Developed out of man's most basic activities -- walking, running, jumping and throwing -- track and field athletics are the oldest forms of organized sports. Egyptian and Asian civilizations participated in track and field centries before the Christian Era. The Olympic Games of Greece began in 776 B.C. and continued until about A.D. 393, although the Greeks are known to have participated in athletics long before the Games inception. And as early as 1829 B.C., Ireland hosted the Lugnasad or Tailteann Games involving various forms of track and field events. But today's track and field was born and grew to maturity in England. The first mention of the sport in England was recorded in 1154, when practice fields were first established in London. Sports were banned by King Edward III in the 1300s, but were revived a century later by one of the great hammer throwers of his time, Henry VIII. By the late 1800s, track and field events were established in many countries. But not until the revival of the Olympic Games, in 1896, did thesport become truly international. The modern Olympics provided the inspiration and influence to spread interest in track and field worldwide. Today, countries from every corner of the world -- from Chile to China and India to Ireland -- send teams to numerous international competitions, including the World Championships of Track and Field, the Goodwill Games and the Olympic Games. Yet the sport remains remarkably similar to the track and field events contested centuries ago.
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