Stick athletics. John Jaso Signed Rawlings Big Stick Bat: A Collector’s Gem from the Oakland Athletics

What makes John Jaso’s signed Rawlings Big Stick bat a valuable piece of Oakland Athletics memorabilia. How does the authentication process work for sports collectibles. Why do collectors seek autographed baseball bats from specific players.

The Significance of John Jaso’s Autographed Bat

John Jaso’s signed Rawlings Big Stick bat represents a prized piece of Oakland Athletics memorabilia. As a key player for the A’s from 2013 to 2014, Jaso’s autograph carries special meaning for fans of the green and gold. But what exactly makes this particular item stand out in the world of sports collectibles?

John Jaso’s Career Highlights

To understand the value of this bat, it’s important to consider Jaso’s contributions to the game:

• Played 7 seasons in MLB (2008-2017)
• Career .258 batting average with 55 home runs
• Caught a perfect game thrown by Felix Hernandez in 2012
• Known for his versatility as a catcher, first baseman, and designated hitter

Jaso’s time with the Athletics coincided with the team’s resurgence, making his memorabilia particularly appealing to Oakland fans.

The Rawlings Big Stick: A Baseball Classic

The choice of a Rawlings Big Stick bat adds another layer of significance to this collectible. Why is this particular model so revered in baseball circles?

• Long history dating back to the early 20th century
• Preferred by many professional players for its quality and consistency
• Crafted from high-grade wood, typically ash or maple
• Known for its durability and performance

The combination of Jaso’s signature and the iconic Rawlings brand creates a truly desirable piece for collectors.

Authentication: Ensuring Legitimacy in Sports Memorabilia

One of the most crucial aspects of any sports collectible is its authenticity. How can buyers be confident that this John Jaso bat is genuine?

The Role of Fanatics Authentic

In this case, the authentication is provided by Fanatics Authentic, a respected name in the sports memorabilia industry. Their process typically involves:

1. Witnessing the athlete sign the item in person
2. Applying a unique hologram or serial number
3. Providing a certificate of authenticity
4. Maintaining a database of verified signatures

This rigorous authentication process helps protect collectors from counterfeit items and ensures the value of their investment.

Grading the Condition: What Does “Excellent” Mean?

The listing indicates that the bat’s condition is graded as “Excellent.” But what criteria are used to determine this rating?

In the world of sports memorabilia, condition grades typically consider factors such as:

• Overall appearance and cleanliness
• Presence of any scratches, dents, or other damage
• Clarity and integrity of the autograph
• Preservation of any original finishes or markings

An “Excellent” grade suggests that the bat is in near-perfect condition, with minimal signs of wear or aging. This high grade significantly enhances the bat’s value and desirability among collectors.

The Appeal of Autographed Baseball Bats

Why do collectors specifically seek out signed bats like this John Jaso example? The allure of autographed bats stems from several factors:

Connection to the Game

Baseball bats are fundamental to the sport, representing a tangible link to a player’s performance and career highlights. An autographed bat allows fans to own a piece of baseball history.

Display Value

Signed bats make for impressive display pieces, whether in a home, office, or dedicated sports memorabilia room. Their size and visual impact create a focal point for any collection.

Investment Potential

As with many collectibles, autographed sports items can appreciate in value over time, especially if the player achieves notable career milestones or enters the Hall of Fame.

Collecting Oakland Athletics Memorabilia

For fans of the Oakland Athletics, items like John Jaso’s signed bat hold special significance. How does this piece fit into the broader landscape of A’s collectibles?

Notable Oakland Athletics Collectibles

Some of the most sought-after items from A’s history include:

• Memorabilia from the “Bash Brothers” era (Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire)
• Items signed by Hall of Famers like Rickey Henderson and Reggie Jackson
• Game-used equipment from the team’s World Series victories (1972-1974, 1989)
• Autographs from members of the early 2000s “Moneyball” teams

Jaso’s bat, while perhaps not as high-profile as some of these examples, represents an important period in recent A’s history and appeals to dedicated fans of the team.

Preserving and Displaying Autographed Bats

For collectors lucky enough to own a piece like John Jaso’s signed Rawlings Big Stick, proper care and display are essential. How can owners ensure their prized memorabilia remains in excellent condition?

