2011 Diamond League
Ambassadors
Table:
Athlete

Country

Event(s)

Usain Bolt

Jamaica

100 metres/200 metres

Tyson Gay

United States

100 metres/200 metres

Asafa Powell

Jamaica

100 metres

Shelly-Ann Fraser

Jamaica

100 metres

Allyson Felix

United States

200 metres/400 metres

Sanya Richards

United States

400 metres

Kenenisa Bekele

Ethiopia

5000 metres/10,000 metres

Steven Hooker

Australia

Pole vault

Yelena Isinbayeva

Russia

Pole vault

Blanka Vlašić

Croatia

High jump

Valerie Vili

New Zealand

Shot put

Andreas Thorkildsen

Norway

Javelin throw

Tero Pitkämäki

Finland

Javelin throw

Barbora Špotáková

Czech Republic

Javelin throw

Consulting the provided table plus the supporting text provided.

Give the answer to the question: When were slaves in the home country of Usain Bolt emancipated by the British ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

Usain St Leo Bolt , OJ , CD ( /ˈjuːseɪn/ ; born 21 August 1986 ) is a Jamaican former sprinter . He is a world record holder in the 100 metres , 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay . Owing to his achievements and dominance in sprint competition , he is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time . An eight-time Olympic gold medallist , Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics ( 2008 , 2012 and 2016 ) . In addition he won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals . He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics , which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory . An eleven-time World Champion , he won consecutive World Championship 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015 , with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011 . He is the most successful athlete of the World Championships . Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is the joint-most successful in the 100 m with three titles . Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 - the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing . He has twice broken the 200 metres world record , setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009 . He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records , with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012 .
Jamaica ( /dʒəˈmeɪkə/ ( listen ) ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea . Spanning 10,990 square kilometres ( 4,240 sq mi ) in area , it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean ( after Cuba and Hispaniola ) . Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres ( 90 mi ) south of Cuba , and 191 kilometres ( 119 mi ) west of Hispaniola ( the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) ; the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some 215 kilometres ( 134 mi ) to the north-west . Originally inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples , the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494 . Many of the indigenous people were either killed or died of diseases to which they had no immunity , and the Spanish thus forcibly transplanted large numbers of African slaves to Jamaica as labourers . The island remained a possession of Spain until 1655 , when England ( later Great Britain ) conquered it , renaming it Jamaica . Under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter , with a plantation economy dependent on the African slaves and later their descendants . The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838 , and many freedmen chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations . Beginning in the 1840s , the British began utilising Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations . The island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962 . With 2.9 million people , Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas ( after the United States and Canada ) , and the fourth-most populous country in the Caribbean . Kingston is the country 's capital and largest city .
The 100 metres , or 100-metre dash , is a sprint race in track and field competitions . The shortest common outdoor running distance , it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics . It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women . The World Championships 100 metres has been contested since 1983 .
The 200 metres ( also spelt 200 meters ) is a sprint running event . On an outdoor race 400 m track , the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight , so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race . A slightly shorter race , called the stadion and run on a straight track , was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games . The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint . Similarly to other sprint distances , the 200 m begins from the starting blocks . When the sprinters adopt the 'set ' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles . This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster . In the United States and elsewhere , athletes previously ran the 220-yard dash ( 201.168 m ) instead of the 200 m ( 218.723 yards ) , though the distance is now obsolete . The standard adjustment used for the conversion from times recorded over 220 yards to 200 m times is to subtract 0.1 seconds , but other conversion methods exist . Another obsolete version of this race is the 200 metres straight , which was run on tracks that contained such a straight . Initially , when the International Amateur Athletic Association ( now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations ) started to ratify world records in 1912 , only records set on a straight track were eligible for consideration . In 1951 , the IAAF started to recognise records set on a curved track .
