2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federations entered a total of 1,978 athletes, the greatest number of competitors at any World Championships to date. Sarah Brightman, the world's best-selling soprano, performed her single Running at the opening ceremony. Having bid unsuccessfully to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, Osaka was one of three cities to express an interest in hosting the 2007 World Championships alongside Budapest and Berlin, Germany. By the IAAF's October 1, 2002 deadline and Berlin had both withdrawn their bids, Osaka was announced as the host city on November 15, 2002 as the sole remaining candidate. Berlin bid for the 2009 World Championships; the IAAF stepped up its "war on doping" at the Osaka games, for the first time, the number of drug tests exceeded 1,000. The IAAF lobbied the World Anti-Doping Agency to adopt stiffer penalties for first-time doping offences in WADA's code of practice.
Before the Championships, former Olympic champion Ed Moses had voiced concerns about the extent of doping in the sport, had predicted that a medallist at the event would be found to have taken a banned substance. Despite these fears, the IAAF announced that only one of the samples taken over the course of the Championships was "suspicious" and required more examination; the governing body refused to elaborate further until more was known, but the French hurdler Naman Keïta admitted to having failed a drug test. The IAAF confirmed that Keïta had tested positive for testosterone in an out-of-competition test at a training camp, labelled the World Championships'drug-free'; the Championships were held during an unseasonably hot summer in Japan, in contrast to the cool and windy conditions of Helsinki two years earlier. Temperatures earlier in the month had reached 40 °C. Temperatures had eased somewhat by the start of the event, but with early-morning temperatures around 30 °C and humidity high, the IAAF maintained a colour-coded advisory scale warning of the risk of heat stroke.
Casualties of the heat were not as high as feared, but dozens of athletes failed to finish the walks and marathons and a few did require medical treatment. Some athletes in shorter events blamed poor performances on the difficult conditions. Concerns had been raised in the week running up to the Championships about the low level of ticket sales - only 46% of seats had been filled by August 20; the Nagai Stadium was less than half full for the opening ceremony, there were around 15,000 empty seats on the night of the men's 100 m final. A number of reasons were cited for the poor attendance, including high ticket prices, the hot weather and the disappointing performance of the Japanese team. IAAF vice-president Sebastian Coe suggested that the length of the Championships may have to be shortened in future to sustain the public's interest. Despite no world records being broken, the Championships saw a number of significant personal and team achievements; the United States dominated the overall standings ahead of Kenya and Russia, equalling its best medal haul with 26, fourteen of them golds.
The U. S. set another Championship first by triumphing in all four relay races. These accomplishments were highlighted by three individual performances: Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix collected three gold medals each, a feat achieved only by Marita Koch, Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene; the most unlikely American medal came from 110 m hurdler David Payne, who as first alternate had not travelled to Osaka with the rest of the team. After Dominique Arnold withdrew from the event with an injury, Payne only arrived in Japan the night before the heats, proceeded to move through the rounds before taking bronze with a personal best. Amongst prominent European successes were Swede Carolina Klüft's third consecutive world heptathlon title with a European record score, the victory of 39-year-old German Franka Dietzsch in the discus, which made her the second-oldest world champion and Nelson Évora's win in the triple jump, beating world-leading Brazilian Jadel Gregorio and defending champion Walter Davis. Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain and Northern Ireland claimed a surprise gold in the women's 400 metres, less than a month after the expiry of a year-long ban imposed for missing three drug tests, while high jumper Kyriakos Ioannou claimed the first medal for Cyprus in a World Championships.
Russia's Tatyana Lebedeva just missed out on an unprecedented long jump/triple jump double, but still ended up with a gold and a silver medal. African countries were well represented in the middle and long-distance events, with Kenyans claiming both the men's and women's marathon titles and Ethiopia winning three golds. Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, the only sprinter of non-African origin to clock sub-13 second 110m hurdles, took the gold medal at this event with a time of 12.95 seconds. World Record Holders for the 20 km Walk, Jefferson Pérez, 50 km Walk, Nathan Deakes, both won their respective events, confirming their dominance of the event. In Perez's case, this was his third World Championship Gold Medal in a row. Host nation Japan gained its only medal on the final day with a bronze for Reiko Tosa in the women's marathon. 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 Note: * Indicate
Running
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase; this is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept straight and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. A characteristic feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride occur with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity; the term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting. It is assumed that the ancestors of humankind developed the ability to run for long distances about 2.6 million years ago 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 between 632 BCE and 1171 BCE, while the first recorded Olympic Games took place in 776 BCE.