Storage Considerations

• Keep the bat in a climate-controlled environment to prevent warping or cracking
• Avoid direct sunlight, which can fade the autograph and damage the wood
• Use acid-free materials for any wrapping or storage containers

Display Options

There are several ways to showcase an autographed bat:

1. Wall-mounted bat holders or racks
2. Freestanding display cases with UV-protective glass
3. Custom shadow boxes that can include additional memorabilia or photos

Proper display not only protects the bat but also allows collectors to enjoy and share their prized possession with others.

The Future of Sports Memorabilia Collecting

As the world of sports collectibles evolves, items like John Jaso’s signed bat raise interesting questions about the future of the hobby. What trends are shaping the memorabilia market?

Digital Authentication and Blockchain

Emerging technologies are providing new ways to verify and track the provenance of sports memorabilia. Blockchain-based systems could offer tamper-proof records of an item’s history and ownership.

Virtual Collectibles

The rise of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) is creating new opportunities for digital sports memorabilia. How will these virtual items coexist with physical collectibles like signed bats?

Emphasis on Experiences

Some collectors are placing greater value on items associated with specific moments or experiences, such as game-used equipment or memorabilia from milestone achievements.

As the memorabilia market continues to evolve, items like John Jaso’s signed Rawlings Big Stick bat serve as a tangible link to baseball’s rich history and the enduring passion of its fans. Whether displayed proudly in a collection or cherished as a personal keepsake, such pieces remind us of the special connection between players, teams, and the devoted supporters who follow them.

NIC ATHLETICS: Sanctions stick for men’s basketball until 2022

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

COEUR d’ALENE — The sanctions are sticking for the North Idaho College men’s basketball, but the waiting will soon be over to compete for conference championships once again.

NIC appealed to the Northwest Athletic Conference executive board in June, with some of the sanctions being lifted earlier this week.

Full scholarships for the men’s basketball team, which had been cut to four the past two seasons, has been increased to six. NWAC teams normally have eight full scholarships in basketball. All measures apply to the program until June 30, 2022. NIC is still ineligible for the conference tournament in 2022 — the third season for which the Cardinals will be ineligible.

Penalties for the men’s basketball program, which were handed out in August of 2019, included vacating league championships from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, the loss of four scholarships for each of the next three years, a 10-game suspension of head coach Corey Symons, a three-year ban from postseason play, three years’ probation for the athletic department and a $30,000 fine.

“We can only control what we can control,” said NIC athletic director Bobby Lee who replaced previous AD Al Williams in December 2019. “And we’ve done a good job of doing just that throughout this process.”

While on probation, the athletic director had to have the approval from the vice president of student services on decisions regarding eligibility, athletic grants and booster club payments. Lee has since been given authority to make athletic department decisions through the appeal.

The violations, found by the investigation committee of three commissioners from neutral regions, include: using booster club funds to pay for housing during the summers of 2017 and 2018; using booster club funds without NIC Business Office oversight; and operating basketball camps in violation of NWAC rules.

“Ever since the beginning, it’s been in the rear view mirror for us,” Symons said. “It’s been great with Bobby and the transition and moving forward.”

Due to COVID-19, the conference championships in men’s and women’s basketball were canceled in 2020. The conference opted not to hold conference championships this past spring due to the pandemic.

“We feel good about things moving forward,” Lee said. “Collectively as a staff, we’re moving forward and excited about that.”

All of NIC’s other NWAC programs, which includes men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, volleyball and women’s basketball, were also on probation, but were still allowed to play in conference championship events.

“This group has been awesome to work with,” Lee said. “They’ve been really good about this stuff moving forward.”

John Jaso Signed Rawlings Big Stick Bat OAKLAND ATHLETICS

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’It’s The Memories That Will Stick With You’

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By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Olivia Smoliga spent 54.06 seconds competing in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. The former Georgia star, a two-time NCAA champion in the 50-yard freestyle, led off the United States women’s 4×100 freestyle relay team in its preliminary heat on the first day of competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Time in the pool is precious time. That’s something that Smoliga was reminded of often during the past year-plus since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the world in 2020 and pushed the Tokyo Olympics back a year.

“I think we all have this really big gratitude that it’s even happening — that we even get to go and we even get to experience it,” she said before leaving for the U.S. swim team’s training camp in Hawaii.

“This past year’s been insane. I feel like a lot of people have grown. I don’t want to speak for everyone, I’ll speak for myself: I feel like I’ve grown throughout the challenges that we’ve faced.”

