The events contested have varied widely. From 1900 to 1920,tug of war was considered to be part of the Olympic athletics programme, although the sports oftug of war andathletics are now considered distinct.[1]
No new events have been added to the men's athletics programme since the 1956 addition of the short racewalk. The roster of events has not changed since then, with the exception of the omission of the long racewalk in 1976 (the IAAF held a50 km walk World Championships that year instead and as a result the event was restored in 1980). The long racewalk is the only event currently held for men but not included on the women's programme, with the exception of women taking part in theheptathlon rather than thedecathlon and the100 metres hurdles rather than the110 metres hurdles. The last women's event added to the roster was the3000 metres steeplechase in2008.
A total of 52 different events have been held in the men's competition. The current list comprises 23 events. Many of the discontinued events were similar to modern ones but at different lengths, especially in the steeplechasing, hurdling, and racewalking disciplines. Team racing events have been eliminated after appearing in six early editions of the Games. The athletic triathlon (an unusual event, held only once and featuring gymnasts competing in the long jump, shot put, and 100 metre dash) andpentathlon multi-discipline events were phased out in favor of the decathlon, and the medley relay replaced with even-leg relays. Standing jump competitions are no longer held, nor are the various modified throwing events which were experimented with in 1908 and 1912.Cross country running was on the program from 1912 to 1924 and is the most prominent form of athletics not to feature at the Olympics.
The mixed event, a 4 × 400 metres relay, first made an appearance at the2020 Summer Olympics.[2] The event includes teams of four athletes, two men and two women who run in the order man–woman–man–woman (before 2022, each team was allowed to decide the running order individually).Paris 2024 featured another mixed team event: theMarathon Race Walking Mixed Relay, which includes teams of two athletes, one male and one female.[3] Another mixed event called 4 × 100 metres relay was added to the Athletics programme by IOC in 2025 and is scheduled to debut at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.[citation needed]
Every nation that has competed at the Olympics has entered the athletics competition. The numbers below represent how many athletes each nation sent that year, starting with 1896.[4]
NOTE: This table is a work in progress. The empty boxes in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 columns do not necessarily mean that the country did not send athletes that year.