Starting Line II (c. 1900)

This lantern slide, “Starting Line II (c. 1900),” shows two International YMCA Training School students preparing for a track and field event. The two students appear to be at the starting line and are preparing to start the race. One is low and the other is more upright.Track and field contains a series of athletic competitions based on running, jumping, and throwing. The name comes from the venue: a stadium with an oval running track around a grass field. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a sports festival are the Ancient Olympic Games in 776 BC. The stone put and weight throw competitions popular among Celtic societies in Ireland and Scotland were precursors to the modern shot put and hammer throw events. One of the last track and field events to develop was the pole vault, which stemmed from 18th century competitions in the Northern European Lowlands. Discrete modern track and field competitions, separate from general sporting festivals, were first recorded in the 19th century