Tyson Gay ( born August 9 , 1982 ) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters dash . His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete ever . His 200 m time of 19.58 makes him the seventh fastest athlete in that event . Gay has won numerous medals in major international competitions , including a gold medal sweep of the 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at the 2007 Osaka World Championships . This made him the second man to win all three events at the same World Championships , after Maurice Greene ( Usain Bolt duplicated the feat two years later ) . Gay is a four-time U.S. champion in the 100 m. At the 2008 Olympic Trials , he ran a wind assisted 9.68 seconds in the 100 m. Days later , he suffered a severe hamstring injury in the 200 m trials and did not win any medals at the Beijing Olympics . His performance of 9.71 seconds to win the 100 m silver medal in the 2009 World Championships is the fastest non-winning time for the event . In July 2013 , it was announced that Gay had tested positive for a banned substance , following which he withdrew from consideration for the World Championships in Moscow . The United States Anti-Doping Agency ( USADA ) suspended him until June 23 , 2014 , and stripped him of his silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay from the 2012 Summer Olympics as a result . Gay is a two-time winner of the Jesse Owens Award , was the 2007 IAAF World Athlete of the Year , won Best Track and Field Athlete for Track & Field News in 2007 and for ESPY Award in 2008 and 2011 . He has also achieved multiple Men 's season 's best performances in the 100 m and 200 m .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
Asafa Powell , CD ( born 23 November 1982 ) is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres . He set the 100 metres world record twice , between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds . Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition , with his personal best of 9.72 s ranking fourth on the all-time list of male 100 metre athletes . As of 1 September 2016 , Powell has broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else - 97 times . He currently holds the world record for the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.09 s , set on 27 May 2010 in Ostrava , Czech Republic . At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games he won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay . Powell competed in the 100 m at the 2004 , 2008 and 2012 Olympics , finishing fifth in 2004 and 2008 and eighth after injuring his groin during the race in 2012 . At the 2007 Osaka World Championships , he won a bronze and a silver medal in the 100 m and 4 x 100 m relay respectively , and he was successful at the Commonwealth Games , winning two golds and one silver medal . At the 2009 World Championships , he won the 100 m bronze and relay gold . Powell has won five times at the IAAF World Athletics Final and was the former 100 m world record holder in the event . Powell had tested positive for the drug oxilofrine in 2013 and withdrew from the 2013 World Athletics Championships as a result . Powell and fellow Jamaican Sprinter , Sherone Simpson had taken the supplement Ephiphany D1 as part of their training regimen , not knowing it contained oxilofrine .
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce , OD ( née Fraser , born 27 December 1986 ) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter . Born and raised in Kingston , Jamaica , Fraser-Pryce ascended to prominence in 2008 when at 21 years old , the relatively unknown athlete became the first Caribbean woman to win 100 m gold at the Olympics . In 2012 , she became the third woman in history to successfully defend an Olympic 100 m title . Fraser-Pryce took a break from athletics in 2017 to have her first child . At the 2019 World Championships , at the age of 32 , she became the oldest woman and second mother ever to win 100 m gold at a global championship . Fraser-Pryce is the only sprinter to be crowned world champion over 100 m four times ( 2009 , 2013 , 2015 and 2019 ) . Since 2008 , she has won four of the five World Championship 100 m titles she has contested , as well as two of the last three Olympic 100 m titles . She is the second female sprinter to hold world and Olympic 100 m titles simultaneously - and the first woman to hold dual titles on two separate occasions . In 2013 she became the first female sprinter to win gold medals in the 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 m in a single World Championship , and also became the first woman to hold world titles at 60 m , 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay simultaneously . With over a decade of dominance in the sport , Fraser-Pryce has won more global 100 m titles than any other female sprinter in history . Nicknamed the Pocket Rocket for her petite frame ( she stands 5 feet tall ) and explosive block starts , her personal best of 10.70 seconds is the joint fourth fastest of all time . Due to her achievements and consistency , many publications and sports analysts , including former Olympian Michael Johnson , refer to Fraser-Pryce as the greatest female sprinter of all time .
