Definition of Athletics: History and Types of Athletics

Definition of Athletics – As we know, that the types of sports that exist in this world are indeed very many and very diverse. It’s easy for us to take examples from sports that are very, very popular and loved, namely handball, football, and athletics. So, who doesn’t know these three sports?

Moreover, the three sports are very popular and very easy to be played by all people in the world. Speaking of sports, did you know that athletics is the oldest sport in the world? Come on, who just found out? Wow, it turns out that a lot of people don’t know this fact, do they?

Due to being the oldest sport in the world, this athletics sport has earned the nickname as the mother of all or all sports in the world. The cool language is called the Mother of Sport. Now athletics itself still has a lot of sports in it. The sports in this athletics are usually contested, almost all the activities that we usually do every day become something that can provide health in this athletics branch.

From very easy activities such as jumping, throwing, running, even walking, they are made into a form of exercise that can be healthy in this athletics branch. So, surely you are even more curious about athletics, right? For this reason, in this article we will invite you to get to know more about athletics. Check out the explanation from this article to the end!
Definition of Athletic Sport

As usual, before getting to know you more deeply, we will invite you to find out about the definition of athletics first. The introduction starts from what is athletics in general to the definition of athletics according to experts.

Definition of Athletics

In general, athletics is a type of sport that is contested in the form of sports in the form of various types of physical activity involving the body accompanied by harmonious and dynamic harmony. Sports in athletics include jumping, throwing, running and walking.

In Sports and Physical Health Education, athletics is also a component of education with the aim of prioritizing physical activities and development accompanied by a healthy lifestyle. Athletics sports have many benefits, one of the biggest benefits is to help improve biomotor power.

In language, athletics itself comes from the Greek vocabulary, namely “Athlon” which means contest. Athletics itself was first contested around 776 BC (Before Christ). In Indonesia itself, an organization was formed specifically to oversee athletics in Indonesia, the organization is known as PASI or the abbreviation of the Indonesian Athletics Association.

History of Athletics

 

1. World history of athletics

According to the book compiled by Hamerun which became the history book of athletics. In the book it is explained that the origin or history of athletics itself started from an adventurer Odysseus who went to visit the southern islands of the State of Greece.

Odysseus’ arrival on the island received a very warm welcome from the local population. The chief of the local population held an event with the intention of welcoming the arrival of Odysseus. This welcoming event contained competitions with various types of competitions, such as discus throwing competitions, running competitions, boxing competitions and wrestling. After that, the locals immortalized it as an Olympics or competition where the strongest participant won the competition. The winner in the competition gets the nickname as the champion of the competition/Olympics.

In the year around 490 BC (Before Christ), the first race number was determined, namely the marathon (long-distance running) number. Why is it called a marathon? Because the race number was first held in a city called Kota Marathon in Greece. Marathon race numbers began to be confirmed as a running race with a distance of around 42,195 km in 1908. So from this story that made the marathon race number a race that opened and closed athletic Olympiads around the world.

Furthermore, around 1896, a French citizen named Baron Pierre Louherbin proposed holding a modern Olympics in Athens, Greece. The modern Olympics itself contains sports that involve mining activities and ends with fighting over a medal. However, as time goes by, the athletics Olympiads are now no longer the same as the athletics Olympiads they used to be. This is due to the existence of high globalization events which clearly affect changes in the earth and the current rapid technological developments

Then on July 17, 1912, coinciding with the 5th Olympics in Sweden, an international organization was formed to oversee athletics. The athletics organization is known by the acronym IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations). Now, the organization has grown rapidly and began to enter the State of Indonesia on September 3, 1950.

2. History of athletics in Indonesia

As we know that the athletics branch has experienced various types of development, not to mention the athletics in Indonesia. Athletics entered Indonesia through the Netherlands when the Dutch colonized Indonesia for about 3.5 centuries. Of course, at that time athletics was not yet well known by the Indonesian people as a whole. Why is that? As you know at that time, not all Indonesian people went to school and were allowed to take part in various high-intensity activities such as the Olympics.

