- The fastest mile was run by Moroccan Hitcham El Guerrouj in 3:43.13 in 1999.
- Fauja Singh is the oldest person to finish a marathon. He did it at 100 years old.
- Svetlana Masterkova set the fastest mile time for women at 4:12.56 in 1996.
- More than 2,000 athletes competed in the 2012 London Olympics for track and field events.
- Track and field has origins in the Olympics but popularity grew once universities and colleges started competing. The first Olympic race occurred in Greece in 776 B.C.
- Runners that compete in a pentathlon (five events), heptathlon (seven events) and decathlon (ten events) participate in both track and field events.
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6 things you didn’t know about track and field
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