Athletics is, in many ways, the embodiment of the Olympic motto. Citius, Altius, Fortius. Faster, higher, stronger.
Stripped to its bare essentials, athletics (or track and field) is about running faster, jumping higher and throwing further than your competitors. It is sport stripped to its bare essentials. The ancient Games at Olympia began simply with running races, only occasionally complicated by dressing runners in infantry armour or making them carry soldiers' shields. Today, athletics remains one of the most popular Olympic sports. From the 100m dash to the 42.195km marathon, from the hammer throw to the high jump, it contains many of the Olympic Games' blue-ribbon events and many of the highest-profile competitors. In all, about 2000 Olympians will compete for medals in athletics at the Sydney 2000 Games.
<b>The competition</b>
Athletics can be divided into four areas: track, field, road and combined events.
The track events include sprints (100m, 200m, 400m), middle-distance running (800m and 1500m) and long-distance running (5000m and 10 000m), hurdling (100m and 400m for women, 110m and 400m for men), relays (4 x 100m and 4 x 400m) and the men's 3000m steeplechase.
Field events, for both men and women, include the long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, shot-put, discus, javelin and hammer throw. The women's pole vault and hammer throw debut in the Sydney 2000 Games.
Road events consist of the men's and women's marathons, the men's 20km and 50km race walks and the women's 10km race walk.
In the combined events - the heptathlon for women and the decathlon for men - athletes compete in a series of track and field events over two days. Points are based upon their finishes in each event, and the person with the most points wins.
<b>The athletes</b>
The United States' Marion Jones, aiming for an unprecedented five gold medals - in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and the long jump - could be the star of the Sydney Games. Another highlight will be the men's 100-metre final, which is expected to pit defending Olympic champion Donovan Bailey of Canada, against current world record holder Maurice Greene of the United States and Trinidad's Ato Boldon for the title of the fastest man on the planet.

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