Running has been described as the world's most accessible sport. 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 proposed considered to be the most evolution of running is of early humans' developing as endurance runners from the practice of persistence hunting of animals, the activity of following and chasing until a prey is too exhausted to flee, succumbing to "chase myopathy", that human features such as the nuchal ligament, abundant sweat glands, the Achilles tendons, big knee joints and muscular glutei maximi, were changes caused by this type of activity. The theory as first proposed used comparative physiological evidence and the natural 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 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 areas such as Greece, Egypt and the East African Rift in Africa; the Tailteann Games, an Irish sporting festival in honor of the goddess Tailtiu, dates back to 1829 BCE, is one of the earliest records of competitive running. The origins of the Olympics and Marathon running are shrouded by myth and legend, though the first recorded games took place in 776 BCE. Running in Ancient Greece can be traced back to these games of 776 BCE.... I suspect that the sun, earth and heaven, which are still the gods of many barbarians, were the only gods known to the aboriginal Hellenes. Seeing that they were always 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 lower extremity: stance and swing; these can be further divided into absorption, initial swing and terminal swing.
Due to the continuous 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 running cycle in a body in motion. Footstrike occurs. Common footstrike types include forefoot and heel strike types; these are characterized by initial contact of the ball of the foot and heel of the foot and heel of the foot respectively. During this time the hip joint is undergoing extension from being in maximal flexion from the previous swing phase. For proper force absorption, the knee joint should be flexed upon footstrike and the ankle should be in front of the body. Footstrike begins the absorption phase as forces from initial contact are attenuated throughout the lower extremity. Absorption of forces continues as the body moves from footstrike to midstance due to vertical propulsion from the toe-off during a previous gait cycle. Midstance is defined as the time at which the lower extremity limb of focus is in knee flexion directly underneath the trunk and hips.
It is at this point that propulsion begins to occur as the hips undergo hip extension, the knee joint undergoes extension and the ankle undergoes plantar flexion. Propulsion continues until the leg is extended behind the body and toe off occurs; this involves maximal hip extension, knee extension and plantar flexion for the subject, resulting in the body being pushed forward from this motion and the ankle/foot leaves the ground as initial swing begins. Most recent research regarding the footstrike debate, has focused on the absorption phases for injury identification and prevention purposes; the propulsion phase of running involves the movement beginning at midstance until toe off. From a full stride length model however, components of the terminal swing and footstrike can aid in propulsion. Set up for propulsion begins at the end of terminal swing as the hip joint flexes, creating the maximal range of motion for the hip extensors to accelerate through and produce force; as the hip extensors change from reciporatory inhibitors to primary muscle movers, the lower extremity is brought back toward the ground, although aided by the stretch reflex and gravity.
Footstrike and absorption phases occur next with two types of outcomes. This phase can be only a continuation of momentum from the stretch reflex reaction to
Long-distance running
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least eight kilometres. Physiologically, it is aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Among mammals, humans are well adapted for running significant distances, so among primates; the endurance running hypothesis suggests that running endurance in the genus Homo arose because travelling over large areas improved scavenging opportunities and allowed persistence hunting. The capacity for endurance running is found in migratory ungulates and a limited number of terrestrial carnivores, such as bears, dogs and hyenas. In modern human society, long-distance running has multiple purposes: people may engage in it for physical exercise, for recreation, as a means of travel, for economic reasons, or for cultural reasons. Long distance running can 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 a component of physical military training and has been so historically. Professional running is most found in the field of sports, although in pre-industrial times foot messengers would run to deliver information to distant locations. Long-distance running as a form of tradition or ceremony is known among the Hopi and Tarahumara people, among others. Distance running can serve as a bonding exercise for family, friends and has been associated with nation-building; 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 and natural terrain, respectively. Typical long-distance track races range from 3000 metres to 10,000 metres, cross country races cover 5 to 12 km, while road races can be longer, reaching 100 kilometres and beyond.
