Happy Friday — and happy Olympics day! The opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics begins tonight, and I know there are a ton of us looking forward to watching.
If you’re a seasoned Olympic games watcher, or a seasoned athlete, you may be well aware of most of the Olympic events. But what about someone that doesn’t watch all the games every year, or the person that isn’t an avid athlete? That person might not know all the events. This post is for that person — because today I’m going to tell you about five Olympic track and field events that you might not know much about.
5 Olympic Events You May Not Know About
1. Heptathlon
What the what? What is the heptathlon, exactly? The heptathlon is a two-day competition for women consisting of seven events. The athletes compete in the following events spread over two days: 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m, long jump, javelin, and 800m. (Note: the heptathlon is primarily for women, but men do compete in the heptathlon during indoor track.)
2. Decathlon
The decathlon is the two-day competition for men, consisting of ten events. They are: 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m.
3. Steeplechase
I first found out there was an event called steeplechase a couple summers ago when I was training on a university track. I couldn’t figure out why there was a giant horse-jump looking contraption on one end of the track. Maybe I had never heard of steeplechase because I wasn’t a collegiate runner, who knows. But the steeplechase is a 3000m run with hurdles and a water obstacle. It seems rather odd to me but I know a lot of people like it, and the runners sail smoothly over the hurdles and through the water. It’s quite amazing to watch. Click here for a video of the women’s 3000m steeplechase final in the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
4. Triple Jump
A close cousin to the long jump, the triple jump is kind of like a hop, skip and a jump. The athletes have incredible power going into the triple jump. It’s fascinating how strong and fast these athletes are. Click here to see a video.
5. Hammer Throw
I think most people probably know what this is, but since it’s different from your standard high school shot put and discus, I thought I’d add it to the list. In hammer throw events, athletes throw a metal ball attached to a steel wire. It has to land within a specific sector for the distance to be measured properly.
And with that, I hope I cleared up some confusion about some of the track and field Olympic events coming up. Make sure you tune in for some of them — it’ll be great fun!
Happy Olympics Day!
xo
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