In prehistoric times, humans lived in primitive societies governed by the survival of the fittest. Their lives depended on their ability to run in order to hunt for food for themselves and their families, on their jumping skills to clear natural obstacles and barriers encountered while hunting, and on their throwing ability to catch animals. The carvings, drawings and statues discovered by historians stand as clear evidence that these societies practised running, jumping and throwing.
The ancient Greeks refined these skills and developed them, establishing the rules and laws that governed their competitions. Track and field events formed the solid foundation on which the Greeks built what they called the Olympic festivals, and they built the first running track at the foot of the sacred hill of Kronos.
The ancient Greeks did not know the running track in its current oval shape. The track they built was simply a flat piece of ground next to a hill where spectators sat, and they measured distances in feet. The first distance used was 600 Greek feet, roughly 200 yards, and they built the first running track in Athens.
The Greeks and Romans dug a line at the start of the track where competitors lined up to begin the race, with a matching line at the end marking the finish. They placed stones along the start and finish lines to mark out imaginary lanes defined by the line running from start to finish. At the same time, other events were held, such as discus throw, javelin throw and long jump competitions.
There were other track races that ran from the start line to the finish line and back, covering a distance of about 400 yards. Long-distance races varied according to the number of laps run back and forth — sometimes seven laps, giving a distance of 1,400 yards, or 12 laps, or 20 laps. This shows that running events were divided into short, medium and long distances, and that boys’ races were shorter than men’s races. There were also military-style running races and a race in which runners carried lit torches, held at night, a type of race that held a sacred status among the Greeks.
The shape of the track remained unchanged until the congress for reviving the ancient Olympic festivals, held in Paris in 1894, approved the organisation of the first modern Olympic Games in Greece in 1896. An oval sprint and running track with two bends was built and used at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. The shape of the track then changed and developed until it now typically has a football pitch at its centre.
The history of athletics in the State of Qatar began with the founding of the Qatar Athletics Federation in 1963, which joined the IAAF the same year, before joining the Asian and Arab athletics federations in 1976. The Qatar Athletics Federation also joined the organising committee for athletics of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1985. From 1977 until the end of 2003, Qatar Athletics Federation athletes topped the medal tables shown on the following page, at various levels.
