While the earliest evidence of organized running can be traced back to Egypt in 3800 BCE, the modern sport of track and field evolved from rural games and church and folk festivals, and rules were drawn up in the final quarter of the 19th century in those advanced societies where enough people had the leisure time to indulge their fancies. Today, in addition to the running events, track and field includes such events as the high jump, pole vault, long jump, shot, discus, javelin, hammer, and decathlon. The Historical Dictionary of Track and Field covers the history of this sport through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on key figures, places, competitions, and governing bodies within the sport. This book is an excellent access point for researchers, students, and anyone wanting to know more about the history of track and field.

Winner, Autobiography/Memoir, International Book Awards, 2023 Winner, Biography/Autobiography, Track and Field Writers of America (TAFWA) Book Award, 2022 A raw, uplifting story from one of the most important hidden figures in track and field history. When Pauline Davis first began to run, it wasn’t with any thought of future Olympic glory. A product of the poor neighborhood of Bain Town in The Bahamas, she carried the family’s buckets every day to fetch fresh water—running sideways, sprinting barefoot from bullies, to get the buckets of water home without spilling. But when a seasoned track coach saw Pauline sprinting, he saw the heart of a champion. In Running Sideways, Pauline Davis shares her inspiring story. Born and raised in the ghetto, Pauline fought through poverty, inequality, racism, and political machinations from her own country to beat the odds and become a two-time Olympic gold medalist, the first individual gold medalist in sprinting from the Caribbean, the first Black woman on the World Athletics council, and a central figure in the Russian anti-doping campaign. A casualty herself of the doping plague that hit track and field—she wouldn’t be awarded her individual gold medal until Marion Jones was infamously stripped of her medals for doping—Pauline dedicated her years on the World Athletics council to clean sport and fair play. Running Sideways is a book about determination, faith, focus, and an incredible will to succeed. It’s about a trailblazer in women’s sports, not just in The Bahamas, not just in track and field, but on the global stage.

This book of interviews with Olympic track and field athletes highlights those whose lives have revealed courage, persistence and decency, both on and off the field. After their great careers ended, they went on to become authors, teachers, coaches, radio and television sports commentators, consultants, congressmen, actors, businessmen, military officers, social workers and ministers. Many continued in athletics long after their days as Olympians. The Olympic track and field athletes include Glenn Cunningham (middle distances), Lee Calhoun (high hurdles), Ken Doherty (decathlon), Dick Fosbury (high jump), Bruce Jenner (decathlon), Abel Kiviat (middle distances), Bob Mathias (decathlon), Al Oerter (discus throw), Bob Richards (pole vault), Wes Santee (middle distances), Jackson Scholz (sprints), Bill Toomey (decathlon), Forrest Towns (high hurdles), Craig Virgin (long distances), Archie Williams (long sprints), John Woodruff (middle distances), and Olympic coaches Payton Jordan and Berny Wagner. They talk about the influences in their lives that helped them develop their values, their first memories of competition and participation in their sport, their educational experiences, the problems they faced when they were active competitors, the problems athletes today face, and many other topics.