For centuries, track & field has constantly been one of the most popular sports in the world. While the first track & field competition took place as early as 776 BC, the sport as we know it has existed since the late 1800s.

Photo: Olavi Kaljunen / Trackpic
Usain Bolt (7).
Track & Field – History
Track & field is one of the most highly regarded sports globally, as it is practised all over the world. The world federation of track & field is called World Athletics, formerly known as IAAF. The federation has 214 member states.
Many of today's track & field disciplines were already present when the first Olympic Games took place in 1896. Those games also served as a starting point for the establishment and wider awareness of the sport. The founding of IAAF at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 was a remarkable step forward in the internalisation of track & field. This era also marked the creation of a more precise set of rules for track & field, and began the listing of world records.
Year 1921 was noteworthy for equality, as it was the first time women were allowed to compete in track & field. The first Olympics with female contestants took place in 1928, though women only participated in a handful of disciplines that time. In addition to women, professional athletes were not seen in the Games until 1970, when they were finally granted access to the Olympics.
During the next few decades, track & field spread globally, with various nations participating in international elite games. For example, the first Olympic level participation of the great power Soviet Union took place in Helsinki in 1952. Unfortunately, political conflicts, such as the Cold War, also affected track & field, with implications as to which nations could participate in elite games.
The first
European Championships in track & field were organised as early as 1934, while the first
World Championships were not arranged until 1983. This marked the starting point of organising track & field championship games nearly every year.

Photo: Olavi Kaljunen / Trackpic
Women heptathlonists at the London Olympic Stadium.
Athletics calendar - Competition schedule
Here you can find the calendar for the main athletics events held around the world.
NOTE! All the times in the calendar are Central European Time (CET), UTC +1.
Calendar Athletics
19.6.2021 - 20.6.2021 | Joukkue EM-kisat Ykkösliiga | Cluj-Napoca, Romania |
13.5.2022 | Timanttiliiga Doha | Qatar |
21.5.2022 | Timanttiliiga Birmingham | Iso-Britannia |
28.5.2022 - 29.5.2022 | Timanttiliiga Eugene | Yhdysvallat |
5.6.2022 | Timanttiliiga Rabat | Marokko |
9.6.2022 | Timanttiliiga Rooma | Italia |
16.6.2022 | Timanttiliiga Oslo | Norja |
18.6.2022 | Timanttiliiga Pariisi | Ranska |
30.6.2022 | Timanttiliiga Tukholma | Ruotsi |
30.7.2022 | Timanttiliiga Shanghai | Kiina |
6.8.2022 | Timanttiliiga Shenzhen | Kiina |
10.8.2022 | Timanttiliiga Monaco | Monaco |
26.8.2022 | Timanttiliiga Lausanne | Sveitsi |
2.9.2022 | Timanttiliiga Bryssel | Belgia |
7.9.2022 - 8.9.2022 | Timanttiliiga Zurich | Sveitsi |
Athletics – Results today
Here you can find the results of the latest main international events as well as live results links to the competitions.
Athletics – World Records
Outdoors
Men – Outdoors
Discipline | Athlete | Result | Date |
100 m | Usain Bolt | 9,58 | 16.8.2009 |
200 m | Usain Bolt | 19,19 | 20.8.2009 |
400 m | Wayde van Niekerk | 43,03 | 14.8.2006 |
800 m | David Rudisha | 1.40,91 | 9.8.2012 |
1500 m | Hicham El Guerrouj | 3.26,00 | 14.7.1998 |
Mile | Hicham El Guerrouj | 3.43,13 | 7.7.1999 |
3000 m | Daniel Komen | 7.20,67 | 1.9.1996 |
5000 m | Joshua Cheptegei | 12.35,36 | 14.8.2020 |
10 000 m | Kenenisa Bekele | 26.17,53 | 26.8.2005 |
3000 m steeple. | Saif Saaeed Shaheen | 7.53,63 | 3.9.2004 |
