Claim: Athletics at the Summer Olympics includes contests for athletics.

Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running , jumping , and throwing . The name is derived from the sport 's typical venue : a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place . Track and field is categorised under the umbrella sport of athletics , which also includes road running , cross country running , and race walking .   The foot racing events , which include sprints , middle - and long-distance events , race walking and hurdling , are won by the athlete with the fastest time . The jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height . Regular jumping events include long jump , triple jump , high jump and pole vault , while the most common throwing events are shot put , javelin , discus and hammer . There are also `` combined events '' or `` multi events '' , such as the pentathlon consisting of five events , heptathlon consisting of seven events , and decathlon consisting of ten events . In these , athletes participate in a combination of track and field events . Most track and field events are individual sports with a single victor ; the most prominent team events are relay races , which typically feature teams of four . Events are almost exclusively divided by gender , although both the men 's and women 's competitions are usually held at the same venue .   It is one of the oldest sports . In ancient times , it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece . The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC , when Koroibos , a cook from the nearby city of Elis , won the stadium race , a foot race 600 feet long . According to some literary traditions , this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals . In modern times , the two most prestigious international track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics . The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body .   Records are kept of the best performances in specific events , at world and national levels , right down to a personal level . However , if athletes are deemed to have violated the event 's rules or regulations , they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased .   In North America , the term track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events , such as the marathon , rather than strictly track-based events .