Athletics at the Olympics appeared in Athens in 1896. These were the first games of our time. And since then, has always been present in sports forum programs every 4 years.
Only for men
At the first modern Olympics, athletics was presented in several versions - running, long and high jumps , shot put and discus throwing. Most of them excelled US representatives. The Englishman Teddy Flack won only 800 and 1,500 meters, and the Greek became the first in the marathon - Spiridon Louis. Then 12 sets of awards were played, 9 of which the Americans won.
At first, athletics at the Olympics was an exclusively male prerogative. Women were not allowed to participate in official competitions. This situation persisted until 1928. Only this year, women's disciplines appeared at the games in Amsterdam.
So, for the first time, women took part in the IX Summer Olympic Games: in the 100 and 800 meters race, the relay of 4 in 100, high jumps and discus throw.
Hammer throwers
For the first time in history, hammer throwing was included in the program of the II Olympic Games in Paris in 1900. Then 5 athletes from two countries came to the competition - the USA and Sweden. As a result, the entire pedestal went to American athletes. John Flanagan won with a score of 51 meters and 1 centimeter. This was the first Olympic record in hammer throw.
It was only in 1928 that the Irish Pat O Callaghan succeeded in breaking the hegemony of the Americans at the Olympic Games. In 1960, in Rome, the victory was first won by the Soviet athlete Vasily Rudenkov, who sent a projectile at 67 meters and 10 centimeters. As a result, most of the gold medals at the Olympics in this discipline were won by just Soviet and American athletes - 7 each. The Hungarians won five times, who also managed to create a good school in this sport, two times Irish and one Germans, Finns, Poles, Japanese and Slovenes. Today, the current Olympic champion in the discipline of hammer throwing in men is Tajik Dilshod Nazarov. Its result is impressive: 78 meters and 68 centimeters.
The world record in hammer throw has been holding for 30 years. Since 1986, no one can surpass the achievement of the Soviet athlete Yuri Sedykh, who sent the hammer to 86 meters and 74 centimeters.
Pole vaulter
As mentioned above, in 1896 the first in modern history Olympiad took place in Afmny.
Pole vaults were already in her program. 5 athletes took part in the competition - 2 Americans and 3 Greeks. As a result, the owners of the competition get only bronze, it is at Evangelos Damascus. He submitted to the bar height of 2 meters 60 centimeters. The first Olympic champion is US representative Wells Hoyt, he flew away at a height of 3 meters 30 centimeters.
Since then, pole vaults have been included in the program of each Olympics. There are many excellent jumpers among the Soviet and Russian sports schools.
In the 80s, Sergey Bubka and Rodion Gataullin were in charge of a sports ball. The latter after the collapse of the Soviet Union began to play for Russia, and Bubka - for the Ukrainian team. By the way, nobody has managed to surpass the result of Sergey, by the way. In 1994, at competitions in the Italian Sestriere, the athlete took the bar at 6 meters 14 centimeters. This record has been holding for 22 years. The Olympics also obeyed him. Pole vaulting became his golden discipline in 1988 in Seoul. In total, during his career, he set 35 world records.
Among women, the result in the open air of the Russian woman Elena Isinbaeva is still not surpassed. The 5-meter and 6-centimeter bar she took in August 2009 at the Golden League stage in Zurich has still not been submitted to anyone else. It was her 27th world record.
In the relay
The mixed relay at the Summer Olympics was first introduced in 1908. The tournament was held in London.
A total of 7 teams participated. The meaning of consistency was that in the first two stages, athletes run 200 meters, in the third - 400, and in the last - 800 meters. The teams competed in pairs, the winners immediately went to the finals of the Olympic Games.
As a result, the national teams of Hungary, Germany and the USA fought for the gold medal in the "mixed relay" discipline. The Americans went their distance in 3 minutes 29.4 seconds and became the winners of the tournament. Here are the names of the champions - Nathaniel Cartmell, John Taylor, William Hamilton Melvin Sheppard. The Germans turned out to be silver, the Hungarian team - bronze medals.
Hurdling
100m hurdling is one of the Olympic athletics disciplines. At the last games in London in 2016, competitions were held only among women. Men participated at a distance of 110 meters.
Throughout the season, the hegemony of American athletes was preserved in this type of program. But only three participants were allowed to go to the Olympics. An amazing story happened - the leader of the season, an athlete from the USA, Kendra Harrison, could not pass the American selection. But at the same time, only 3 weeks after an unsuccessful performance, she broke the world record, which until then had been holding for almost 30 years. At competitions in London, she overcame a hundred-meter hurdles in 12.2 seconds.
48 athletes arrived at the games, who were divided into 6 races. According to the results of the preliminary stages, athletes from the USA, Belgium, Finland, Canada, the Bahamas, Great Britain, Germany, Norway, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Belarus, Nigeria and France went to the next round.
Our fans most of all remembered the performance of the Belarusian Alina Talay. In the preliminary race, she came to the finish line second with a result of 12.74 seconds.
If she showed the same time in the semifinals, she would again be able to get second place. But the athlete performed much worse. I ran the distance in 13.66 seconds and came to the finish line last.
Athletes from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Bahamas and Canada passed to the finals. As experts predicted, athletics at the Olympics became the crown discipline for Americans, since in this type of program all the medals went to them. Brianna Rollins became the Olympic champion with a result of 12.48 seconds.
In triple jump
In the triple jump at the London Olympics, competitions were held among both men and women. 48 participants fought for medals among representatives of a strong half of humanity. Only 12 qualified for the final. Among them were representatives from the USA, China, Colombia, Portugal, Guyana, Cuba, Mexico, France and Poland. For many finalists, this was not the first Olympics. The triple jump was another benefit of American athletes.
In the final, with the result of 17 meters 86 centimeters, the victory went to American Christian Taylor, his compatriot Will Clay turned out to be silver, and Chinese Dong Bin won bronze.
Medal standings
Athletics at the Olympic Games traditionally brings national teams the greatest number of medals. Only in the last games in Rio 47 sets of awards were played.
US athletes won the most medals - 13 gold, 10 silver and 9 bronze. 6 wins from Kenyans and Jamaican athletes.