In 2016, Smoliga made the Olympic team in the 100 backstroke and competed in the 4×100 medley relay. She helped the U.S. to a gold medal in the relay and placed sixth in the backstroke. In some ways her experience in Rio wasn’t what she wanted it to be, she said.

“I did kind of feel like a spectator at the Olympics themselves,” Smoliga said. “I was disappointed in my performance, but I was still grateful that I got to go.”

That was five years ago, when she was still swimming for the Bulldogs. Smoliga has been a professional swimmer since 2017. At the 2019 world championships, she won the 50 backstroke, breaking her own American record, and placed third in the 100 back.

At last month’s Olympic Trials, in Omaha, Neb., Smoliga placed third in the 100 backstroke again, missing out on second by .12 seconds. It was a huge disappointment — she’d won the event back in 2016 — and one that she had to get over pretty quickly because her meet continued and she still had a chance to make the team, in the 100 freestyle.

The key to letting it go, it turned out, was just letting it go.

“When I do get too serious, which happened to me at these Trials, I don’t think it’s beneficial to me,” she said.

Two days after her disappointing 100 backstroke, Smoliga and her best friend and training partner, Natalie Hinds, a former Florida swimmer that trains with the ProDawgs in Athens, tied for the fastest time in the semifinals, touching in 53.55. In the final,

In the final, with Smoliga in lane four and Hinds in five, Smoliga finished third with a time of 53.63, earning her a spot on the relay squad. Hinds also made the relay, setting off a huge celebration between the buddies. On Saturday, Hinds had the fastest time for the U.S. in the preliminary heat.

“She barely missed it in the backstroke and then she comes back and drops over half a second off her best time, and makes the team. Hats off to her,” under Jack Bauerle,  Georgia’s Tom Cousins Swimming and Diving Head Coach, who is with the U.S. team in Tokyo as a men’s assistant coach.

Smoliga credited Bauerle and the training the swimmers have been doing for the past year-plus. They swam in backyard pools, they swam in community pools, they swam anywhere they could find a body of water bigger than a puddle.

“It’s really cool that we have this representation,” Smoliga said of the numerous Bulldogs competing in Tokyo. “I think it’s a testament to what Jack provides on deck, how he pushes us even in a year that’s so challenging. We were swimming in outdoor community rec pools and just making it work, making it work through all these ups and downs.

“We were really able to get through those ups and downs at the meet (Trials) because we were able to get through so many ups and downs this year.”

During an interview in late June inside Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, Smoliga was fully decked out in her 2020 U.S. team gear, made by the swimming brand Arena. Her Nike gear from 2016 — warmups, shirts, backpack and much more — is mostly back home with her parents in Chicago.

“I think I kept two shirts from 2016,” she said with a laugh.

“I give things to my parents, or if I go and speak to my club team where I grew up, I’ll give these things away. It’s the memories for me, it’s the feeling that I have that I hold on to. The gear is sick, though, I’m not going to lie [laughs]. Anyone will tell you, no matter where you go or what you achieve, it’s the memories that will stick with you.”

Good memories and bad, elation and disappointment. Smoliga is taking it all in, cherishing every second of her journey.

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

Trump, the NFL, and the Insidious Logic of ‘Stick to Sports’

When Donald Trump spoke recently against the NFL players who have been kneeling during the national anthem, he was embracing a well-established tradition of opposition to the civil-rights protests of black athletes. During the 1960s, white sportswriters, politicians, and fans widely demanded that athlete-activists like Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, and John Carlos “stick to sports.” Though the current generation of sportswriters has a broader range of perspectives on this subject, there are still politicians, commentators, and fans who criticize contemporary black athletes like Colin Kaepernick and LeBron James for stating their opinions on topics beyond sports.

Trump’s “stick to sports” message also invokes a conservative argument that predates the civil-rights movement, one that focuses as much on preserving a national system of economic and social inequality as it does on maintaining white supremacy. This argument dates back to the emergence of organized sports as a commercial activity in the mid-19th-century United States. It presents sports as increasingly important to the national culture but nevertheless distinct from the rest of Americans’ economic, religious, and political lives.