When the State of Indonesia was still colonized by the Dutch State, it was known that the Dutch State had previously established an organization that overshadowed athletic sports in the State of Indonesia. The athletics organization founded by the Dutch State is known by the abbreviation NIAU (Nederlands Indische Athletiek Unie). The organization is known to have participated in various types of Olympics with sports that have been determined by central organizations around the world.

Then came a business idea to create branches of the organization in several big cities in Indonesia. In the end, these efforts bore fruit and several branch organizations were built in big cities, such as the City of Jakarta, the City of Bandung, the City of Semarang, the City of Surabaya, the City of Solo, the City of Jogjakarta, and also the City of Medan. The expansion of organizational branches was realized by the construction of several schools and places useful for military activities.

Around 1942 to 1945, to be precise when the colonial period fell into the hands of the Japanese State, athletics developed rapidly, this development began with broadcasts on Radio Taiso which made all Indonesian students begin to know what sports would be contested. followed by training the ability of various types of athletic sports and gymnastics.

Athletics received a very good response from the State of Indonesia right during the colonial period by the State of Japan. At that time, many competitions were held, ranging from running competitions, high jump competitions, and various other types of athletics competitions. Most of these competitions were held at schools, then between cities, up to a higher stage. The competition culture is still carried out today.

Types of Athletics

As you already knew at the start, athletics is a sport that has various types of sports numbers, all of which are basic daily activities carried out by humans, such as walking, running, jumping, throwing and even a combination of these four activities. Well, surely that’s all you guys only know about athletics sports, right? The following are the types of athletics from sports numbers contested in athletic competitions or Olympiads.

1. Street sports

Who is not familiar with street activities? This activity which is very, very even a basic activity carried out by humans turns out to be one of the sports numbers that are contested in every athletics Olympiad. Make no mistake, in doing jaan activities, there are several things that must be prioritized, such as speed and regularity.

– Brisk

Fast walking or commonly known as Racewalking in English is a sport that is contested in the athletics Olympics. In its implementation, the contestants walk in a straight direction over the mahy by stepping, may not run without being interrupted by the ground. Each foot you take must actually touch the ground before the foot behind you lifts off the ground. Step forward forward until the body forms a vertical position.

2. Running sports

The second branch of sports is running. This sport is focused on pressing several materials, such as endurance, agility, and most importantly speed.

– Short distance running (Sprint)

The branch of running that was contested in the first athletics Olympics was short distance running or more familiarly known as sprints. In the sprint itself, it really prioritizes the speed of the participants. The systematic approach to sprint sports is to run with all your might to cover a predetermined distance using maximum speed in the shortest possible time to reach the finish line.

– Mid-distance running

To be able to complete this second type of running sport, not only requires speed, but participants also really need stamina, mental strength, and high endurance. Why is that? Because in one middle-distance race, one can cover very long distances, ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters. Just like the name, of course the distance that is contested is not a joke.

– Relay race

This third type of running sport is a variation of short distance running (sprint). The relay requires four participants in one team. The race system of this one running sport is that the first player carries a stick and will start running from the starting line to the second runner, and so on until they reach the finish line. There are 2 variants of the distance contested in this one running sport, namely the 4×100 meter distance and the second 4×400 meters.

– Hurdles

This next type of running sport is also a variation of short distance running (sprint). The definition of hurdles itself is a form of running at high speed accompanied by obstacles passing through the goal with 10 goals. The goals are installed on the track. For the national athletics Olympics, usually contested with various types of distances, including 110 meters for men, 100 meters for women, and 400 meters for men and women.

– Long distance running (Marathon)

The last type of running sport and also one that makes you very tired is marathon running. In this sport the distance traveled is no longer 10 or 20 km but can be up to 42,000 km. in marathon running, the participants who participate are also known to be very numerous.

