pacemakers who are paid to keep the runners at a speed that they can manage for the rest of the race become useful in such a situation. Pacemakers are also used on world record attempts in order to make sure that the runner knows where their invisible opponent predecessor is at that stage of the race, pacemakers serve the role of conveying tangible information about pacing on the track during a race. Pacemaking gained much usage after Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway successfully paced Roger Bannister to break the mile for the first time in 1954. Purists argue that employing pacemakers detracts from the nature of racing. Original rules frowned on a competitor who was not actively trying to win and this rule has now been dropped, though the pacemaker must still start with the other athletes in the race as a registered entrant. A lapped competitor may not act as a pacemaker, the 1500 metres at the Bislett Games in 1981 became part of track folklore when star athletes including Steve Ovett chose not to follow pacemaker Tom Byers but race among themselves. Ovetts scintillating last lap was not quite enough to catch Byers, a similar case occurred in the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon when veteran marathoner Paul Pilkington was paid to set a fast pace then drop out. When the elite athletes failed to follow his pace, he kept going, ultimately winning $27,000, pacemakers are also used in horse racing, where mediocre horses may be entered into major races specifically to set the pace for superior horses from the same stable
33.
Long-distance running
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Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least three kilometres. Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength, among mammals, humans are well adapted for running significant distances, and particularly so among primates. The endurance running hypothesis suggests that running endurance in the Homo genus arose because travelling over large areas improved scavenging opportunities, the capacity for endurance running is also found in migratory ungulates and a limited number of terrestrial carnivores, such as dogs, wolves and hyenas. Long distance running can also be used as a means to improve cardiovascular health, Running improves aerobic fitness by increasing the activity of enzymes and hormones that stimulate the muscles and the heart to work more efficiently. Endurance running is often a component of military training and has been so historically. Professional running is most commonly found in the field of sports, long-distance running as a form of tradition or ceremony is known among the Hopi and Tarahumara people, among others. Distance running can also serve as an exercise for family, friends, colleagues. The social element of distance running has been linked with improved performance, in the sport of athletics, long-distance events are defined as races covering three kilometres and above. The three most common types are track running, road running and cross country running, all of which are defined by their terrain – all-weather tracks, roads and natural terrain, respectively. In collegiate cross country races in the United States, men race 8000 or 10000 meters, depending on their division, the Summer Olympics features three long-distance running events, the 5000 metres,10,000 metres and marathon. Since the late 1980s, Kenyans, Moroccans and Ethiopians have dominated in major international long-distance competitions, in this method, the hunter would run at a slow and steady pace between one hour and a few days, in an area where the animal has no place to hide. The Old Testament has a few mentions of messengers running to deliver messages, for example, in 2 Samuel 18, two runners, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and a Cushite run to deliver King David the message of the death of his son Absalom. Running messengers are reported from early Sumer, were named lasimu as military men as well as the officials who disseminated documents throughout the kingdom by running. Ancient Greece was famous for its running messengers, who were named hemerodromoi and he collapsed and died as he delivered the message “we won”.2 miles /42.195 km is based on this legend. Humans are considered among the best distance runners among all running animals, game animals are faster over short distances, but they have less endurance than humans. Unlike other primates whose bodies are designed to walk on four legs or climb trees and this leads to different bone and muscular demands especially in the legs and pelvis. Dissipation of metabolic heat, humans’ ability to cool the body by sweating through the surface provides many advantages over panting through the mouth or nose. These include a surface of evaporation and independence of the respiratory cycle
34.
