Hailing from Punjab, Manpreet Kaur helped India to gain its first gold at the Asian Athletics Championships. She made an incredible shot of 18.28m to secure the first position in the shot-put event on the first day of the tournament. Following Manpreet’s feat, Laxmanan followed with gold in the Men’s 5,000m with a timing of 14:54:48. It was a very hard-fought win for the runner after a bronze in the 2015 edition. Defending champion, Vikas Gowda faltered in the Men’s discus throw and could only manage a bronze which held him from qualifying for the World Championships next month. Overcoming a knee operation this year, he could manage to throw only 60.81m which well below his season best of 62m. Talking to media after his event Gowda said,“Last six months have been challenging for me to get back into good shape. I missed some training but overall it is okay. My focus is to give my best in the 2018 season. Want to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in April and later maintain my performance to earn podium finish in the Asian Games,” Manpreet qualified for the World Championships in April after her astounding throw of 18.86m at the Asian Grand Prix in China in April. “I was confident of winning the title on home soil and was mentally prepared to cross the 18m mark,” said Manpreet. “There was a bit of pressure but I settled down as the event progressed. My performance today will help me mentally gear up to face stiff challenge in the global competition,” For Laxmanan too, the next hurdle ahead is the World Championships which he said was his prime focus even before the Asian meet. He is one of India’s trump cards on the field for the WC and we would have to wait and look out for his performance there. He was behind 4 of his rivals until the final lap of the race. But somehow managed to pull out a sprint at the final 300m to outclass his opponents, “I had been preparing for this day since November last. Had been training with other runners at the high altitude of Ooty. To prepare for humid weather sometimes I trained in the afternoon, it worked out for me as I had enough energy to outclass my rivals in the last lap,” Laxmanan said. Yaser Salem of Qatar claimed silver and Tariq Ahmed of Saudi Arabia managed a bronze behind him. India also secured a couple of medals from the long jump pit. Neena V secured silver and Nayan James got bronze. In women’s 5,000m, Sanjivini Yadav managed a bronze clocking 16:00:24. Annu Rani improved India’s medal tally securing a bronze in the women’s javelin throw. Overall India finished at the top of the medals tally with seven medals at the end of Day 1 of the tournament with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze. 

Tanay Banerjee

Tanay Banerjee, Author at EssentiallySports

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Manpreet Kaur, Govindan Laxmanan flair the Indian flag at the Asian Athletics
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Athletics or track and field events is a group of events that involves running, jumping, throwing, and walking. It is one of the oldest forms of organized sport. Likewise, many athletes take part in the event and it is the most common sport in the world. Track and field competitions are famous around the world as it is a major part of the Olympics. Different athletes have graced their presence in the grandest sporting competition of all. Like the Olympics, there are different competitions held across the world- European, Commonwealth, African, Pan-American, and Asian. Other than that, the World Championships is the major competition after the Olympics. There are many events for both men and women to compete at the highest level. The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations sets the rules) as they check the world records too.

[caption id="attachment_761705" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-761705 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/GettyImages-485360364.jpg" alt="Usain Bolt with his Signature Pose" width="1920" height="1311" /> BEIJING, CHINA - AUGUST 27: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning gold in the Men's 200 metres final during day six of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 27, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)[/caption]
<h2>History of Athletics</h2>
The sport of athletics is one of the oldest competitions in the world. Many civilizations encouraged athletes to compete against each other. The Olympic Games of Greece <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/athletics/Organization-and-tournaments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">date back</a> to 776 BC. After all the history, the competitions evolved only in the 19th century. Although many nations formed their own athletics clubs, it came into worldwide reach with the return of the Olympic Games in 1896. The sport spread to all corners of the world and there was a rapid interest in the events that happened.

They found the IAAF in 1912 and had almost 170 national members by 1987. Different nations have unique ways of calling out athletics. In fact, the USA prefers to address it as track and field events.
<h2>Events</h2>
The unique <a href="https://www.topendsports.com/sport/athletics/events.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">events</a> in athletics are incredible. There are different events that come into the limelight. It is classified as running, jumping, throwing, multiple events, walking events, and marathon.

