Athletic events in India include Track and Field, Road Running, Cross-country and even Race Walking events. Several track and field events of Athletics are played in India. The Athletics events in India include all the three departments of Athletics like running, jumping and throwing.
The events like Track and Field, Road Running, Cross-country and Race Walking are famous among all the Athletics events in India. The Track events played in India include running events like 100metres, 200metres, 400metres, 800metres, 1500metres, 5000metres, 10,000metres, 100meters hurdles, 110metres hurdles, 400metres hurdles, 3000metres steeplechase, 4-x 100metres relay and 4-x 400metres relay etc. The Track events also include Marathon running. Field events include High jump, Long jump, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot-put, Discus throw, Javelin throw, Hammer throw. The Decathlon and Heptathlon are a combination of track and field events.
Athletic events in India are considered to be one of the oldest games in the nation, as it started its journey during the Vedic era. The Indian people have been playing different track and field events of Athletics since then and they have actually taken Athletics, as part of their exercise to maintain physical fitness. Almost all the Athletics events in India are played with great enthusiasm. Various Athletic meets are also organised in India
Field events are also an integral part of Athletics events in India. Among the most common Field events played in India, the most common ones are High jump, Long jump, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot-put, Discus throw, Javelin throw, Hammer throw etc. The Athletics events like Triathlon, Decathlon and Heptathlon are actually the combination of both Track and Field events. Apart from these Athletic events in India, there are also the events like Road Running, Cross Country Races or Race Walking that are included in the Athletics events in India. Long jump is a Jumping event in Athletics, where the athlete jumps a distance in length. The highest distance achieved by an athlete determines the winner.
High Jump is another Jumping event in Athletics. In this event, the athlete has to jump high in the air and cross a bar set on a certain height. The athlete who achieves the longest distance is announced as the winner. Pole Vault is an event of Athletics where the athlete needs to jump high above a bar. The difference between high jump and pole vault is that here the athlete takes the help of a long, flexible pole to elevate him to jump to the highest distance. Triple Jump is an important athletic event and has a lot of similarities with Long Jump. However, the difference is that; here the athlete jumps three times on the same effort. Discus Throw is a throwing event of Athletics. Here the athlete has to throw a lens-shaped heavy disc to such a distance where nobody else can throw. The discus is usually made of rubber, plastic, wood or metal with a metal rim and a metal core to attain the weight. Apart from these the following athletic events are also important in India.
In the Hammer Throw event of Athletics, the thrower has to throw a heavy steel ball that is attached with a wire to a handle. There is a circle in this event and the thrower has to throw the ball staying within the circle. Javelin Throw is one of most popular events of Athletics. This is also a throwing event and here the thrower throws a javelin instead of discuss or hammer. Shot Put is an Athletic event that needs a lot of energy. Here, an athlete tries to throw a very heavy metal ball as far as possible to become the winner. In this event also, the athlete needs to stay within a circle. The steeplechase is a form of horse racing that is also included in Athletics. Here, the athlete needs to jump over fences and trenches and also a lot of other types of obstacles.
Hurdles are running event in Athletic events in India where the runners run through some obstacles. This is a little harder than the simple running as the athlete needs to do a bit jumping along with running in this case. Relay is another running event where more than one athlete runs one by one for the same goal and the winner is determined as a team. There is a small stick (called as Baton) in the play that the players have to rotate within themselves when their next runner`s term comes. Relays can be of various categories like 4x100 meters, 4x200 meters etc.
Heptathlon is one of the most ancient events in the Athletic events in India. The word is a diversion of two Greek words. `Hepta` means seven and `Athlos` means contest. The event is a combination of seven different games. There are two versions of the event for the men and women. The Women`s heptathlon has seven games like the 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 m, long jump, javelin throw and 800 m. The men`s heptathlon is consists of 60 m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 m hurdles, pole vault and 1000 m. The winner here is determined according to the total points that an athlete gathered in all the seven games. Decathlon is a little extended version of the Heptathlon and this is also as ancient as the Heptathlon. Here the athletes have to compete in ten different events and the winner is determined according to the total points achieved by them, just like the Heptathlon.
A half marathon is road-running event where a number of athletes take part and they have to run the distance of 13 miles. As the name suggests, it is half the distance of a marathon. It is long enough to be a serious challenge but does not require the level of training of a full marathon. Walk is a very common Athletic event not only in India, but also in almost every part of the world. Here, a large number of people walk together to a certain distance and whoever touches the finish line first, announced as the winner. The distance varies in different countries. Marathon is a long-distance running event where the athletes run a distance of 26 miles. Here also, a large number of people take part and run together. The runner who touches the finishing line first, is usually declared as the winner of a Marathon.
The Athletic events in India not only attract thousands of sports lovers from all across the world, but they also hold the heritage of the nation dates back to thousand years. These events are now played in much more modernised form and enjoy a larger platform of Olympic participation.
