Lesser-known track and field events
By Sophia Touma, Staff Writer
June 6, 2022
Most people have heard of the common sport, track and field. However many people don’t know how large the difference between the events within the sport are.
Many know about the running aspect and jumping hurdles, but what about the lesser known events such as javelin, shot-put, and discus?
Javelin and shot put are two sports that have been around for many years.
According to SportsRec, “Shotput originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of "putting the stone" which, according to Scottish folklore, was used by Clan chieftains to help them identify their strongest men for battle purposes.”
Senior John Cavanaugh who competes in shot put has his own explanation.
“It's basically just throwing a heavy ball as far as you can,” he said.
Another extremely unknown sport of track and field is javelin.
According to World Athletics, “Throwing the javelin as sport evolved from the everyday use of the spear in hunting and warfare. It was widely practiced in Ancient Greece and incorporated into the Olympic Games in 708 BC as part of the pentathlon.”
Ted Caparrotta says that javelin is very fun and he thinks that if more people knew about it, more people would join.
“You throw a long metal stick very far, as far as you can, and the goal is to get it farthest in feet,” he said.
The sports seem to have a theme of throwing an object as far as you can, however, these are not the only sports that follow the same theme.
A final track event that follows this theme is the discus.
Kallie McCann explained discus.
“It's kinda like Captain America throws his shield except underwise and the goal is to get as far as you can. There are three different methods you can do. You can do the full spin, the half spin, or a standing throw," she said.
Emily Spadorcia, a student-athlete at NHS, says she has never even heard of some of these events and has no clue what they are.
“Not going to lie I have no clue what those are, I thought track was just running and hurdles.”
Caparrotta and McCann both believe that if more people knew about the events, they would be interested in competing.
Caparrotta believes that more people would join because it is an enjoyable sport.
"I think if more people at school knew what javelin was they would do it because it's really fun," he said.
McCann says the same.
“Yeah, I feel like it would be pretty easy, and it's fun so I feel like if more people knew about it they would play.”