Here is the list of events that athletes take part in:

<strong>Running:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>Sprints- 100m, 200m, 400m</li>
 	<li>Middle-distance- 800m, 1500m</li>
 	<li>Long-distance- 3000m Steeplechase, 5000m, 10,000m</li>
 	<li>Hurdles- 110/100m, 400m</li>
 	<li>Relays- 4x100m, 4x400m, mixed 4x400m</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_735224" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]<img class="wp-image-735224 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-08-03T011103Z_1361450003_SP1EH8303ACDY_RTRMADP_3_OLYMPICS-2020-ATH-W-400M-RND1.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1151" /> Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Athletics - Women's 400m - Round 1 - Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - August 3, 2021. Allyson Felix of the United States in action REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel[/caption]

<strong>Jumping:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>Long Jump</li>
 	<li>High Jump</li>
 	<li>Triple Jump</li>
 	<li>Pole Vault</li>
</ul>
<strong>Throwing:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>Discuss</li>
 	<li>Shot Put</li>
 	<li>Javelin</li>
 	<li>Hammer Throw</li>
</ul>
<strong>Multiple Events</strong>

They hold these competitions with different events that determine the winner. Adding up points to each winner, the event ends with the number one ranked athlete, racking up the most points.
<ul>
 	<li>Decathlon includes 10 events: First day- 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m. Second day- 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, 1500m.</li>
 	<li>Heptathlon- This competition includes seven events: First day- 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m. Second day events-long jump, javelin, and 800m.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Walking</h3>
There are two types of competitions. Race walking and walking events. For the men's division, there are two events- 20km and 50km. Women only compete in 20km events.
<h3>Marathon</h3>
After walking, it is the marathon. These are long-distance competitions and stretch for around 42 km.
<h2>Greatest track and field athletes</h2>
There are many athletes who have graced the track and field competitions with their passion and dominance. Some are legendary sprinters while others jumped their way to glory. Here are some of the greatest athletes of all time.
<ul>
 	<li><strong>Usain Bolt</strong>: The fastest man alive and arguably one of the greatest Olympians of all time. He won the 100m and 200m competitions for three consecutive Olympic Games. Current world record holder of 100 and 200m.</li>
 	<li><strong>Carl Lewis:?</strong>Considered being the World Athlete of the century by IAAF. He <a href="https://www.completesports.com/top-10-most-dominant-track-and-field-athletes-in-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> 18 World Championships and Olympic Medals. He won the long jump event for four consecutive Olympics.</li>
 	<li><strong>Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce:?</strong>She is arguably the greatest sprinter of all time. She has eight Olympic medals to her name with two gold in the 100-meters event.</li>
 	<li><strong>Allyson Felix:?</strong>With 11 Olympic medals, she is the most decorated female track athlete of all time. She took part in five Olympic Games.</li>
</ul>
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-794219 size-full" src="https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/michael-johnson-1.jpg" alt="michael johnson" width="1200" height="1200" />
<ul>
 	<li><strong>Paavo Nurmi:?</strong>He is the most dominant athlete of all time. Transition well from 1500m to the marathon, he remains undefeated in the 10000m race.</li>
 	<li><strong>Edwin Moses: </strong>For exactly 9 years, Moses went undefeated in the 400m hurdles. He won 122 consecutive races.</li>
 	<li><strong>Sergey Bubka: </strong>He is the greatest pole vaulter of all time. He broke his own pole vault record 35 times.</li>
 	<li><strong>Florence Griffith-Joyner:?</strong>The current 100m and 200m world record holder for women. Her personality and charisma are often unmatched by any athlete.</li>
 	<li><strong>Michael Johnson:?</strong>Before Usain Bolt, he dominated the track and field competitions. He won 12 Olympic and World Championships gold medas.</li>
</ul>

