Description

The history of athletics roots in human prehistory. The first running competition started in Greece at the first Ancient Olympic Games back in 776 BC (Newsholme, Leech & Duester, 1994). The athletes were running for the pleasure of competing and the pleasure of winning rather than surviving (Newsholme, Leech & Duester, 1994). After the 1896 Olympics, the popularity of athletics, or rather, a revival of athletic competition, took place around the world. National athletics federations from 17 countries got together to form an international governing body and in 1912, the International Amateur Athletic Federation was born. For many years, the pinnacle of athletics competition was the Summer Olympics. But in the 1970s, more world championships in various events began to take place, helping to maintain interest in track and field every year.