In collegiate cross country races in the United States, men race 8000 or 10000 meters, depending on their division, whereas women race 6000 meters. The Summer Olympics features three long-distance running events: the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and marathon. Since the late 1980s, Kenyans and Ethiopians have dominated in major international long-distance competitions; the high altitude of these countries has been proven to help these runners achieve more success. Mountain air, combined with endurance training, can lead to an increase in red blood cells, allowing more oxygen to be passed through the veins; the majority of these East African successful runners come from three mountain districts that run along the Great Rift Valley. Anthropological observations of modern hunter-gatherer communities have provided accounts for long distance running as a method for hunting among the San of the Kalahari, American Indians, the Australian Aborigines. 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 animal, running in spurts, has to stop to pant in order to cool itself, but as the chase goes on it would not have enough time before it has to start running again, after a while would collapse from exhaustion and heat. The body structure of a skeleton of a 12 years old Nariokatome boy is suggested to prove that early humans from 1.5 million years ago were eating more meat and less plants, hunted by running down animals. With developments in agriculture and culture, long distance running took more and more purposes other than hunting: religious ceremonies, delivering messages for military and political purposes, sport; 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. In Jeremia 51:31-32, two running messengers meet each other halfway to deliver the message about the loss of Babylon: 31 One post shall run to meet another, one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, 32 And that the passages are stopped, the reeds they have burned with fire, the men of war are affrighted.
Running messengers are reported from early Sumer, were named lasimu as military men as well as the king’s officials who disseminated documents throughout the kingdom by running. Ancient Greece was famous for its running messengers, who were named hemerodromoi, meaning “day runners”. One of the most famous running messengers is Pheidippides, who according to the legend ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the Greek over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in 490 B. C, he collapsed and died as he delivered the message “we won”. While there are debates around the accuracy of this historical legend, whether Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens or between other cities, how far this was, if he was the one to deliver the victory message, the marathon running event of 26.2 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 suited to walk on four legs or climb trees, the human body has evolved into upright walking and running around 2-3 million years ago. The human body can endure long distance running through the following attributes: Bone and muscle struct
Osaka
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. It is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Japan and among the largest in the world with over 19 million inhabitants. Osaka will host Expo 2025; the current mayor of Osaka is Ichiro Matsui. Some of the earliest signs of human habitation in the Osaka area at the Morinomiya ruins comprise shell mounds, sea oysters and buried human skeletons from the 6th–5th centuries BC, it is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a peninsular land with an inland sea in the east. During the Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew. By the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan; the large numbers of larger tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power concentration, leading to the formation of a state. The Kojiki records that during 390–430 AD there was an imperial palace located at Osumi, in what is present day Higashiyodogawa ward, but it may have been a secondary imperial residence rather than a capital.
In 645, Emperor Kōtoku built his Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in what is now Osaka, making it the capital of Japan. The city now known as Osaka was at this time referred to as Naniwa, this name and derivations of it are still in use for districts in central Osaka such as Naniwa and Namba. Although the capital was moved to Asuka in 655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato and China. Naniwa was declared the capital again in 744 by order of Emperor Shōmu, remained so until 745, when the Imperial Court moved back to Heijō-kyō. By the end of the Nara period, Naniwa's seaport roles had been taken over by neighboring areas, but it remained a lively center of river and land transportation between Heian-kyō and other destinations. In 1496, Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists established their headquarters in the fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji, located directly on the site of the old Naniwa Imperial Palace. Oda Nobunaga began a decade-long siege campaign on the temple in 1570 which resulted in the surrender of the monks and subsequent razing of the temple.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed Osaka Castle in its place in 1583. Osaka was long considered Japan's primary economic center, with a large percentage of the population belonging to the merchant class. Over the course of the Edo period, Osaka grew into one of Japan's major cities and returned to its ancient role as a lively and important port, its popular culture was related to ukiyo-e depictions of life in Edo. By 1780, Osaka had cultivated a vibrant arts culture, as typified by its famous Kabuki and Bunraku theaters. In 1837, Ōshio Heihachirō, a low-ranking samurai, led a peasant insurrection in response to the city's unwillingness to support the many poor and suffering families in the area. One-quarter of the city was razed before shogunal officials put down the rebellion, after which Ōshio killed himself. Osaka was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyōgo on 1 January 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. Osaka residents were stereotyped in Edo literature from at least the 18th century.
Jippensha Ikku in 1802 depicted Osakans as stingy beyond belief. In 1809, the derogatory term "Kamigata zeeroku" was used by Edo residents to characterize inhabitants of the Osaka region in terms of calculation, lack of civic spirit, the vulgarity of Osaka dialect. Edo writers aspired to samurai culture, saw themselves as poor but generous and public spirited. Edo writers by contrast saw "zeeroku" as obsequious apprentices, greedy and lewd. To some degree, Osaka residents are still stigmatized by Tokyo observers in the same way today in terms of gluttony, evidenced in the phrase, "Residents of Osaka devour their food until they collapse"; the modern municipality was established in 1889 by government ordinance, with an initial area of 15 square kilometres, overlapping today's Chūō and Nishi wards. The city went through three major expansions to reach its current size of 223 square kilometres. Osaka was the industrial center most defined in the development of capitalism in Japan, it became known as the "Manchester of the Orient."The rapid industrialization attracted many Korean immigrants, who set up a life apart for themselves.
