History of Athletics

  • 776 BCE

    The race is formalized as a sport

    The race is formalized as a sport
    Running was formalized as a sport in 776 B.C., when the first Olympic Games were held in Greece.
  • 490 BCE

    Origin Of The Marathon

    Origin Of The Marathon
    The first marathon was run in 490 BC in Greece. After the battle of Marathon that opposed the Greeks and the Persians.
  • The first Olympic Games in the modern age

    The first Olympic Games in the modern age
  • Spyridon Louis

    Spyridon Louis
    Spyridon was a Greek runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the first Olympic Games of the modern era, in 1896.
  • Juan Carlos Zabala Argentine marathon runner

    Juan Carlos Zabala Argentine marathon runner
    In the 1932 The Angels Olympic Games, Zabala won the gold medal in the marathon, becoming the first Latin American to achieve this distinction.
  • Delfo Cabrera Argentine marathon runner

    Delfo Cabrera Argentine marathon runner
    Olympic champion at the London 1948 Olympic Games, Cabrera became the first Latin American to win a gold medal in the Olympic marathon.
  • Noemi Simonetto

    Noemi Simonetto
    Simonetto was the only female Olympic medalist in the history of Argentine athletics thanks to her silver medal in the long jump at the London 1948 Olympic Games.
  • Roger Bannister

    Roger Bannister
    On May 6, british runner Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes, marking a historic milestone in athletics.
  • The first time the Olympic Games were held in the Southern Hemisphere

  • Abebe Nikola

    Abebe Nikola
    At the Rome Olympics, Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila became the first African athlete to win a gold medal in the marathon.
  • First 10,000 meter race at the Olympic Games

  • Usain Bolt

    Usain Bolt
    Usain Bolt, the Jamaican runner who set the world record in 9.58 seconds in 2009.
  • Eliud Kipchoge

    Eliud Kipchoge
    Eliud Kipchoge set a new official world record in the marathon in 2019 by completing the distance in less than 2 hours and 2 minutes.