Events

100 Metre Sprint

The 100m sprint is perhaps the most watched and most prestigious event in athletics, anyone who knows sport wants to know who won this race. The ultimate test of raw foot speed and leg power. Competitors race down a straight course one hundred metres in length, and the world record holder can consider them self the fastest man / woman / beast or Opossum in the world. The first athlete to cross the finish line wins, it’s simple and dramatic and over in less than 10 seconds.

Long Jump

The long jump requires athletes to combine speed, strength and agility to defy gravity and launch themselves through the air to land as far from their take off point as possible. Take care not to jump too late and ‘foul’ but during the jump anything goes – the ‘sail’, the ‘hang’, or even the ‘hitch-kick’. As soon as the athlete makes a hole in the sand pit the referee’s tape measure comes out and his decision is final. Only the best will stand on the podium to receive the gold medal.

110 Metre Hurdles

The 110m hurdles is a punishing race where competitors must leap a series of 1.067 metre barriers whilst maintaining the maximum possible velocity. There is no penalty for hitting a hurdle, except for slowing down, and picking up enormous bruises. To become the perfect hurdler an athlete must refine their technique and attain the ‘perfect form’ where every step is spaced in time with the hurdles and brings you closer to the finish line and the cheering and the champagne.

Skeet Shooting

Concentration and focus must be maintained at all costs otherwise you’ll let some of those pesky clay pigeons get away. It pays to have two hands for this event but it pays even better to have two brains so you can track these high speed projectiles coming from both directions and despatch them all with your twelve gauge. This is one event which rewards you spectacularly for precision and all players who aim for that perfect score might get an unexpected surprise.

Weightlifting

Straddling the divide between agonising failure and equally agonising success – can you take the strain and lock out those enormous iron weights above your head? Weight lifting offers a unique combination of tactical choice, endurance, and vein-popping power. Select the wrong weight and you can handicap your chances straight away, fail to build enough power to lift that weight and you will look like a fool, but fail to keep the weight above your head and you might just walk away a few inches shorter than when you started.

400m

This is the longest sprint race in athletics, and easily the most frightening too. Just keep telling yourself that there are only four hundred of those little metres and it doesn’t sound so bad. But then, when your feet are pounding the track trying to maintain efficient speed without over-exerting and triggering a disastrous self destruct in the push for the line, every one of those little metres will scream at you “keep up you weakling, where is your stamina now?”, and you will scream back “please make it stop”!

Steeplechase

Racing over obstacles, big ones that will not fall over if you bash into them, and some of them are followed by huge puddles that frequently make your running shoes all wet…whoever thought this was a good idea? This is an event for the masochists of the athletics world, it started off as a cross country race but there was so much comedy when the runners fell face first in the water that they had to bring it into the stadium and let the whole crowd have a good laugh. You can even jump off the top of the barriers, how cool is that?

Archery

The discipline of archery has its roots deep in history and has been contested in top level athletics for over a hundred years. The demands of the event are as much mental as physical as it requires a super-human amount of concentration to maintain consistent precision over various distances and guide the point of your arrow across the field and bury it deep into the target butt. Concentric rings on the target are used to determine the scoring but any fool knows that the bullseye is prized over all things as the ultimate goal of accuracy.

Javelin

Throwing is an almost primeval activity, a pursuit that links us back to the first men hunting for food to improve their chances of survival in a harsh world. Then throwing became more fun because man had better sticks and more food in their bellies. Now in modern athletics throwing is a great big amount of fun and the javelin is perhaps the purest expression of this – launching pointy things way up into the air, it just feels good. A refined combination of technique and arm power? Or just chucking a stick like a monkey? It’s all the same really.

Cycling

There are many variations of competitive cycling which test the cyclist’s strength and tactical appreciation. The event contested in New International Track and Field is one of the most taxing. Competitors use modified bicycles with a fixed gear and no brakes and attempt to score points in a series of sprints separated by tense pace sections. The winner will be the athlete who knows how to measure their pace when necessary, and when to pedal like an utter maniac (please note, this is a technical term used within the cycling fraternity).

Triple Jump

Uniquely complex in the world of athletic jump events, the triple jump has no less than three jumps, one directly after another, at high speed and under careful control. It is a ruthless examination of sporting ability and physical conditioning. The best triple jumpers in the world are expert sprinters, expert jumpers, and have massive rubbery springs instead of legs. Unfortunately they can’t compete in New International Track and Field so our athletes have to use real legs.

Hammer

The modern hammer used in athletics consists of a heavy steel ball attached with a length of strong wire to a handle. In the right hands this object can arc across the field like a rock from a catapult. Most hammer throwers will turn 4 times in the circle before they are ready to throw, and during these spins they aim to generate a devastating amount of momentum in the ball. However if they fail to execute the crucial last phase then all this power will be wasted. This final skill is commonly known as “don’t forget to let go”.

