Introduction

Hello all future Olympians! We have learned all about the Ancient Olympics and the events
it entailed. Now it's time to fast forward to the modern Olympic Games, and learn about the
track and field events!

Sports technologies have advanced through the times to now offer athletes superior training
workouts, breakthroughs in nutrition, and new rules to compromise with the advancing
accomplishments of athletes. Records of the past are broken time and time again by new
superior athletes. The difference between athletes of the past and athletes of today is the
technology advancements in their specific sport fields. In this web quest you will be an
aspiring track and field athlete. Your journey will lead you through exciting facts on how to
train for various track and field events, eat correctly for this training, and find out all the
various track and field events offered at the Olympic level. This is just an introduction to the
events. Later we will learn how to perform them, and how to become Olympic participants!

History of track and field

To start, I want you to find some facts
about where these current day track and
field events came from. Write a few word
on each of the following track and field
events:

shot put
long jump
standing broad jump
high jump
triple jump (varsity only)
Organizers of Track and Field events http://www.usatf.org
at the Olympic level
Who is the USATF?

What is their purpose?

Next, check the following site to https://www.olympic.org/athletics
verify if all of the following events
listed are offered at the Olympic
level.
Write down any of the following events
that are not offered at the Olympic level:
Field events:
shot put
long jump
standing broad jump
high jump
triple jump (varsity only)
Running Events:
75m hurdles
100m
15m
400m
1600m
4x100m relay
110m hurdles
4x200m relay
800m
200m
4x400m relay (varsity only)
35000m dash

Although there are many events in the

Olympics, there are still many that are
not included. Even so, many events are
still being added. For example, there are
5 new events that will be added to the
2020 Olympics (baseball/softball,
karate, skateboard, sports
climbing and surfing).
Are there any sports that you hope to see
in the Olympics in the future
World Records https://www.iaaf.org/records/by-
category/olympic-games-records
Its helpful to see world records to really
see how sport has improved with the help
of technology.
Search the world record for each of the
above events, and write them down.

Think back to our lesson on technology

in sport. What are some ways in which
you believe technology has helped
athletes become more skilled in events?
In other words, what role do you believe
technology has in aiding athletes break
world records?
Training that the events involve http://www.advantageathletics.com/
Sprints

High jump

Discus

Hurdles

Triple jump
Did your view on how to train for these
events change after looking at this
website? How?

Which of the events do you believe has

the most vigorous training plan and
why?

Keep in mind that sport is constantly

evolving. We learned that not only is it
evolving in meaning and importance,
technology is also changing the game.

Briefly discuss how you think training

may change in the future.
Athlete Nutrition http://specialolympicsflorida.org/sports-
nutrition-quiz/
Take this quiz on athlete nutrition to
test your prior knowledge.

How did you do?

Is there anything that surprised you?

Explain.
Pre and Post-game Nutrition https://www.cwu.edu/sports-
nutrition/eating-competition
Pre-game: Planning a pre-game meal is
very important because what you eat can
affect how you perform.
Chose 2 of the guidelines listed on this
website that you find the most
interesting to write a few sentences
about.
Use the information from this website to
create a Pre-game meal of your choosing.

How does it follow the guidelines listed?

Post-game: Choosing a post-game meal http://oceanfit.com.au/event-nutrition-
should be done carefully because it can what-to-eat-pre-during-post/
affect your recovery and helps you
refuel.

How long after you perform should you

eat?

According to the website, why is a proper

post-game nutrition important?

How much protein and carbohydrates

should athletes consume after
performing?

Now use this information to create a

post-game meal.

How does this meal follow the guidelines

listed on this website?

Need Inspiration? http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-

and-field
As you learned from looking at the
training involved with some of the
different events, it takes a lot of hard
work to be an Olympian, yet these
athletes still strive to do their best and
compete.

Take a look at the videos on this website.

Chose 2 video examples of track and field
athletes that you found to be inspiring.
How do you find this athletes story to be
inspiring? What do you think keeps
these athletes motivated to continue
competing?