Athletics

Athletics or track and field events is a group of events that involves running, jumping, throwing, and walking. It is one of the oldest forms of organized sport. Likewise, many athletes take part in the event and it is the most common sport in the world. Track and field competitions are famous around the world as it is a major part of the Olympics. Different athletes have graced their presence in the grandest sporting competition of all. Like the Olympics, there are different competitions held across the world- European, Commonwealth, African, Pan-American, and Asian. Other than that, the World Championships is the major competition after the Olympics. There are many events for both men and women to compete at the highest level. The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations sets the rules) as they check the world records too. BEIJING, CHINA &#8211; AUGUST 27: Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates after winning gold in the Men&#8217;s 200 metres final during day six of the 15th IAAF World Athletics Championships Beijing 2015 at Beijing National Stadium on August 27, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) History of Athletics The sport of athletics is one of the oldest competitions in the world. Many civilizations encouraged athletes to compete against each other. The Olympic Games of Greece date back to 776 BC. After all the history, the competitions evolved only in the 19th century. Although many nations formed their own athletics clubs, it came into worldwide reach with the return of the Olympic Games in 1896. The sport spread to all corners of the world and there was a rapid interest in the events that happened. They found the IAAF in 1912 and had almost 170 national members by 1987. Different nations have unique ways of calling out athletics. In fact, the USA prefers to address it as track and field events. Events The unique events in athletics are incredible. There are different events that come into the limelight. It is classified as running, jumping, throwing, multiple events, walking events, and marathon. Here is the list of events that athletes take part in: Running: Sprints- 100m, 200m, 400m Middle-distance- 800m, 1500m Long-distance- 3000m Steeplechase, 5000m, 10,000m Hurdles- 110/100m, 400m Relays- 4x100m, 4x400m, mixed 4x400m Tokyo 2020 Olympics &#8211; Athletics &#8211; Women&#8217;s 400m &#8211; Round 1 &#8211; Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan &#8211; August 3, 2021. Allyson Felix of the United States in action REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel Jumping: Long Jump High Jump Triple Jump Pole Vault Throwing: Discuss Shot Put Javelin Hammer Throw Multiple Events They hold these competitions with different events that determine the winner. Adding up points to each winner, the event ends with the number one ranked athlete, racking up the most points. Decathlon includes 10 events: First day- 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m. Second day- 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, 1500m. Heptathlon- This competition includes seven events: First day- 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m. Second day events-long jump, javelin, and 800m. Walking There are two types of competitions. Race walking and walking events. For the men&#8217;s division, there are two events- 20km and 50km. Women only compete in 20km events. Marathon After walking, it is the marathon. These are long-distance competitions and stretch for around 42 km. Greatest track and field athletes There are many athletes who have graced the track and field competitions with their passion and dominance. Some are legendary sprinters while others jumped their way to glory. Here are some of the greatest athletes of all time. Usain Bolt: The fastest man alive and arguably one of the greatest Olympians of all time. He won the 100m and 200m competitions for three consecutive Olympic Games. Current world record holder of 100 and 200m. Carl Lewis:?Considered being the World Athlete of the century by IAAF. He has 18 World Championships and Olympic Medals. He won the long jump event for four consecutive Olympics. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce:?She is arguably the greatest sprinter of all time. She has eight Olympic medals to her name with two gold in the 100-meters event. Allyson Felix:?With 11 Olympic medals, she is the most decorated female track athlete of all time. She took part in five Olympic Games.  Paavo Nurmi:?He is the most dominant athlete of all time. Transition well from 1500m to the marathon, he remains undefeated in the 10000m race. Edwin Moses: For exactly 9 years, Moses went undefeated in the 400m hurdles. He won 122 consecutive races. Sergey Bubka: He is the greatest pole vaulter of all time. He broke his own pole vault record 35 times. Florence Griffith-Joyner:?The current 100m and 200m world record holder for women. Her personality and charisma are often unmatched by any athlete. Michael Johnson:?Before Usain Bolt, he dominated the track and field competitions. He won 12 Olympic and World Championships gold medas.

Manpreet Kaur, Govindan Laxmanan flair the Indian flag at the Asian Athletics Championships