Athletics

Athletics at the European Games

Athletics has already appeared in the programme of the I European Games held in Baku. Back then the rank of the competition was very low. The competition took place in the formula of the European Team Championships, but only athletes from countries in the third league, the lowest on the continent, appeared in the capital of Azerbaijan.

During the III European Games, the competition will be held in the rank of European Team Championships. For the first time in history, it will be a competition of all divisions, including the highest one. For six days, athletes from all European federations will compete at the Silesian Stadium, in 37 competitions. In the first three days we will admire athletes from the 2nd and 3rd divisions, while the last three days of the competition there’s going to be a battle of the elites, fighting for the championship title!

In total, up to 2,254 male and female athletes from 49 European countries are expected to participate in the event.

Athletics – history 

Athletics, known as the “mother of all sports”, was included in the programme of the European Games for the third time, although each time it was held in a slightly different format. During the third edition of the Games, in Poland, it will be held in the rank of European Team Championships, so for the first time we’ll have an opportunity to admire the best athletes from Europe.

Athletics was one of the first sports disciplines. Originating from natural human activities, its official history dates back to the ancient Olympic Games. It was also then that the first rules and regulations were made. The ones known today were developing in Europe and North America in the 19th century.

Athletics appeared at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. It was there that the marathon race was held for the first time, commemorating what Philippides’ famously did – when after the victory at Marathon, he ran to tell the Athenians about it, and inform them that a Persian fleet was sailing towards them.

The first international athletics federation was established in 1912, after the end of athletics competitions at the Stockholm Olympics. There was a need to codify the rules, especially in technical competitions, and to officially note the world records.

What’s interesting, until 2001, the federation functioned under the name of the International Amateur Athletics Federation, although in 1982 it allowed the payment of prizes to competitors participating in competitions under its auspices. Then it transformed into the International Association of Athletics Federations, and since 2019 it has been running as World Athletics.