Allyson Michelle Felix OLY ( born November 18 , 1985 ) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters , 200 meters , and 400 meters . At 200 meters , she is the 2012 Olympic champion , a 3-time World champion ( 2005-09 ) , and 2-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2004-08 ) . At 400 meters , she is the 2015 World champion , 2011 World silver medalist , 2016 Olympic silver medalist , and 2017 World bronze medalist . Felix has won five additional Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States ' women 's relay teams : three at 4 × 400 meters ( 2008-16 ) , and two at 4 x 100 meters ( 2012-16 ) . The 2012 U.S. Olympic 4 x 100 meters team also set the women 's 4x100 meters world-record that still stands . Felix is the only female track and field athlete to ever win six Olympic gold medals , and is tied with Merlene Ottey as the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history , with a total of nine Olympic medals . Felix is also the most decorated athlete in IAAF World Championships history with 18 career medals . Felix 's 200 meters best of 21.69 secs from 2012 ranks her sixth on the all-time list . In 2013 , she broke the world best for the rarely contested 150 meters distance , running 16.36 secs . In the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2015 World Championships , she ran the fastest split ever recorded by an American woman , and third fastest split ever after Jarmila Kratochvilova and Marita Koch , with 47.72 . She is a participant in the US Anti-Doping Agency 's Project Believe program ] . She is coached by Bobby Kersee .
The 400 metres , or 400 metre dash , is a sprinting event in track and field competitions . It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women . On a standard outdoor running track , it is one lap around the track . Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course . In many countries , athletes previously competed in the 440 yard dash ( 402.336 m ) - which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the 'quarter-mile ' - instead of the 400 m ( 437.445 yards ) , though this distance is now obsolete . Like other sprint disciplines , the 400 m involves the use of starting blocks . The runners take up position in the blocks on the 'ready ' command , adopt a more efficient starting posture which isometrically preloads their muscles on the 'set ' command , and stride forwards from the blocks upon hearing the starter 's pistol . The blocks allow the runners to begin more powerfully and thereby contribute to their overall sprint speed capability . Maximum sprint speed capability is a significant contributing factor to success in the event , but athletes also require substantial speed endurance and the ability to cope well with high amounts of lactic acid to sustain a fast speed over a whole lap . While considered to be predominantly an anaerobic event , there is some aerobic involvement and the degree of aerobic training required for 400 metre athletes is open to debate . The current men 's world record is held by Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa , with a time of 43.03 seconds ; van Niekerk is also the Olympic champion . Steven Gardiner is the reigning World Champion .
Sanya Richards-Ross ( née Richards ; born February 26 , 1985 ) is a Jamaican-American former track and field athlete who competed internationally for the United States . At the 2012 Summer Olympics , she won gold in the 400 metres after finishing third at the 2008 Summer Olympics . Richards-Ross has also won Olympic gold in the 4×400 meters relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics , the 2008 Summer Olympics , and the 2012 Summer Olympics . She was the best 400m runner in the world for a decade , ranking No . 1 in the world from 2005-2009 and again in 2012 . In addition to her Olympic accolades , she is also a seven-time medalist at the World Championships in Athletics ( five of which are gold ) . In 2009 , she was the World Champion in the 400 metres .
Kenenisa Bekele ( Oromo : Qananiisaa baqqalaa ; Amharic : ቀነኒሳ በቀለ ; born 13 June 1982 ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10,000-metre events . He won the gold medal in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Summer Olympics . At the 2004 Olympics he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5000 m. He is married to actress Danawit Gebregziabher and he has one younger brother , Tariku Bekele , who is also an accomplished world-class distance runner . He is the most successful runner in the history of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships , with six long ( 12 km ) course and five short ( 4 km ) course titles . He won the 10,000 m title at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003 , 2005 , 2007 and 2009 ( matching Haile Gebrselassie 's four in a row win streak ) . Kenenisa was unbeaten over 10,000 m from his debut in 2003 until 2011 , when he failed to finish at the World Championships final . At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he became the first man to win both 5000 m and 10,000 m title at the same championships . Over 5000 m he has also won an Olympic silver ( 2004 ) , World Championship bronze ( 2003 ) , two African Championship titles and one All-Africa Games gold medal . He also won the 3000 metres title at the 2006 World Indoor Championships . On 6 April 2014 , he produced the sixth fastest marathon debut ever on a record-eligible course with his victory at the Paris Marathon , in a course record time of 2:05:04 . On 25 September 2016 , Kenenisa won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:03 , a new personal best , then the third-fastest marathon of all time . On 29 September 2019 , he again won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:01:41 , two seconds slower than the world record of 2:01:39 set by Eliud Kipchoge in the 2018 Berlin Marathon .
