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Athletics is the first sport – both historically and in modern times at the Olympic Games, where it is the number one attraction for spectators and media audiences around the world. The sport’s documented roots stretch back thousands of years into antiquity and the urge to compare performances in running, walking, jumping and throwing are a part of human nature. These basic movements can be practised anywhere and, not surprisingly, they are now found in most other forms of sport. Athletics can be competitive and non-competitive: one can compete against others, against the objective measures of time and distance, against one’s self. And non-competitive participation in any of the various forms of the sport promotes a balance of body, mind and spirit by encouraging physical fitness, mental discipline and a healthy lifestyle – making it a sport for life, from cradle to grave. Though athletes of all ages and levels of ability are the sport’s focus, there are millions engaged in modern athletics as coaches, officials, organisers, administrators, leaders, technicians, sponsors, spectators, media audiences and fans. They are attracted by the sport’s simplicity, its history and traditions, its precision, its excitement, its drama and its beauty. Many are also drawn by the fact that its various dimensions and aspects allow each individual to develop a personalised relationship with the sport. The popularity of walking, jogging and running means athletics is arguably first on the list as Europe’s most widely practiced sport. Perhaps without even being aware of their link to the sport, many millions use these activities as a counterbalance to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and a means to health and well-being. Athletics’ universal accessibility and its well-established national and local structures give the sport the ability to reach almost anyone and the potential for providing benefits to individuals and society – enjoyment and personal fulfilment, fitness and well-being, a form of mass entertainment, a tool for educating young people, an economic activity and a way to bring individuals and even communities together. Indeed, those already in our sport know that athletics has the power to change lives for the better. This power is enhanced by values closely associated with athletics, including fair play, inclusion, gender equity, respect for others, good communication and cooperation. These mirror many of the values that also drive European Athletics as an organisation. As the leaders of athletics in Europe, European Athletics embraces all the positive values of our sport and we recognise the need to live by them. Thus, we are obviously the natural authority to help governments and institutions promote these social values.
Answers & Comments
The sport’s documented roots stretch back thousands of years into antiquity and the urge to compare performances in running, walking, jumping and throwing are a part of human nature. These basic movements can be practised anywhere and, not surprisingly, they are now found in most other forms of sport.
Athletics can be competitive and non-competitive: one can compete against others, against the objective measures of time and distance, against one’s self. And non-competitive participation in any of the various forms of the sport promotes a balance of body, mind and spirit by encouraging physical fitness, mental discipline and a healthy lifestyle – making it a sport for life, from cradle to grave.
Though athletes of all ages and levels of ability are the sport’s focus, there are millions engaged in modern athletics as coaches, officials, organisers, administrators, leaders, technicians, sponsors, spectators, media audiences and fans. They are attracted by the sport’s simplicity, its history and traditions, its precision, its excitement, its drama and its beauty. Many are also drawn by the fact that its various dimensions and aspects allow each individual to develop a personalised relationship with the sport.
The popularity of walking, jogging and running means athletics is arguably first on the list as Europe’s most widely practiced sport. Perhaps without even being aware of their link to the sport, many millions use these activities as a counterbalance to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and a means to health and well-being.
Athletics’ universal accessibility and its well-established national and local structures give the sport the ability to reach almost anyone and the potential for providing benefits to individuals and society – enjoyment and personal fulfilment, fitness and well-being, a form of mass entertainment, a tool for educating young people, an economic activity and a way to bring individuals and even communities together.
Indeed, those already in our sport know that athletics has the power to change lives for the better. This power is enhanced by values closely associated with athletics, including fair play, inclusion, gender equity, respect for others, good communication and cooperation. These mirror many of the values that also drive European Athletics as an organisation.
As the leaders of athletics in Europe, European Athletics embraces all the positive values of our sport and we recognise the need to live by them. Thus, we are obviously the natural authority to help governments and institutions promote these social values.