Athletics

- is a sport you can practise all the year round but the most important championships usually take place in summer
- it is made up of many different disciplines:
Running:
- there are two main types of runners in athletics - sprinters and distance runners.
1. sprinting - run short distances as fast as they can
- the shortest spring in outdoor athletics is 10 meters
- to be a good sprinter you need to be muscular to produce the burst of speed, and lean
2. distance running - you should be slim and have great stamina
- important is endurance - the ability to keep a steady pace over a long distance
- the longest race in athletics is marathon – participants must run a road race 42,195 km long
3. relay races - each member of the four-person team must run either 100 or 400 meters
- when the runners finishes, he must hand a baton to his teammate who then continues
4. hurdles - is another sprint, but the big differences is athletes must jump over hurdles
Jumping:
1. high jump - ideal for people who are tall and slim and with long, powerful legs
- it is very important to accelerate quickly, so short distance speed is essential
- try to make the highest jump over a bar
2. pole vault – athletes use a long pole to vault over a bar
- you should have very strong arms, be slim, and it also helps if you are a little bit crazy
3. long jump - for this discipline you need very strong legs
4. triple jump
Throwing:
- you can throw the discus, javelin, shot put (a metal ball), or hammer
- you must be muscular, have wide shoulders, be heavy (but not fat), and have strong legs
- strong arms, shoulders, and legs are needed to put power into the throw, and weight is used to add momentum
Decathlon:
- it consists of ten events - 100 me, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m
- Roman Šebrle