3. Jump sports

The sport of jumping in athletics is known to require large leg muscle explosive power and high speed to be able to reach a predetermined height and distance. In addition, to be able to do this one athletic sport, participants are required to have dexterity and flexibility.

– High jump (High Jump)

The high jump or what is familiarly known as the long jump is a sport of jumping in the form of jumping up while lifting the legs forward as a form of effort to be able to bring the point of weight of the body to be as high as possible and as quickly as possible to land. How to land is done by doing a repulsion motion that rests on one leg to be able to reach a certain height distance.

– Long jump (Long Jump)

The second type of sport is the long jump or long jump. The long jump itself is a sport that is done by jumping while lifting the leg up and forward as a form of effort to carry the body’s weight as long as possible in the air. In doing this long jump is done quickly and do not forget to do a repulsion on one leg with the aim of reaching the farthest distance.

– Pole vault (Pole Vault)

Like the high jump, in this jumping sport, participants are required to cross a bar without dropping the bar at a predetermined height. For this single jump sport, a pole that is long and flexible is used. The system of this pole vault is that at first a participant will carry a pole and then the pole is stuck on a stop board or stop board which will help the participant jump over the bar.

– Triple Jump

The last branch of running is the triple jump or what is known as the triple jump. Triple jump itself is a technique of jumping forward like a long jump. So what is the difference between triple jump and long jump? What distinguishes between the two is the triple jump, after the participants make the start of the trunk followed by a repulsion, the participants do not make a landing but do two repulsions on the trajectory. Well, then ended by a landing in the sandbox that has been provided.

 

4. Throwing sports

In addition to sports that move leg muscles, it turns out that there are athletics that focus on the performance of human arm muscle strength. This fourth sport is a throwing sport which clearly focuses on the performance of the human hand muscles. Throwing also requires several tools, such as bullets (metal balls), hammers, discs, and javelins.

– Javelin Throw

The first type of throwing sport is the javelin throw or also known as the javelin throw. In javelin throwing, an auxiliary tool is used in the form of a javelin which is a kind of light spear with a metal tip. In throwing the javelin, the javelin must be held with one hand with the little finger positioned near the tip of the javelin. The javelin used has various sizes and weights, namely for men’s javelins starting at a minimum of 800 grams and with a minimum length of 2.6 meters to 2.7 meters. As for the female javelin, it starts from a minimum of 600 grams and with a minimum length of 2.2 meters to 2.3 meters.

– Discus Throw

In this second type of throwing sport, a participant is required to be able to throw an auxiliary tool in the form of a disc made of metal. The disc must be able to land exactly in a certain position or part that has been marked by the organizers. The disc sizes themselves are differentiated according to gender, for men, metal discs weighing 2 kg and a diameter of about 22 cm. As for the daughter, the metal disc weighs 1 kg and is about 18 cm in diameter.

– Throw the hammer (Hammer Throw)

For hammer throwing or by another name hammer throw, it is known that it requires a lot of arm muscle strength to be able to throw an object as far as possible in a predetermined area or area. The tool called the hammer is not arbitrary and is not a common one. The hammer used is a metal ball that is given a handle in the form of a steel wire with a length of about 1.22 meters. The weight of the metal ball itself is differentiated according to gender, for men weighing 7.26 kg and for women weighing 4 kg.

– Reject Bullets (Shot Put)

The last type of throwing sport is shot put or commonly known as shot put. So, who is a stranger to shot put? Surely some of you are very familiar with this one throwing sport, right? As you know, in shot put this is done by making a resisting motion or you can also push a metal ball, remember, don’t throw it! In shot put relying on the strength of one hand. The size of the bullet ball itself is differentiated according to gender and is the same as the size of the hammer throwing tool. For men weighing 7.26 kg and for women weighing 4 kg.

So, those are some things that you can know about athletics, which is the mother of all kinds of sports in the world. How? Are you interested in doing athletics which has many variants of this sport?