The political system was pluralistic, with a strong emphasis on promoting industrialization and modernization. Literacy was high and the educational system expanded producing a middle class with a taste for literature and a willingness to support the arts. In 1927, General Motors operated a factory called Osaka Assembly until 1941, manufacturing Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick vehicles and staffed by Japanese workers and managers. In the nearby city of Ikeda in Osaka Prefecture is the headquarters office of Daihatsu, one of Japan's oldest automobile manufacturers. Like its European and American counterparts, Osaka displayed slums and poverty. In Japan it was here that municipal government first introduced a comprehensive system of poverty relief, copied in part from British models. Osaka policymakers stressed the importance of family formation and mutual assistance as the best way to combat poverty; this minimized
Bronze medal
A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives the second place a silver medal. More bronze is traditionally the most common metal used for all types of high-quality medals, including artistic ones; the practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, before which only first and second places were awarded. Minting Olympic medals is the responsibility of the host city. From 1928–1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving the host city. From 1972–2000, Cassioli's design remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheatre for what was a Greek game, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens 2004 Games.
Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. In a few tournament sports, such as boxing, judo and wrestling, two bronze medals are awarded in each event – one for each eliminated semi-finalist or for the winners of the repechage brackets. In 1995, a study was carried out by social psychologists Victoria Medvec, Scott Madey and Thomas Gilovich on the effects of counterfactual thinking on the Olympics; the study showed that athletes who won the bronze medal were happier with their winning than those athletes who won the silver medal. The silver medalists were more frustrated because they had missed the gold medal, while the bronze medalists were happy to have received any honors at all; this is more pronounced in knockout competitions, where the bronze medals are achieved by winning a playoff, whereas silver medals are awarded after a defeat in the final. This psychological phenomenon was parodied in the Jerry Seinfeld special I'm Telling You for the Last Time. Bronze and brass ornamental work Third place playoff Medal Designs for all Olympic Games
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance race, completed by running, walking, or a run/walk strategy. There are wheelchair divisions; the marathon has an official distance of 42.195 kilometres run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory; the marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants; the name Marathon comes from the legend of the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September, 490 BC, it is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν, before collapsing and dying.
The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. Satirist Lucian of Samosata first gives an account closest to the modern version of the story, but is writing tongue in cheek, names the runner Philippides. There is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend; the Greek historian Herodotus, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars, mentions Philippides as the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta asking for help, ran back, a distance of over 240 kilometres each way. In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, relates that the main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle, fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day.
In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Browning's poem, his composite story, became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. Mount Pentelicus stands between Marathon and Athens, which means that if Philippides made his famous run after the battle, he had to run around the mountain, either to the north or to the south; the latter and more obvious route matches exactly the modern Marathon-Athens highway, which follows the lay of the land southwards from Marathon Bay and along the coast takes a gentle but protracted climb westwards towards the eastern approach to Athens, between the foothills of Mounts Hymettus and Penteli, gently downhill to Athens proper. This route, as it existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, was 40 kilometres long, this was the approximate distance used for marathon races. However, there have been suggestions that Philippides might have followed another route: a westward climb along the eastern and northern slopes of Mount Penteli to the pass of Dionysos, a straight southward downhill path to Athens.
This route is shorter, 35 kilometres, but includes a steep initial climb of more than 5 kilometres. When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the glory of ancient Greece; the idea of a marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as by the Greeks; the Greeks staged a selection race for the Olympic marathon on 22 March 1896, won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes. The winner of the first Olympic marathon, on 10 April 1896, was Spyridon Louis, a Greek water-carrier, in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds; the marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics was run on the traditional route from Marathon to Athens, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. That men's marathon was won by Italian Stefano Baldini in 2 hours 10 minutes and 55 seconds, a record time for this route until the non-Olympics Athens Classic Marathon of 2014, when Felix Kandie lowered the course record to 2 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds.
The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds. It has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, on the final day of the Olympics. For many years the race finished inside the Olympic stadium; the men's marathon medals are awarded during the closing ceremony. The Olympic men's record is 2:06:32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya; the Olympic women's record is 2:23:07, set at the 2012 Summer Olympics by Tiki Gelana
Ethiopia
