Why track is not a sport

They devised the festival for no other reason than to please the gods and thank them for the freedom to develop their physical prowess.

The first sports in the Olympics were feats like wrestling, boxing, pankration an intense hybrid of the former two - and athletics. That's right. The oldest humans, on whose example we founded our own civilizations, didn't care about foul shots scored or goals saved or the player with the newest Air Jordans. They cared about being able to defend yourself either skedaddle or stand and throw a really big rock , to sustain yourself go build your own shelter and kill your own game , and because they all worked out like this to look good naked.

Humans had to hunt before they could plan t, harvest before they could feast, and build stable cities before they could worry about arbitrary physical recreation using crude balls made of animal hide.

The very basis of our existence, therefore, lies in the humble skill of running really fast. All sports require this function. Even if they don't require it directly, you'd be a sorry athlete if you couldn't at least sprint m to save your skin. Having the ability to do so only improves your sport performance, no matter what. You can call other activities - like football, baseball, and basketball - sports because they are also quests of self-betterment and pit competitive individuals against each other.

That is the legitimate rationale behind "sport. What is running fast or far, if not a metaphor for the internal struggle against the body's inherent laziness? But don't take the stance of the basketball jock.

Don't say that soccer , for example, is a sport because it "makes sense. This is just that one guy's superficial criteria for what is a sport. You're much better off seeing what kind of character traits a sport instills in its athletes, and in this area track and field is one of the best.

There is a steep learning curve to every event in track and field, from obviously alien pole-vaulting to hurdling to even sprinting a good m. People can run, but it takes years of practice to run with efficient technique and optimal power production.

Relay meets are particularly popular in the United States, owing in part to the American school system, which has traditionally placed emphasis on interscholastic team competition.

Field Events Competitors in the high jump attempt to clear a crossbar. The contestant may make the takeoff for the high jump using only one foot, not two. Over the past half-century jumping styles have changed dramatically, from the "scissors" technique, to the "straddle," to the now-predominant "Fosbury flop.

In the straddle, still used by some, the athlete approaches the bar and kicks the lead leg upward, then contours the body over the bar, facedown. The flop was popularized by Dick Fosbury, an American who developed the style and used it to win the Olympic gold medal. The athlete approaches the bar almost straight on, then twists his or her body so that the back is facing the bar before landing in the pit.

These landing areas, which at one time were recesses filled with sawdust, are now well-padded foam-rubber mats. In the pole vault, as in the high jump, the object is for the athlete to pass over a bar without knocking it off, in this case with the aid of a pole. In the vault, too, a foam-rubber pit is employed to break the athlete's fall. Because the IAAF rules place no restrictions on the composition of the pole, it has undergone dramatic changes as new materials have become available.

Bamboo and heavy metal models have given way to the fiberglass pole, which has a high degree of flexibility and allows the athlete adept in its use to catapult over the bar. Most vaulters use an approach run of approximately 40 m ft while carrying the pole nearly parallel to the ground. The athlete then plants the pole in a sunken box, which is positioned immediately in front of the pit, and rides the pole during the catapulting phase, before twisting the body facedown to the bar and arcing over while releasing the pole.

In the long jump, or broad jump, as it was once called, the contestants run at full speed down a cinder or synthetic runway to a takeoff board. This board marks the point where the athlete must leave the ground. He or she may step on the board but must not allow any portion of the foot to go over it; otherwise, he or she is charged with a foul, and the jump is invalidated. After a legal jump the contestant's mark is measured from the front edge of the takeoff board to the nearest point of contact in the sand-filled pit.

The triple jump requires its contestants to hop, step, and jump into the pit. When the athlete reaches the board, he or she takes off and lands on the same foot; then, while attempting to maintain momentum, the athlete takes an exaggerated step, landing on the opposite foot, and then continues into the pit with a third jump, landing with both feet. In the shot put, as in the other throwing events, the competitors perform from a circular base constructed of concrete or synthetic material.

The shot circle is 7 ft 2. In the "O'Brien" technique, the most popular style, the athlete is positioned at the back of the ring, with the lb 7. The contestant then crouches low on one foot and with the back to the toeboard thrusts to the front of the ring. As the shotputter reaches the toeboard, the body must be torqued in order to provide the impulse to shove the shot forward. The athlete may touch but not go beyond or touch the top of the toeboard. The discus throw employs a platelike implement weighing 2 kg 4 lb 6.

It is one of the oldest of events; it was popular in the ancient Greek Olympics. The thrower enters a ring 2. The athlete rests the discus — usually made of wood, with a metal rim — in the throwing hand. He or she then makes one-and-a-half quick turns and releases the discus at shoulder level.

The implement used in the hammer throw is a metal ball similar to the shot but with a 3-ft The entire hammer weighs 16 lb 7. The athlete grips the handle of the hammer with both hands, turns several times in the circle, and attempts to release at the moment of maximum centrifugal force. Indoors, a shorthandled version, weighing 35 lb The javelin is a spearlike shaft of wood or metal at least cm 8 ft 6.

After a short but rapid approach run, the g 1 lb The javelin point must come down first for the throw to be legal. Often held at major track meets are the decathlon for men and the heptathlon for women formerly the pentathlon , events that test all-around capabilities. Bibliography: Archdeacon, H. Create a List. List Name Save. Rename this List. Rename this list. He still holds both the m and m world records.

Track has an enormous range of events that test both aerobic and anaerobic systems. While many track runners were multi-sport athletes in their younger years, that was likely part of healthy physical development as opposed to a failed quest for basketball greatness. Some runners chose track over other sports because they were naturally more gifted at running or liked it better, as opposed to track being their second choice after, as Kellerman seems to see it, a better sport.

To say that football and basketball players are the best athletes of any sport shows a limited scope of sporting knowledge and an under-appreciation for sport at large.