FISU homepage / SPORTS / Summer Universiade / Athletics

Athletics

History of Athletics in FISU

Etymologically, athletics derives from the Greek term “athlos”, which describes some kind of contest or competition. Its roots are prehistoric as athletic elements are among the oldest of all sports, including running, walking, jumping, and throwing. Nowadays, athletics is a perfect example of the Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ (‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’). The competitions require athletes to run faster, throw further, jump higher and leap longer than their rivals. With over 1,000 athletes competing in 50 events, athletics is the largest individual sport in the programme of the Summer Universiade.
Whereas the early roots of university athletics may be found in the 1920s with the National Union of French Students staging the International University Championships in Paris (including an athletics-only programme), its FISU history started with the International Summer Sports Weeks and with its inclusion into the compulsory programme at the first edition of the Summer Universiade in Turin (ITA) in 1959. In fact, the Turin Universiade was a remarkable success with superb athletes such as the Italian sprinter, Livio Berruti, or the Romanian high jumper, Iolana Balas, competing in the events. A total of 17 athletics records were broken, crowing the success of the first Summer Games. The organisation of the 1961 Universiade was entrusted to the young Bulgarian student sports association, where the athletics performance turned out to be particularly impressive, with two World and 20 Universiade records being taken. In the following years, athletics continued to increase in size and importance. High-level athletes such as Matson, Kirsztenstein, Crothers and Ottoz attracted crowds and turned the athletics competitions into spectacular events. The Turin Universiade in 1970 remains without doubts one of the most astonishing feats in Universiade history. With a total of 98 national, 40 Universiade, 2 European and 2 World records, the athletics events concluded beyond all expectations. At this stage the latest, athletics was well-considered not only for its number of participants but also and specifically for its high quality of competition. The Bucharest (ROM) edition in 1981 continued this path and 14 Universiade records were broken. Not even the cancellation of the Universiade in Sao Paulo in 1989 could hurt the success of university athletics. FISU accepted a proposal from the German university sports association to organise a Universiade limited to four sports, including athletics, and Olympic champions such as the young Michael Johnson and Paula Ivan participated in the event. The 1990s continued to progress athletics, ensuring to maintain its high standards into the 21st century.

FISU Regulations

The athletics events will be organised in accordance with the most recent technical regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The programme and duration of the competitions will be fixed by the Executive Committee in agreement with the Organising Committee and the CTI. In principle, the programme shall last six (6) days and include the following events:

	Track discipline	Field discipline	Road
Men	100m, 200m, 400m, 800m,	Jumps: high, long,	20km walk, half marathon
	1500m, 5000m and 10.000m	triple and pole vault
	Hurdles: 110m and 400m	Throws: discus, javelin,
	3000m steeplechase	shotput, hammer
	Relays: 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m
	Decathlon
Women	100m, 200m, 400m, 800m,	Jumps: high, long,	20km walk, half marathon
	1500m, 5000m and 10.000m	triple and pole vault
	Hurdles: 100m and 400m	Throws: discus, javelin,
	3000m steeplechase	shotput, hammer
	Relays: 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m
	Heptathlon

Each country is authorised to enter in:

an individual event: two (2) athletes, both of whom have achieved the entry standard for the event in the year before the Universiade or one (1) athlete who has not achieved the entry standard;
a team event: one (1) team
For 10.000m for men and women, a maximum of three (3) athletes, all of whom have achieved the entry standard of the event in the year before the Universiade or two (2) who have not achieved the entry standard.
For the half-marathon and 20-km walk for men and women, a maximum of five (5) athletes, all of whom have achieved the entry standard of the event in the year before the Universiade or three (3) who have not achieved the entry standard.
Each delegation entering a race walk or half-marathon team shall take part with a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) athletes.

Athletic Entry Standards

Event	Men	Women	Event	Men	Women
Track events			Field events
100 m	10.95	12.30	High Jump	210	167
200m	22.20	25.40	Pole Vault	510	350
400 m	49.60	56.00	Long Jump	720	580
800 m	1.54.00	2.15.00	Triple Jump	14.50	12.40
1 500 m	3.55.00	4.35.00	Shot Put	16.00	13.50
5 000 m	15.00.00	18.00.00	Discus Throw	55.00	48.00
10 000 m	30.15	35.45	Hammer Throw	57.00	59.00
Half Marathon	1.08.15	1.21.00	Javelin Throw	70.00	45.00
3 000 m steeplechase	9.30.00	12.20.00	Heptathlon		N/ A
110/100 m hurdles	14.20	14.00	Decathlon	N/ A
400 m hurdles	54.00	64.50
20 km Walk Race	1.26.30	1.43.00
4 x 100 m Relay	N/ A	N/ A
4 x 400 m Relay	N/ A	N/ A

Minimum Requirements for Athletics

The Organising Committee must provide, for exclusive use, one athletics stadium with full support facilities as approved by the Athletics CT. The IAAF regulations must be followed.

Competition Facilities

Type of Venue	Number of Venues	Changing room competitors	Changing room TOJR	Spectator Seating	Press and Media Seating
Stadium	1	Gender Segregated	X	25,000	500
Warm-up	1	Gender Segregated	-	-	-
Track & Field Training	1	Gender Segregated	-	-	-
Jumps & Throws Training	1	Gender Segregated	-	-	-

An athletics track with synthetic surface complying with IAAF Rules
It must have 8 lanes with a 10-lane sprint straight
A full range of track and field equipment within the approved range of the IAAF
Two (2) x (12 line electronic scoreboard) + six (6) infield scoreboards
A warm-up facility for track and field events within or immediately adjacent to the stadium with the same technical characteristics and materials as those used during competitions
An athletics track and field training area with the same technical characteristics and materials as those used during competitions
A jumps and throws training area equipped with throwing implements with the same technical characteristics and materials as those used during competitions