Ethiopia ( /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ; Amharic : ኢትዮጵያ , ʾĪtyōṗṗyā , listen ( help·info ) , Tigrinya : ኢትዮጵያ , Oromo : Itiyoophiyaa , Somali : Itoobiya , Afar : Itiyoophiyaa ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa . It shares borders with Eritrea to the north , Djibouti to the northeast , Somalia , and the de facto state of Somaliland to the east , Kenya to the south , South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest . With over 109 million inhabitants , Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres ( 420,000 sq mi ) . Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa , which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates . Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia . It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond . According to linguists , the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era . Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE , Ethiopia 's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history . Oral literature tells that the monarchy was founded by the Solomonic dynasty of the Queen of Sheba , under its first king , Menelik I . In the first centuries , the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region , followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137 . During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa , Ethiopia and Liberia were two nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial power and many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colours . However , the country was later occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia ( part of Italian East Africa ) until it was liberated during World War II .
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run ( approximately 3.1 mi or 16,404 ft ) is a common long-distance running event in track and field . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics , run over 12.5 laps of a standard track . The same distance in road running is called a 5K run . The 5000 m has been present on the Olympic programme since 1912 for men and since 1996 for women . Prior to 1996 , women had competed in an Olympic 3000 metres race since 1984 . The 5000 m has been held at each of the World Championships in Athletics in men 's competition and since 1995 in women 's . The event is almost the same length as the dolichos race held at the Ancient Olympic Games , introduced in 720 BCE . While mainly run as an outdoor event , the 5000 m is sometimes run on an indoor track . The IAAF keeps official records for both outdoor and indoor 5000-metre track events .
The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event . The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics and is common at championship level events . The race consists of 25 laps around an Olympic-sized track . It is less commonly held at track and field meetings , due to its duration . The 10,000-metre track race is usually distinguished from its road running counterpart , the 10K run , by its reference to the distance in metres rather than kilometres . The 10,000 metres is the longest standard track event . The international distance is approximately 6.2137 miles ( or approximately 32,808.4 feet ) . Most of those running such races also compete in road races and cross country events .
Steven Steve Leslie Hooker OAM ( born 16 July 1982 in Melbourne , Victoria ) is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist . His personal best , achieved in 2008 , is 6.06 m ( 19 ft 10 1⁄2 in ) making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history , behind Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis . Hooker also has a personal best of 10.82 s in 100 m as an amateur sprinter . He ran in the 2010 Stawell Gift .
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country 's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century , who named it New Holland . In 1770 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 , a date which became Australia 's national day . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the time of an 1850s gold rush , most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising six states and ten territories . Australia is the oldest , flattest , and driest inhabited continent , with the least fertile soils . It has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres ( 2,941,300 sq mi ) .
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long flexible pole ( which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber ) as an aid to jump over a bar . Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks , Cretans and Celts . It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women . It is typically classified as one of the four major jumping events in athletics , alongside the high jump , long jump and triple jump . It is unusual among track and field sports in that it requires a significant amount of specialised equipment in order to participate , even at a basic level . A number of elite pole vaulters have had backgrounds in gymnastics , including world record breakers Yelena Isinbayeva and Brian Sternberg , reflecting the similar physical attributes required for the sports . Running speed , however , may be the most dominant factor . Physical attributes such as speed , agility and strength are essential to pole vaulting effectively , but technical skill is an equally if not more important element . The object of pole vaulting is to clear a bar or crossbar supported upon two uprights ( standards ) without knocking it down .
