ATHLETICS Athletics is a sport, comprising a group of athletic events or disciplines, each of which involves either running, walking, throwing or jumping. It is divided into: track, field. Track Events Men and women do not compete against each other, although they may sometimes run in the same races due to time constraints at high school meets. Women generally run the same distances as men although hurdles and steeplechase barriers are lower and the weights of the shot, discus, javelin and hammer are less. * Track events - running events conducted on a 400 m track. * Sprints: events up to and including 400 m. Common events are 60 m (indoors only), 100 m, 200 m, 300 m and 400 m. * Middle distance: events from 800 m to 3000 m, 800 m, 1500 m, mile and 3000 m * Steeplechase - a race (usually 3000 m) in which runners must negotiate barriers and water jumps. * Long distance: runs 5000 m or over. Common events are 5000 m and 10000 m. Less common are 1, 6, 12, 24 hour races. * Hurdling: 110 m high hurdles (100 m for women) and 400 m intermediate hurdles (300 m in some high schools). * Relays: 4 x 100 m relay, 4 x 400 m relay, 4 x 200 m relay, 4 x 800 m relay, 4 x 1 Mile relay, etc. Each runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. Road running: conducted on open roads, but often finishing on the track. Common events are over 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon and marathon. The marathon is the only common road-racing distance run in major international athletics championships such as the Olympics. Race walking: usually conducted on open roads, but is also a typical event in high school meets. In race walking the heel of the forward foot must touch the track before the toe of the trailing foot leaves the ground. Common events are 10 km, 20 km and 50 km. Field events * Throwing events * Shot put an athletics event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion) a heavy metal ball (called the shot) as far as possible. * Hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. * Javelin throw is an athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear-like object made of metal, fiberglass and, in some cases, carbon fiber. * Discus throw is an athletic throwing event competition. The discus, the object to be thrown, is a heavy lenticular disc. Jumping events * High jump is an athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without aid of any devices. * Pole vault is an athletics event where a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. * Long jump is an athletics event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to land as far from the take-off point as possible. * Triple jump is an athletics event, previously also known as "hop, step and jump", whose various names describe the actions a competitor takes. The athlete runs down a runway until he reaches a designated mark, from which the jump is measured. Combined or Multi events Pentathlon : * shooting * fencing * swimming * riding * running Heptathlon : * 100 m hurdles * high jump * shot put * 200 m * long jump * javelin throw * 800 m Decathlon The decathlon includes five events on each of two successive days. The first day schedules the: * 100-metre run * long jump * shot put * high jump * 400 metres. It is a day of speedy movement, explosive power, and jumping ability. * Day 2 consists of * the 110-metre hurdles * discus * pole vault * javelin, and * 1500 metres. TASK 1 Answer the questions: 1. Which combined events comprise hurdles? – 2. Which combined event includes riding? – 3. Which combined event misses shot put? – 4. What is another name for a heavy metal ball which is thrown within one of the field disciplines? – 5. What is the name of the race in which competitors must overcome various barriers? – 6. What is the difference between road running and race walking? – See more on: http://www.athleticssa.com.au/wp/wordpress/?page_id=827 http://www.capitalcitytrackclub.org/Officials/Field/Field_Officials.html http://books.google.cz/books?id=9vZmcSeuFxoC&pg=PP23&lpg=PP23&dq=track+judges+athletics&source=bl&o ts=ugGFIVsx8v&sig=2zNQdmft26fq5f_H9wvQgFx4Mvc&hl=cs&sa=X&ei=qzAaUZrlDoaL4AT1woHIDA&ved=0CGcQ6AEwBw TASK 2 Read the text and answer the questions below: ATHLETICS OFFICIALS There are different types of technical officials: The referee: Makes sure that technical regulations are followed Decides the placings when there is no camera to record the end of a track event and when the track judges cannot agree Checks the final places Oversees the measurements for record throws and jumps, where there is no measurement judge to fulfil the role Warns athletes if they behave improperly and can exclude competitors from an event The track judges: Confirm the order in which the athletes finish Must be 5m away from the finish line in a raised position, so that they have a clear view of the finish line Hand responsibility regarding the placing of competitors to the referee, who has the final decision, if the track judges cannot agree the order of placing The field judges: Record and measure each trial that an athlete makes Ensure the measurements recorded are precise Record the results and then check with one another (there should be 2 judges) at the end of each round to make sure that they have both written down the same measurement Also decide whether a trial is valid or not. If a jump or throw is valid, then a white flag is raised. If there is something wrong with the jump or throw, then a red flag is raised. Timekeepers and photo-finish judges: These are appointed, often as well as an electronic timekeeper, for elite competitions. There should be a timekeeper for each athlete taking part in a track event. If there is an electronic timing device with automatic photo-finish equipment, there must be a judge to look at the photos to decide the outcome. Track judges are also allocated as umpires to: Assist the referee Check to make sure that none of the rules are broken Report to the referee if an athlete breaks any rules. What sort of things are the umpires looking for? They are checking to make sure that, during track events, athletes stay in the correct lane. They also check that the procedure for handing the baton on during relay races is followed correctly. There are a lot of officials involved in athletics meetings. Other officials for track events include a starter, marksman, and recaller, in the case of a false start. There are also lap scorers who record the number of laps completed by each athlete. There are also marshals to prevent non-competitors entering the competition area, announcers, measuring judges and even a wind-gauge operator, to check the direction and the speed of the wind. QUESTIONS: 1. Which officials confirm the order in which the athletes finish? 2. Which officials can exclude competitors from an event? 3. Which officials check that the procedure for handing the baton is followed correctly? 4. Which officials record the number of laps? 5. Which officials are responsible for recording results? TASK 3: Find English equivalents to the following Czech terms: Vrchní rozhodčí Činovníci Pořadí Předpis, pravidlo Rozhodčí v cíli Měřič rychlosti větru Hlavní pořadatel na hřišti Rozhodčí pro kontrolu náčiní Hlasatel Startér Počítač kol Úsekový rozhodčí Časoměřič Rozhodčí disciplin v poli Indikátor, měřítko Pozice TASK 4: Try to make a list of qualities any official should have and outline his/her main duties, responsibilities; positive features and drawbacks of the job. Then listen to a short presentation about officiating and fill in missing information, compare your ideas with those presented in the video: Before listening study the vocabulary below. 1. To achieve the best results in officiating, officials must be ___________. 2. Officials watch the game closely to make sure that it is ___________. 3. Within their responsibilities before the game officials may do the following: _____________, _____________, ______________. 4. The officials see to ____________ and _______________ and to respecting ____________ _________________. 5. During the action the officials keep track of ________, __________, ____________. 6. To officiate the action properly, you need a ___________ and the ___________ ____ ______________. 7. When officials detect infractions of the rules, they may stop the action to __________ _________ and _______________ ______________. 8. Besides a cool head officials need to have complete knowledge of the __________ _________. 9. To get a respected position in an officiating job, you need a lot of ___________ and __________. 10. How do you understand the phrase: “they get the best seats in the house”? Vocabulary Impartial not connected to or influenced by one particular person or group Eligible allowed by rules or laws to do something or to receive something (noun =způsobilost) Keep track to have all the information that you need about something Intently concentrating hard on something Tune out to stop paying attention Distraction something that gets your attention and prevents you from concentrating on something else Infraction a situation in which someone breaks a law or rule Assess to carefully consider a situation, person, or problem in order to make a judgment Appropriate suitable or right for a particular situation or purpose Command control of something Essentials completely necessary Fierce very angry, or ready to attack Pack a group of people who do something together Stats = statistics