Augustine Kiprono Choge
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Augustine Kiprono Choge is a Kenyan middle distance and long distance runner. He won world youth and junior titles on the track in 2003 and 2004, in his final year as a junior he won the World Cross Country title. He claimed the 5000 metres gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and he reached the 1500 m finals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Choge broke the long-standing 4×1500 metres relay world record with a Kenyan team of runners in September 2009, Choge was born in 1987 to a family of small-scale famers at Kipsigak, near Kapsabet in the Nandi District of Rift Valley Province, Kenya. He won national secondary schools 10,000 metres in 2002, at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships he finished fourth in the Junior race and won gold medal as a part of the junior team. He competed at the 2003 East African Youth Championships in May in Addis Ababa, at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics he won the 3000 metres race. He holds the 3000 metres world record set in May 2005 in Doha. Choge graduated from Kabikwen Secondary School in 2004, at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics he won 5000 metres race. At the 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final he was third in 5000 metres, at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships he won the junior race and junior team race. At the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final he finished third in 3000 metres, on 20 March 2006, he won the mens 5000 metres event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a time of 12 minutes,56.41 seconds. This is the current Commonwealth Games record, Augustine Choge competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished tenth in the 1500 m final. He came fifth over 1500 m on his debut at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in August, in 2009 he was part of the Kenyan team that set a new the 4 x 1500 metres relay world record,14,36.23 minutes. Other members of the team were William Biwott Tanui, Gideon Gathimba, the previous record in this rarely competed event was set by West Germany in 1977, making it the oldest world record when it was broken. He ran the fastest qualifying time in the 3000 m at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but failed to repeat his form in the final and finished in eleventh place. He took his first win of the 2010 IAAF Diamond League in the 1500 m at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, Choge is managed by James Templeton and coached by Colm OConnell. All information taken from IAAF profile, Augustine Kiprono Choge profile at IAAF IAAF - Focus on Athletes - Augustine Choge
35.
Jim Ryun
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James Ronald Ryun is an American track and field athlete who won a silver medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 1,500 metre run. He was the first high school athlete to run a mile in four minutes. Ryun is the last American to hold the record in the mile run. A Republican, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, Ryun represented Kansass 2nd congressional district. According to Ryun, he began running because I couldnt do anything else, I found myself trying out for the cross-country team and running two miles even though Id never run that distance before. All of a sudden, I made the team, I got a letter jacket, but thats how it all began. In 1964, as a high school junior, Ryun became the first high school athlete to run a mile in under 4 minutes and his time of 3,55.3 in 1965 was a high school record that stood for 36 years. In 2001, it was broken by Alan Webbs time of 3,53.43, Ryun ran a sub-four minute mile five times while in high school. He is the high school athlete to have run more than three sub-four minute miles. As a high school senior he was voted the fourth best miler in the world by Track & Field News, ESPN. com named him the best high school athlete of all time, beating out people such as Tiger Woods and LeBron James. He was Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year in 1965, in 1966, at age nineteen, Ryun set world records in the mile and the half-mile. He received numerous awards, including Sports Illustrated magazines Sportsman of the Year award, in 1967, Ryun set a world record in the indoor half mile and the outdoor mile from, a record that stood for almost eight years. That same year he set the record for the 1,500 meters. In NCAA competition, Ryun was the 1967 NCAA outdoor mile champion and he was also the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1967,1968, and 1969. Ryun still holds the American junior records at 1,500 m, one mile and his American junior record in the 800 meters, while actually ratified as his finishing time in the longer 880 yard run, lasted exactly 50 years. In all, he broke the American record for the four times, once as a high school senior, twice as a college freshman. Ryun participated in the 1964,1968, and 1972 Summer Olympics, at age 17 years,137 days in 1964, he remains the youngest American male track athlete to ever qualify for the Olympics. In 1968, he won the medal in the 1,500 meters in Mexico City, losing to Kip Keino from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1
36.
Western world
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The Western world or the West is a term usually referring to different nations, depending on the context, most often including at least part of Europe. There are many accepted definitions about what they all have in common, the Western world is also known as the Occident. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Its political usage was changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, Western culture was influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, Sumer, Babylonia, and also Ancient Egypt. It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, Greece, over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and west to include the rest of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas, conquering and absorbing. Later, they expanded to the north of the Mediterranean Sea to include Western, Central, numerous times, this expansion was accompanied by Christian missionaries, who attempted to proselytize Christianity. There is debate among some as to whether Latin America is in a category of its own, specifically, Western culture may imply, a Biblical Christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around the Post-Classical Era and after. European cultural influences concerning artistic, musical, folkloric, ethic and oral traditions, the concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic, much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Oceania. The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the civilized world. Use of the term West as a cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use, herodotus considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of Europa versus Asia. The terms West and East were not used by any Greek author to describe that conflict, the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade confirmed this deviation. The Renaissance in the West emerged partly from currents within the Roman Empire, Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula about the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. In its 12-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy, to a republic, nonetheless, despite its great legacy, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire
Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)
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