Discus

A truly ancient sport with the most noble and celebrated classical origins, the image of the discus thrower in some ways symbolises the earliest days of athletic competition. The modern athlete might not resemble the statues of historical Greece very closely, certainly you would expect most sportsmen to wear clothes these days, but the essential muscular motions and goals of the event remain intact. To be the winner you must propel this disc farther forwards than all your opponents.

Shot Put

A champion shot putter is usually built like a mountain of explosive muscle and sinew. All this biological advantage must be brought to bear in a matter of a couple of seconds between standing stationary and pushing the shot out into the throwing sector. However, it would be a mistake to overlook the role of delicacy and technique in this most brutish of events. In fact it is a foul throw if the competitor doesn’t push the shot from their fingertips, and any shot-putter will have fingertips like a little baby as a result.

Breaststroke

The most advanced swimming stroke ever devised with a great average speed and excellent body shape in the water allowing for reduced drag. For a fast 100m time the swimmer should be relaxed and very efficient with their movements throughout the stroke but there are a couple of other factors that can make or break your performance. After 50m you will be required to do a tumble turn in order to reverse direction in the shortest amount of time, and periodically throughout the race it is normally advisable to breathe.

100m Backstroke

Lying flat on your back in the water could be the most relaxing way to participate in New International Track and Field, but if you think this event will be easy or not hotly contested then you will be in for a big surprise. One important factor to consider is that although your face will be above the water at all times you will never be able to see where you are going. However, at the top level of competitive swimming it is currently unacceptable to wear a safety helmet in case of head on collision with the wall.

Pole Vault

The object of pole vaulting is to clear a bar supported upon two uprights without knocking it down. This bar has unfortunately been suspended so high up in the air that our plucky athletes have to use a flexible pole to assist their flight. In recent years this pole has become very high tech with a composite of materials designed to allow extreme compression under take-off forces and a massive flexing power while swiftly returning to straightness. The role of the athlete in this bizarre enterprise is to hang on tight and hope for the best.

High Dive

For the thrill seekers and the daredevils the high dive will always hold a special appeal. This is one sport where you are required to put your body on the line and risk a painful watery slap every time you climb up the platform. Some of the qualities needed for success are strength and flexibility, but when you are revolving in the air and accelerating downwards towards terminal velocity the most important skill you will need is awareness, if you lose it for one split second in the dive you can suddenly find the world has turned upside down.

Double Trap Shooting

Competitive shotgun sports are all about the pursuit of perfection, every clay target that flies past you is an opportunity to score and the most dedicated and professional shooters will want to blast them all without exception. The speed and angle of the targets is unpredictable and no-one will get far in this event if they are not able to maintain an unblinking focus and expertly poised trigger finger. To be the best you must think like a pigeon and show no mercy.

Springboard

Spring, verb: to leap or jump up suddenly. Springiness is usually a vague and subjective quality in most walks of life; you might enjoy a springy mattress, or a springy soufflé, but never really dwell on what it means to spring at the highest level. Not so in the springboard event; here the amount of springiness is a powerful and positive force. To dive well from the springboard, to become a champion, you must find the rhythm of the spring, bend like the spring, and then become the spring.

Vault

This is an exciting and daring gymnastic event with several very distinct skills and a strong emphasis on dynamism. The athlete will sprint down the runway as fast as their legs will carry them, attack the springboard to approach the vaulting horse with just the right angle and speed, push off or vault with their hands on the horse attaining great height with which to execute a dizzying sequence of twists and spins, and finally, if all these elements have been successfully performed, they still have an excellent chance of landing on their head and collapsing in a heap.

Rowing

Competitive rowing demands huge reserves of endurance, the athlete will punish all the major muscle groups, including biceps, triceps, buttocks and abdomen. Not to mention the tremendous cardiovascular strain associated with this constant effort. Are rowers insane to push their bodies past all natural limits of athletic exertion? Perhaps so, but there are medals to be won and records to smash so in New International Track and Field you must do whatever it takes.

High Jump

To throw your body over the top of a horizontal bar balanced up to 2 metres above the ground or beyond is a feat of sporting achievement like no other. No assistance is allowed for this jump but choosing which heights to attempt and which to pass over is an important consideration. The winner can even touch the bar on their way over so long as they do not knock it to the floor. Strangely though, for an event that so closely resembles flight, every athlete who jumps will end up falling onto the mat with the grace of a sack of potatoes.

Horizontal Bar

The events in New International Track and Field do not come much more technical than this. There are skills and techniques at play that take years to learn and split seconds to mess up. The bar itself is only 28mm in diameter but during a routine it will be used for grips, releases and regrasps, giant swings and various intricate combinations of the above. The climax of the event can also be the most impressive skill of all – the dismount – fling yourself off the bar, spin up high towards the ceiling, and land squarely on your feet, it’s a piece of cake.