This shunting of sports to the side of “real life” has numerous implications, most of which reinforce the cultural status quo in American society. It has led to the characterization of sporting events as a kind of social safety valve through which fans can vent their frustrations in a supposedly contained and harmless manner. Such compartmentalization has also denigrated professional sports as work that is not to be taken seriously by respectable citizens. The integration of this idea into American media over the past century and a half has created tremendous financial and political benefits for the nation’s sports industries and their ancillary businesses, while diminishing the moral and political credibility of celebrity athletes and the fans who support them.

Professionalization of sports mostly began in the U.S. after the Civil War. As sports expanded from a leisure activity into its own industry, its growth was hampered by Americans’ traditional suspicions of corruption in entertainment businesses. An 1877 gambling scandal in baseball’s brand-new National League affirmed these public anxieties. In response, teams gradually developed new marketing strategies to justify the civic benefits of their businesses. Local newspapers partnered with their city’s teams to promote the democratizing potential of professional sports: the benefits of what historians Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills have described as “a very good cross section of the American population” intermingling in the stands.

This message doesn’t appear to have resonated with readers, because soon the press progressed to an argument that focused on sports’ value as an instrument for relieving the frustrations of its spectators. (By 1887, for instance, The New York Times was presenting the concept of baseball as a release for the social pressures of industrial society.) As the reporter H. Addington Bruce later put it in his 1913 article “Baseball and the National Life” for The Outlook:

Baseball, then, from the spectator’s standpoint, is to be regarded as a means of catharsis … a harmless outlet for pent-up emotions, which unless thus gaining expression, might discharge themselves in a dangerous way.

From this perspective, the game became less a means of integrating people into corporate America than a venue for escaping from it.

This message aligned with the interests of the nation’s elite families and educational institutions, which were simultaneously promoting the importance of a culture of amateurism that divorced sports from business. Professional athletics became taboo in these communities. In 1893, Walter Camp, a Yale graduate and the nation’s leading popularizer of football, warned:

A gentleman never competes for money, directly or indirectly. Make no mistake about this. No matter how winding the road may be that eventually brings the sovereign into the pocket, it is the price of what should be dearer to you than anything else—your honor.

Promoting sports as distinct from—and even as an antidote to—work benefitted owners of professional sports teams in a variety of ways. It freed them to exploit their employees on the basis of disreputability; since most Americans did not consider playing games real work, those who chose to earn a living in that way were widely viewed as inherently unworthy. In 1879, the National League introduced the reserve clause, which allowed teams to retain their rights to a player even after his contract expired, unilaterally terminate his contract, or assign him to another team without his consent. The League justified this unprecedented degree of control over its labor force as a way to protect the game from the dissolute habits of its players.

Gilded Age sports executives embedded presumptions of moral superiority over their players into the very structure of their industry.

The next year, owners published an “Address to the Players,” which further instituted a series of fines for games missed due to injuries, “drunkenness or bummerism,” and proclaimed that “earnest, deserving” men would be duly rewarded, while “the player of morally weak tendencies” would be surrounded by “wholesome restraints.” Players who opposed these policies were either forced to submit or evicted from the game, and earned little sympathy from fans. In part, this lack of support occurred because prevailing views about professional athletes had led customers to believe that the players, who actually tended to come from families of skilled laborers at the upper levels of the working classes, were members of the lowest ranks of white society.

The widespread perception of professional sport as a game rather than a business also enabled Major League Baseball owners to procure unique legal protections for their financial interests. In its 1922 decision Federal Baseball Club v. National League, the Supreme Court determined that restrictions imposed by Congress in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act did not apply to professional baseball. In his majority opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes argued that this multimillion-dollar business was not interstate commerce, and indeed “would not be called trade of commerce [of any kind] in the commonly accepted use of those words.” This decision remains in effect nearly a century later, allowing the league to control player movement and franchise locations to an extent unmatched in any other contemporary American business.

Developments over the last half-century, particularly the rise of free agency, have mitigated the power of team owners. Yet the cultural authority of this 150-year-old marketing strategy proclaiming sports as an escape from rather than a part of U.S. corporate culture remains largely intact. Fans perceive professional athletes as overpaid—a claim that many economists dispute—but hardly flinch when owners extract public funding to replace perfectly functional stadiums with new facilities. They criticize player protests that bring politics into sporting arenas but say little when professional sports teams take money from the Department of Defense to produce lavishly patriotic pregame ceremonies.

