Field Events

A field event is a competition or series of competitions that take place on a field rather than on a running track. Field events take place every year at schools all over the United States. Some of the athletes that are participating in these events may be doing it for the first time; however, many of them have been doing it for years. Doing well in field events takes skill and practice. Some students start participating as young as grade school age and continue into high school and then college with the ultimate goal in mind: the Olympics. There are also those that aren't competing for anything in particular, but rather doing it for the sheer enjoyment they get out of the events. There is a variety of different events that take place for field events.

Discus is a very simple competition to understand. The competitors each compete to throw the discus the farthest. The discus is a heavy object with a diameter of 222 mm (8.66 inches) and weighs two kilograms (7 lb. 7 oz.) for the men and a diameter 181 mm (7.17 inches) 1 kilogram (2 lb. 3 oz.) for women.

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Hammer throw is an athletic competition where a heavy metal ball is attached to a wire and it is thrown as far as possible. The winner is the one that can throw the farthest.

A javelin is an athletic competition where a javelin is thrown as far as possible with the winner being the one that throws the farthest.

Shot put is an athletic competition where a heavy metal ball is thrown as far as possible. This competition requires much skill as much as strength, as the ball needs to be throwing in a specific way for it to be successful. The name 'shot put' is referring to the ball as well as how it is thrown.

High jump is an athletic competition where athletes compete to see who can jump the highest over a horizontal high bar. Long jump is where they compete to see who can jump the farthest from a starting point.

Pole vault is an athletic competition where the athletes jump over a high crossbar with the help of a pole.

Triple jump, also called hop, step and jump, is an athletic event where a contestant jumps in three steps. The first movement is a hop where he takes off and lands on the same foot; then a step where he lands on the other foot; and a jump where he lands anywhere, but with both feet. If the wrong foot touches the ground, the jumper is disqualified.