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( Russian : Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева , IPA : [ jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə ] ; born 3 June 1982 ) is a Russian former pole vaulter . She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist ( 2004 and 2008 ) , a three-time World Champion ( 2005 , 2007 and 2013 ) , the current world record holder in the event , and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time . Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics after the appearance of an independent report about an extensive state-sponsored doping program in Russia , thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal . She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC 's Athletes ' Commission . Isinbayeva has been a major champion on nine occasions ( Olympic , World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion ) . She was also the jackpot winner of the IAAF Golden League series in 2007 and 2009 . After poor performances at the world championships in 2009 and 2010 , she took a year-long break from the sport . She became the first woman to clear the five-metre barrier in 2005 . Her current world record is 5.06 m outdoors , set in Zurich in August 2009 . Her 5.01 m indoors was the world record for just over a year . The latter was Isinbayeva 's twenty-eighth pole vault world record . On 2 March 2013 , Jenn Suhr joined Isinbayeva as the only women who have cleared 5 metres .
Russia ( Russian : Росси́я , tr . Rossiya , IPA : [ rɐˈsʲijə ] ) , or the Russian Federation , [ e ] is a European country located in Eastern Europe with a vast expanse of territory that stretches across Northern Asia . At 17,125,200 square kilometres ( 6,612,100 sq mi ) , it is by far the largest country in the world by area , covering more than one-eighth of the Earth 's inhabited land area , spanning eleven time zones , and bordering 16 sovereign nations . The territory of Russia extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east , and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caucasus in the south . With 146.7 million inhabitants living in the country 's 85 federal subjects as of 2020 , Russia is the most populous nation in Europe and the ninth-most populous nation in the world . Russia 's capital and largest city is Moscow ; other major urban areas include Saint Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod , Kazan and Chelyabinsk . The East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD . Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants , the medieval state of Rus arose in the 9th century . In 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire , beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium . Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of smaller states , until it was finally reunified by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 15th century . By the 18th century , the nation had greatly expanded through conquest , annexation , and exploration to become the Russian Empire , which was the third largest empire in history , stretching from Poland on the west to Alaska on the east . Following the Russian Revolution , the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR ) became the largest and leading constituent of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR/Soviet Union ) , the world 's first constitutionally socialist state .
Blanka Vlašić ( Croatian pronunciation : [ ˈblaːŋka ˈʋlaʃitɕ ] ; born 8 November 1983 ) is a Croatian track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump . She is a two-time world champion and double Olympic medallist who ranks as the joint second highest female jumper of all time with her personal best of 2.08 m ( 6 ft 9 3⁄4 in ) . She is the Croatian record holder in the event , and the former indoor world champion . The daughter of Croatian decathlon record holder Joško Vlašić , she was a talented junior athlete and attended her first Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney at the age of sixteen . She won the World Junior Championships in Athletics in both 2000 and 2002 . Vlašić broke the Croatia national record in 2004 and also won her first world senior medal at the World Indoor Championships that year . A hyperthyroid condition hindered her second Olympic appearance in Athens and she spent the 2005 season recuperating from surgery . She returned in 2006 , taking the silver at the World Indoor Championships . The 2007 season signalled a strong run of form : she won at the 2007 World Championships , became the indoor world champion in 2008 and her winning streak came to an end with a narrow loss at the Beijing Olympics , where she took silver . She became World Champion for a second time in 2009 . Her awards also including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year 2010 and the European Athlete of the Year Trophy ( 2007 , 2010 ) .
Croatia ( /kroʊˈeɪʃə/ ( listen ) , kroh-AY-shə ; Croatian : Hrvatska , pronounced [ xř̩ʋaːtskaː ] ) , officially the Republic of Croatia ( Croatian : Republika Hrvatska , listen ( help·info ) ) , [ d ] is a country in Southeast Europe . It borders Slovenia to the northwest , Hungary to the northeast , Serbia to the east , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Montenegro to the southeast , sharing a maritime border with Italy . Its capital , Zagreb , forms one of the country 's primary subdivisions , along with twenty counties . Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres ( 21,851 square miles ) and a population of 4.28 million , most of whom are Roman Catholics . Croatia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age . The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century . Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir . Tomislav became the first king by 925 , elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom , which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries . During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended , Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102 . In 1527 , faced with Ottoman conquest , the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne . In October 1918 , in the final days of World War I , the State of Slovenes , Croats and Serbs , independent from Austria-Hungary , was proclaimed in Zagreb , and in December 1918 it was merged into the Kingdom of Serbs , Croats and Slovenes ( renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929 ) . Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 , most of the Croatian territory was incorporated into a Nazi-backed client-state , the Independent State of Croatia .
