Athletics

Athletics encompasses the most basic and ancient sporting movements: running, jumping and throwing. On the track, events range from the pure speed of the 100 metres to middle-distance and long-distance running, including hurdles and steeplechases; on the throwing pitches, athletes compete in the high jump, pole vault, long jump and triple jump, as well as the shot put, discus, hammer and javelin. The combined events — the decathlon for men and the heptathlon for women — comprise ten and seven disciplines respectively, taking place over two days. Its origins date back to the ancient Olympic Games: the stadion, a race of approximately 192 metres, was the first documented event at Olympia in 776 BC. Modern athletics took shape in nineteenth-century England, with the first university match between Oxford and Cambridge in 1864; it was included in the modern Olympic Games from Athens 1896 onwards and was opened up to women at Amsterdam 1928. The international federation, founded in 1912, is now known as World Athletics. It is the most quantifiable sport there is: electronic timing to the hundredth of a second, sensors on the starting blocks, measurements to the centimetre. Sprinters, middle-distance runners, jumpers and throwers follow completely different training regimens, but share the same stadium and the same afternoon of competition. At the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto in 2026, athletics will bring the programme to a close: competitions will take place from 30 August to 3 September at the Salinella Sports Ground, with 44 titles up for grabs across races, field events and relays — the most lucrative medal haul of the entire event.

• 1The races are held on an eight-lane 400-metre track: up to the 400-metre mark, each athlete remains in their own lane
• 2In the field events, each athlete has three attempts, plus a further three for the top eight; in the high jump and pole vault, the bar is raised incrementally until three consecutive failures are recorded
• 3A false start results in immediate disqualification
• 4Combined events: the decathlon (10 events, men) and the heptathlon (7 events, women) over two days, with scoring based on a points table
• 544 titles up for grabs in Taranto, from 30 August to 3 September at the Salinella Sports Ground