Such disparate standards for judging the behaviors of players and management are a legacy of the way sports has long been viewed in this country. Much of the support for Trump’s diatribes against NFL and NBA players is similarly grounded in a pattern of marketing spin about the place of sports in American society that continues to have powerful economic and social ramifications. Trump’s message of “stick to sports” is racialized because it seeks to reinforce a systemic belief that the voices of predominantly white politicians have more inherent value that those of athletes of color. It is also a message of economic elitism, perpetuating the corporate arrogance of Gilded Age sports executives who deliberately embedded presumptions of their moral superiority over their players into the very structure of their industry. Though the recent backlash against the NFL may seem like a threat to that message, past events suggest that these ideas are deeply ingrained enough in American culture to ensure that players, rather than management, will continue to bear the brunt of the public’s animosity.

Ken “Stick” Gault (2020) – Union University Sports Hall of Fame

Gault ran track, cross country, and played one season of basketball during his four years at Union University. 

Gault, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, turned down an offer from the University of Tennessee to come to Union to run track and cross country. He helped lead Union to 27 consecutive cross country duel meet championships, including knocking off many current DI programs across the southeast. Gault set the Rothrock Stadium record with an 18 minute, 40 second cross country finish in a meet with Memphis State. His cross country teams ran in two national meets, one with the NAIA in 1958 and one with the NCAA in 1959. Excluding the two national meets, Gault lost just two meets during his cross country career. 

In track, he posted a 4.07 minute mile and also defeated the 1955 Tennessee State Champion mile runner. He won the Volunteer State Athletic Conference Title (VSAC) four times. He holds the Union mile record of 4:25.

Gault was named the 1960 VSAC Most Outstanding Athlete. He was also named captain of his cross country team in 1960 and 1961. 

Outside of running, Gault was equally successful in academics. He was one of only two male students named to Who’s Who of American Colleges and Universities. He was honored by the students as Union’s Best All Around Award in 1960 and was named Mr. Union in 1961. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, Mallory Math Club, U Club, and the Nestor Club. He graduated with a BS in math and a minor in physics. He was awarded the first ever Fred DeLay Award in 1961, given to the top athlete for athletic and academic excellence. 

After serving in the US Air Force as a Minuteman Missle Officer, he earned a second degree in mechanical engineering in 1968 from Tennessee. 

Gault worked many years in in the oil industry in Texas and California before retiring in 1995. He met his first wife, Tommye Long (UU class of 1962) at Union. She passed away in 1990. They have two sons and a daughter and two grandchildren. He remarried in 1996 to his wife Linda and are enjoying retirement in California. 

Kelly Loeffler’s sale of the Atlanta Dream shows the ‘stick to sports’ era is over

Last Friday, the WNBA approved the sale of its Atlanta Dream franchise to a new ownership group. But this was no ordinary transaction between billionaire sports fans. Rather, the sale was a truly historic development in the history of American sports. Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican, sold her share of the franchise to Larry Gottesdiener, chairman of the Northland Investment Corp.; the company’s COO, Suzanne Abair; and Renee Montgomery, a former star for the Dream and other teams who sat out last season to focus on social justice activism.

This was no ordinary transaction between billionaire sports fans. Rather, the sale was a truly historic development in the history of American sports.

Last summer, Loeffler came under fire after she chastised the league for embracing racial justice activism. In response, her own players began a public campaign for Raphael Warnock, the Democrat who defeated Loeffler in the state’s run-off elections in January. The sale of the Dream bookends a remarkable period of activism by athletes that has fully repudiated the “stick to sports” orthodoxy that has prevailed in the sports world until recently.

Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman turned politician, had been a basketball enthusiast and team owner since 2010. But once Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to replace Johnny Isakson in the Senate in December 2019, she quickly embraced the Trumpian brand of white grievance politics. Last July, in response to the WNBA’s decision to honor the memory of Breonna Taylor and others killed by police, Loeffler declared she “adamantly oppose[d] the Black Lives Matter political movement.” Soon after, her own players took the court wearing “Vote Warnock” T-shirts.

The players’ campaigning for Warnock seems to have had a significant impact on the Senate race. It certainly didn’t hurt the campaign — before the Dream debuted their “Vote Warnock” shirts, Warnock was polling at only 9 percent. But after the players started campaigning, his donations shot up, as did his Twitter following. In subsequent weeks, players worked hard not only on behalf of Warnock’s campaign, but on behalf of voter turnout across Georgia and in other parts of the country. Athlete activism had evolved from protest to politics and civic engagement.