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it . In its modern most practiced format , a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat for landing . In the modern era , athletes run towards the bar and use the Fosbury Flop method of jumping , leaping head first with their back to the bar . Since ancient times , competitors have introduced increasingly effective techniques to arrive at the current form . The discipline is , alongside the pole vault , one of two vertical clearance events to feature on the Olympic athletics programme . It is contested at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Indoor Championships , and is a common occurrence at track and field meetings . The high jump was among the first events deemed acceptable for women , having been held at the 1928 Olympic Games . Javier Sotomayor ( Cuba ) is the current men 's record holder with a jump of 2.45 m ( 8 ft 1⁄4 in ) set in 1993 - the longest standing record in the history of the men 's high jump . Stefka Kostadinova ( Bulgaria ) has held the women 's world record at 2.09 m ( 6 ft 10 1⁄4 in ) since 1987 , also the longest-held record in the event .
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams DNZM ( formerly Vili ; born 6 October 1984 ) is a New Zealand shot putter . She is a four-time World champion , four-time World Indoor champion , two-time Olympic , three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner . She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres outdoors and 20.54 m indoors . These marks are Oceanian , Commonwealth and New Zealand national records . She also holds the Oceanian junior record ( 18.93 m ) and the Oceanian youth record ( 17.54 m ) , as well as the World Championships record , World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record . Adams was the third woman to win world championships at the youth , junior , and senior level of an athletics event , following the feats of Yelena Isinbayeva and Jana Pittman . She was the first woman to win four consecutive individual titles at the IAAF World Championships . Adams had a winning streak that extended to 56 wins at elite-level competitions , which started in August 2010 and ended in July 2015 . ( This streak may increase to 95 , depending on the results of a doping ban against Nadzeya Ostapchuk , who was the sole challenger to Vili during this period . ) She was the IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2014 and the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013 . She had the longest shot put performance of the season every year from 2006 to 2014 , bar 2008 when she was second to Natallia Mikhnevich ( later banned for doping that year ) . Adams won silver medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics , 2005 World Championships in Athletics , and the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2018 .
New Zealand ( Māori : Aotearoa [ aɔˈtɛaɾɔa ] ) is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country has two main landmasses - the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui ) , and the South Island ( Te Waipounamu ) - and around 600 smaller islands . It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres ( 103,500 sq mi ) . New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres ( 1,200 mi ) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres ( 600 mi ) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal , and plant life . The country 's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . New Zealand 's capital city is Wellington , and its most populous city is Auckland . Sometime between 1250 and 1300 , Polynesians settled in the islands and developed a distinctive Māori culture . In 1642 , Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand . In 1840 , representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi , which declared British sovereignty over the islands . In 1841 , New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion ; it gained full statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state .
The shot put is a track and field event involving putting ( pushing rather than throwing ) a heavy spherical ball - the shot - as far as possible . The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896 , and women 's competition began in 1948 .
Andreas Thorkildsen ( born 1 April 1982 ) is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw . He was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008 , European Champion in 2006 and 2010 , and World Champion in 2009 . He is the first male javelin thrower in history to simultaneously be European , World and Olympic Champion . He was also a three-time silver medalist at the World Championships , placing second in 2005 , 2007 and 2011 . His personal best of 91.59 m , set in 2006 , is the Norwegian record .