Half marathon | Geoffrey Kamworor | 58.01 | 15.9.2019 |
Marathon | Eliud Kipchoge | 2.01.39 | 16.9.2018 |
110 m hurdles | Aries Merritt | 12,80 | 7.9.2012 |
400 m hurdles | Keving Young | 46,78 | 6.8.1992 |
Long jump | Mike Powell | 895 | 30.8.1991 |
High jump | Javier Sotomayor | 245 | 27.7.1993 |
Triple jump | Jonathan Edwards | 18,29 | 7.8.1995 |
Pole vault | Renaud Lavillenie | 616 | 15.2.2014 |
Javelin | Jan Zelezny | 98,48 | 25.5.1996 |
Shot put | Randy Barnes | 23,12 | 20.5.1990 |
Discus throw | Jürgen Schult | 74,08 | 6.6.1986 |
Hammer throw | Juri Sedyh | 86,74 | 30.8.1986 |
Decathlon | Kevin Mayer | 9126 | 15-16.9.2018 |
4x 100 m | Jamaika | 36,84 | 11.8.2012 |
4 x 400 m | USA | 2.54,29 | 22.8.1993 |
Women – Outdoors
Discipline | Athlete | Result | Date |
100 m | Florence Griffith‑Joyner | 10,49 | 16.7.1988 |
200 m | Florence Griffith‑Joyner | 21,34 | 29.9.1988 |
400 m | Marita Koch | 47,60 | 6.10.1985 |
800 m | Jarmila Kratochvílová | 1.53,28 | 26.7.1983 |
1500 m | Genzebe Dibabaj | 3.50,07 | 17.7.2015 |
Mile | Sifan Hassan | 4.12,33 | 12.7.2019 |
3000 m | Wang Junxia | 8.06,11 | 13.9.1993 |
5000 m | Tirunesh Dibaba | 14.11,15 | 6.6.2008 |
10 000 m | Almaz Ayana | 29.17,45 | 12.8.2016 |
3000 m steeple | Beatrice Chepkoech | 8.44,32 | 20.7.2018 |
Half marathon | Joyciline Jepkosgei | 64.51 | 22.10.2017 |
Marathon | Paula Radcliffe | 2.15.25 | 13.4.2003 |
100 m hurdles | Kendra Harrison | 12,20 | 22.7.2016 |
400 m hurdles | Dalilah Muhammad | 52,16 | 4.10.2019 |
Long jump | Galina Tšistjakova | 752 | 11.6.1988 |
High jump | Stefka Kostadinova | 209 | 30.8.1987 |
Triple jump | Inessa Kravets | 15,50 | 10.8.1995 |
Pole vault | Jelena Isinbajeva | 506 | 28.8.2009 |
Javelin throw | Barbora Špotákova | 72,28 | 13.9.2008 |
Shot put | Natalja Lisovskaja | 22,63 | 7.6.1987 |
Discus throw | Gabriele Reinsch | 76,80 | 9.7.1988 |
Hammer throw | Anita Włodarczyk | 82,98 | 28.8.2016 |
Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | 7291 | 23.-24.9.1988 |
4x 100 m | Yhdysvallat | 40,82 | 10.8.2012 |
4 x 400 m | Neuvostoliitto | 3.15,17 | 1.10.1988 |
Indoors
Men – Indoors
Discipline | Athlete | Result | Date |
60 m | Christian Coleman | 6,34 | 18. Feb 2018 |
200 m | Frankie Fredericks | 19,92 | 18. Feb 1996 |
400 m | Kerron Clement | 44,57 | 12. March 2005 |
800 m | Wilson Kipketer | 1:42,67 | 9. March 1997 |
1000 m | Ayanleh Souleiman | 2:14,20 | 17. Feb 2016 |
1500 m | Samuel Tefera | 3:31,04 | 16. Feb 2019 |
Mile | Yomif Kejelcha | 3:47,01 | 3. March 2019 |
3000 m | Daniel Komen | 7:24,90 | 6. Feb 1998 |
5000 m | Kenenisa Bekele | 12:49,60 | 20. Feb 2004 |
60 m hurdles | Colin Jackson | 7,30 | 6. March 1994 |
High jump | Javier Sotomayor | 243 | 4. March 1989 |
Pole vault | Armand Duplantis | 618 | 15. Feb 2020 |
Long jump | Carl Lewis | 879 | 27. Jan 1984 |
Triple jump | Teddy Tamgho | 17,92 | 6. March 2011 |
Shot put | Randy Barnes | 22,66 | 20. Jan 1989 |
Heptathlon | Ashton Eaton | 6645 pts | 10. March 2012 |
Women – Indoors
Discipline | Athlete | Result | Date |
60 m | Irina Privalova | 6,92 | 11. Feb 1993 |
200 m | Merlene Ottey | 21,87 | 13. Feb 1993 |
400 m | Jarmila Kratochvílová | 49,59 | 7. March 1982 |
800 m | Jolanda Čeplak | 1:55,82 | 3. March 2002 |
1000 m | Maria Mutola | 2.30,94 | 25. Feb 1999 |
1500 m | Genzebe Dibaba | 3.55,17 | 1. Feb 2014 |
Mile | Genzebe Dibaba | 4.13,31 | 17. Feb 2016 |
3000 m | Genzebe Dibaba | 8.16,60 | 6. Feb 2014 |
5000 m | Genzebe Dibaba | 14.18,86 | 19. Feb 2015 |
60 m hurdles | Susanna Kallur | 7,68 | 10. Feb 2008 |
High jump | Kajsa Bergqvist | 208 | 4. Feb 2006 |
Pole vault | Jenn Suhr | 503 | 30. Jan 2016 |
Long jump | Heike Drechsler | 737 | 13. Feb 1988 |
Triple jump | Yulimar Rojas | 15,43 | 21. Feb 2020 |
Shot put | Helena Fibingerová | 22,50 | 19. Feb 1977 |
Pentathlon | Nataliya Dobrynska | 5013 pts | 9. March 2012 |