All About Olympic Athletics - Track and Field - London 2012

Athletics is divided into four categories: track, field, road and combined events.

Track events consist of sprints, middle and long distance races, relays, steeplechase and hurdles. Field events include long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw. Road events are marathons and race walks, while heptathlon and decathlon combine elements of track and field.

Athletics accounts for some of the most high-profile events at the Games, including the 100-metre sprint, the glamour event of the Games.

The men's champion will approach speeds of 43 kilometres per hour at some point during the race before finishing in a time under ten seconds. The men's world record is held by Asafa Powell, with a time of 9.74 seconds. The women's world record has been held since 1988 by Florence Griffith-Joyner at 10.49 seconds.

The 200-metre race is also one of the most exciting events on the Olympic program for it pits classic sprinters against the long limbed specialists who can run tight turns with speed.

London 2012
The competition will see around 2000 athletes competing in 47 events with both men and women having very similar schedule of events. Men will compete in 24 events and while women in 23, as the women's schedule lackes the 50 km race walk. In addition, both the men's 110 m hurdles and decathlon are reflected in the women's schedule by the 100 m hurdles and heptathlon, respectively.