Norway ( Norwegian : Norge ( Bokmål ) or Noreg ( Nynorsk ) ; Northern Sami : Norga ; Lule Sami : Vuodna ; Southern Sami : Nöörje ) , officially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula ; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway . [ note 2 ] The sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island is a dependent territory and thus not considered part of the kingdom . Norway also lays claim to the Antarctic territories of Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island . Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres ( 148,729 sq mi ) and a population of 5,312,300 ( as of August 2018 ) . The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden ( 1,619 km or 1,006 mi long ) . Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east , and the Skagerrak strait to the south , with Denmark on the other side . Norway has an extensive coastline , facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea . The maritime influence also dominates Norway 's climate with mild lowland temperatures on the sea coasts , whereas the interior , while colder , is also a lot milder than areas elsewhere in the world on such northerly latitudes . Even during polar night in the north , temperatures above freezing are commonplace on the coastline . The maritime influence brings high rainfall and snowfall to some areas of the country . Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway . Erna Solberg has been prime minister since 2013 when she replaced Jens Stoltenberg .
The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin , a spear about 2.5 m ( 8 ft 2 in ) in length , is thrown . The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area . Javelin throwing is an event of both the men 's decathlon and the women 's heptathlon .
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki ( born 19 December 1982 ) is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw . He is a World Champion , having won gold in 2007 . His personal best throw of 91.53 m , set in 2005 , ranks him eleventh on the overall list .
Finland ( Finnish : Suomi [ ˈsuo̯mi ] ( listen ) ; Swedish : Finland [ ˈfɪ̌nland ] ( listen ) , Finland Swedish : [ ˈfinlɑnd ] ) , officially the Republic of Finland ( Finnish : Suomen tasavalta , Swedish : Republiken Finland ( listen to all ) ) , [ note 1 ] is a Nordic country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea , Gulf of Bothnia , and Gulf of Finland , between Sweden to the west , Russia to the east , Estonia to the south , and north-eastern Norway to the north . The capital and largest city is Helsinki . Other major cities are Espoo , Tampere , Vantaa , Oulu , Turku , Jyväskylä , Lahti and Kuopio . Finland 's population is 5.52 million as of July 2019 , the majority of whom live in the central and south of the country and speak Finnish , a Finnic language from the Uralic language family , unrelated to the Scandinavian languages . Finland is the eighth-largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union . It is a parliamentary republic of 310 municipalities , and includes an autonomous region , the Åland Islands . Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area , which produces one third of the country 's GDP . Swedish is the second official language of Finland , which is mainly spoken in certain coastal areas and on Åland . A large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church . Finland was inhabited when the last ice age ended , approximately 9000 BC . Comb Ceramic culture introduced pottery 5200 BC and Corded Ware culture coincided with the start of agriculture between 3000 and 2500 BC . The Bronze Age and Iron Age were characterised by extensive contacts with other cultures in the Fennoscandian and Baltic regions .
Barbora Špotáková ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈbarbora ˈʃpotaːkovaː ] ; born 30 June 1981 ) is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw . She is a two-time Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion , as well as the current world record holder with a throw of 72.28 m .
The Czech Republic ( /ˈtʃɛk -/ ( listen ) ; Czech : Česká republika [ ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpublɪka ] ( listen ) ) , also known by its short-form name , Czechia ( /ˈtʃɛkiə/ ( listen ) ; Czech : Česko [ ˈtʃɛsko ] ( listen ) ) , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Poland to the northeast , Slovakia to the southeast , Austria to the south , and Germany to the west . The Czech Republic is a landlocked country with a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers ( 30,450 sq mi ) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate . It is a unitary parliamentary republic , with 10.7 million inhabitants . Its capital and largest city is Prague , with 1.3 million residents ; other major cities are Brno , Ostrava , Olomouc and Pilsen . The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia , Moravia , and Czech Silesia . The Czech state was formed in the late ninth century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire . In 1002 , the duchy was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire along with the Kingdom of Germany , the Kingdom of Burgundy , the Kingdom of Italy ; and became the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 , reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century . Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century . The Protestant Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century led to the Hussite Wars , the first of many conflicts with the Catholic Church . Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy . The Protestant Bohemian Revolt ( 1618-20 ) against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years ' War . After the Battle of the White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule , eradicated Protestantism , reimposed Catholicism , and adopted a policy of gradual Germanization .