Athletics
History
For the human being, learning to walk and then, run and jump is as natural as learning to talk, gesticulate or show your feelings. Therefore, it is rather natural that athletics, with its different running, jumping and throwing events, is the oldest sport in the world.
Although history records establish that the Olympics were first held by the Greeks in 776 BC, there is evidence that athletics competitions were already organised by the Egyptians and other Asian civilisations, before the Greek Olympic Games.
At the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, the stadion became the first official event. The event was an approximately 192 metre race. In 776 BC, it was won by Koroebus, who wrote his name in history as the first ever Olympic champion.With the Roman invasion of Greece in 456 BC, the Olympic Games gradually lost force until reaching a point when the competition was seen as simple combat. Therefore, in 393 BC, after 293 editions, the last Olympics of ancient times were held.
The modern format of the athletics competition, which encompasses a variety of running, jumping, throwing and combined events started to gain strength in the 19th century, when military schools and academies began incorporating the sports and exercises as part of educational programmes. This practice led to the organising of competitions dating back to 1840 in Shropshire in Great Britain, the first heard of in the 19th century. In the 1880s, competitions started to take place in the United States, Great Britain and other European countries, as well as other developed nations.
In 1896, with the first edition of the Modern Era Olympic Games, athletics gained force and its practice was disseminated throughout the world in the following decades, being reinforced in 1912 when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was founded.
Curiosities
Cheating in the marathon
The marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis in United States went down in history as one of the most bizarre moments in the history of the Games. After running for 3:13, American athlete Frederick Lorz was the first to make it to the Olympic Stadium, receiving a standing ovation by the crowd. Having made a name for himself, Lorz took pictures with the daughter of the US president Alice Roosevelt and was on his way to collect his gold medal when the shocking truth came out: he had not run the whole way. Lorz had felt ill in the 15th kilometre and was helped and driven for most of the way. When he got near the Olympic Stadium he felt better, so he got out of the car and ran the rest of the race, finishing with practically no drop of sweat on him or dust on his feet. Lorz stated that it was all a joke, but he ended up being banned from the sport. However, he was allowed to race in the following year, when he won the Boston marathon, this time with no cheating. American athlete Thomas Hicks crossed the finish line in 3:28 in deplorable physical condition, almost collapsing and was declared the winner of the marathon of the St. Louis Olympics.
The naked guy won
Back in 720 BC, Orsippus of Megara won the stadion race in the 15th edition of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, crossing the finish line completely naked. The habit of running in the nude became common amongst the Greeks and many historians believe that Orsippus was the first to run naked. Before him, runners competed in tunics. It is believed that Orsippus realised that it was easier to run without any clothes on, as it was easier to move and stripped off during the race, winning the event easily and proving his theory.
