THE 8 MOST POPULAR FIELD TESTS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The field tests are one of the two branches into which athletics is divided, and basically bring together all those sports disciplines that take place in the center of the sports complex, which is surrounded by the track, where the other branch takes place (track events).

Many of the field events are truly ancient sports that, some with very little modification, remain today and are very important Olympic disciplines.

In fact, track and field events have the highest following every four years when the modern Olympics are held.

Broadly speaking, athletics can be divided into competitions that involve running, jumping, and throwing. The first belong to the track tests, while the other two make up the so-called field tests.

Field trials and their Olympic winners

1- Long jump or long jump

This competition consists of a jump as long and powerful as possible that the athlete must make after an energetic but relatively short race that allows him to gain momentum.

The jump must start at a certain place, marked by a line on the floor. If the athlete steps on or passes this line, the jump is considered void.

To achieve greater distance, the athlete pushes himself forward with both legs. The jumped distance is measured from the ground mark to the closest mark made in the sand by the athlete's body upon landing.

This is a discipline dominated by Anglo-Saxons where the legendary Carl Lewis (USA) stands out with 4 gold medals throughout its Olympic history.

In Rio 2016 another North American, Jeff Henderson won the gold by jumping 8.38 meters. In women's, Tianna Bartoletta of the United States won (7.17 meters).

2- Triple jump

The triple jump measures the total distance traveled by the athlete taking 3 long strides or strides after a run to gain momentum. The jump must start at a certain place, marked by a line on the floor.

If the athlete steps on or passes this line, the jump is considered void. The first step is taken by landing on one foot, the second jump with the opposite foot and in the third and last jump you must land with both feet on a sandy surface.

A curious fact is that the North American Christian Taylor won the gold medal in Rio 2016 and in London 2012 and was escorted by his countryman Will Claye on both occasions.

The honor roll for women in this discipline was made up of Colombian Caterine Ibarguen (15.17 m), Yulimar Rojas from Venezuela (14.98 m) and Olga Rypakova from Kazakhstan (14.74 m).

3- High jump or high jump

The high jump consists of generating the necessary momentum, after a short run, to achieve jumping over a horizontal bar without knocking it down.

This bar is placed between two vertical supports and at a higher height in each jump. Athletes have three chances at each height; As they manage to overcome it, they go on to the eliminatory and final stages.

Since 1968 the jump is done with your back to the bar; Before this date, it was done the other way around, that is, ventrally.

Being able to jump above our own height is almost unthinkable. However, these athletes manage to jump above 2.30 meters with the single impulse of their legs.

Derek Drouin of Canada won gold in Rio by jumping 2.38 meters. The Spanish Ruth Beitia took the women's gold.

4- Pole vault or pole vault

It is similar to the high jump, but in this modality the athlete helps himself to jump with a long pole or pole of certain flexibility that gives him greater momentum. This rod is between 4 and 5 meters long and is made of high-strength fiberglass.

The athlete makes a short run with the pole in his hands and calculates the exact point where he must nail it to the ground and jump, to pass over the bar placed between two vertical supports. The jump is done with both legs in front of the body and the athlete falls on a mat.

Brazilian Thiago Braz Da Silva took the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games and also became the first athlete in this discipline to jump over 6 meters (6.03) in this event.

In women, Ekaterini Stefanidi from Greece won the last gold medal, but it is worth highlighting the figure of the Russian Yelena Isinbaeva, who holds the record for the most Olympic medals won in this discipline, with gold in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and bronze in London 2012. In Rio he did not participate.

5- Shot put

The bullet is a solid metal ball that weighs 7.26 kg for the male category and 4 kg for the female category. On a surface of 2.1 meters in diameter demarcated on the floor - and from which the athlete must not leave - the launch is made towards the field.

To launch the bullet the athlete must hold it with his hand between his shoulder and his chin and propel himself with his body, bending slightly and stretching the arm in the launch.

The distance achieved is measured from the edge of the throwing circle to the place on the field where the bullet hits.

In the most recent Olympics, the gold went to the American Ryan Crouser, who also set a new Olympic record for throwing the bullet at 22.52 meters.

In the female bullet, the American Michelle Carter won with a result of 20.63 meters.

6- Discus throw

The disc is approximately 22 centimeters in diameter and 2 kilos in weight (18 centimeters and 1 kilo for women). On a circular surface of 2.5 meters in diameter demarcated on the floor - and from which it must not come out until the disc has landed on the field -, the athlete performs the movements for the launch, which consist of several turns on himself same to achieve a good impulse at the time of extending the arm and releasing the disc that will fall on the field.

At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games the gold medal went to the German Christoph Harting, throwing the puck 68.37 meters away.

However, the North American Al Oerter holds the record for golds in this discipline with a total of 4; his last medal was obtained at the Tokyo 64 games.

Sandra Perkovic of Croatia was the winner in 2016 with a mark of 69.21 meters.

7- Hammer throw

The hammer consists of a heavy metal ball attached to a handle through a wire. The set weighs about 7.26 kg and measures 1.2 meters in length.

In a circle similar to that of the shot put, the athlete stands with the hammer grasped by the handle with both hands, rotates it 2 or 3 times above and below his head and then 2 or 3 turns on himself to gain momentum and drop the hammer up and into the demarcated field.

Tajikistan's Dilshod Nazarov took Olympic gold in Rio by throwing the hammer 78.68 meters from the starting point.

Today, this is a discipline almost entirely dominated by East Asians, who made their way to the Westerners who achieved glory at the beginning of the last century: an American - John Flanagan - holds the record of three gold medals (1900, 1904 and 1908) and Patrick O'Callaghan of Ireland, who won gold in the 1928 and 1932 games.

Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland won her second gold medal by throwing 82.29 in Rio de Janeiro. The other he had won in London in 2012, throwing 77.60 meters, a sign of how athletes' performance progresses every four years.

8- Javelin throw

The javelin is a spear with a metal tip that the athlete must throw as far as possible towards the field from a fairway of 4 meters properly marked and a limit of 7 centimeters that the athlete must not pass at the moment of throwing.

Thomas Rohler from Germany took gold in this discipline at Rio 2016, his second for life and only surpassed by Czech Jan Zelezny who has 3 gold and one silver to his credit.

Croatian Sara Kolak won gold in the last Olympic Games throwing 66.18 meters.

References

1. Olympic winners. Recovered from olympic.org
2. Track tests. Recovered from elatletismo.galeon.com
3. Field tests. Recovered from cultufisik.blogspot.com.ar
4. Clareth Jaramillo Rodríguez (2004). Basic Athletics. Track and Field Fundamentals. Editorial Kinesis.
5. Athletics. Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.