This is not business as usual for professional sports in America. Individual players have clashed with owners over salaries. Players’ unions have gone on strike. Athletes have even staged symbolic protests on political and cultural topics like police violence. But we have never seen teams explicitly rebel against systemic racism and the power of management in this manner.

In 1969, the players of the Los Angeles Rams stood with fired head coach George Allen and refused to play unless team owner Dan Reeves hired him back. In 2014, NBA players spoke out against Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers after racist remarks that he had said in private were made public. His players staged a brief silent protest at a playoff game a few days later. Eventually, under pressure from the league, the players and sponsors, Sterling was forced to sell the team.

In retrospect, the Clippers’ silent protest looks tame compared to what player activists have done since then — from former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s courage to the powerful NBA player walkout following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin last August. While Kaepernick receives much of the credit for today’s athlete activist movement, female athletes have also repeatedly rebelled against systemic racism, sexual violence and assault, and other inequities in the sports world. From the moment that the players for the New York Liberty silently protested the shooting of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in July 2016 until the present, WNBA players in particular have been at the forefront of the current movement for social justice in the sports world.

The sale of the Dream might be a fitting climax to this tumultuous period, but it could also be the beginning of a new era in sports management. “It’s exciting when you see representation at any high level of management,” Renee Montgomery said last Friday. “There’s been a lot of talk about what would it look like for a player to be in that position. And so, I recognize that this is an opportunity not just for myself but for players as a whole and whether that’s women that are players or men, just seeing themselves differently, in a different light.”

Meanwhile, men’s sports franchises continue to wallow in their cesspools of sexism and racism. NFL franchises willfully overlook qualified black candidates for head coaching positions. In Major League Baseball, the situation seems just as toxic. Although Kim Ng became the first female general manager of a Major League Baseball franchise last fall, the recent sexual harassment cases of Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway, and the ignorant blathering of Kevin Mather, reveal how much of the sports management world continues to be an old boys network predicated on racism and misogyny.

Related

When asked during an interview last Friday on TMZ what her first priority will be as a member of team management, Montgomery tellingly replied: “The first order of business is having the Atlanta Dream be part of the Atlanta community.”

Rather than give the standard answer of winning games or championships, Montgomery insisted that the team needs to capitalize on their off-the-court success. This remarkable statement is consistent with what we have seen from the WNBA in recent years: a vision of sports that is catalyzing a new understanding of team ownership, social justice and community accountability.

Frank Andre Guridy is a professor of history and African American studies at Columbia University. His new book, “The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics” will be published this month. 

What is a relay race? Know the rules and the records

One of the most adrenaline-pumping sights in an athletics event, a relay race is viewed as the ultimate example of teamwork and coordination.

The concept originated in ancient Greece, where a ‘message stick’ was passed along via a number of couriers.

In modern times, a relay race is a track and field event listed in the Olympic Games under the ‘athletics’ programme.

At the Olympics and other World Athletics-sanctioned tournaments, a relay race is an event where a team of four athletes run equal predetermined distances in a sprint race, each passing a rod-like object called the ‘baton’ to the next person to continue the race. The last runner in a relay is called the ‘anchor’.

There are also other types of relays – like sprint medley relays (where each runner runs progressively longer distances like 200m, 400m, 800 metres and so on), long distance relays (which have more than five legs) and cross-country relays. However, they are not part of the Olympic or World Athletics events.

The two relay races in the Olympics are the 4x100m and 4x400m for both men and women and mixed.

4x100m relay

The 4x100m relay is an event where a relay team of four members each run a distance of 100m in a single designated lane.

During each leg run, the athlete has to carry a baton and hand it over to the next team member.

The baton exchange has to happen within a 20m changeover box, located 10m before and 10m after the start of each leg, starting from the second relay runner.

A team can be disqualified if any member drops the baton during the handover or if the handover occurs outside the designated area. The runner finishing the race will generally be the fastest sprinter in a team.

The 4x100m relay was introduced as a men’s only event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, while the women’s event was first run at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

4x100m relay world records

Men – 36.84 seconds set by Jamaica during London 2012 (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt)

Women – 40.82 seconds set by United States during London 2012 (Tianna Madison, Allyson Felix, Bianca Knight, Carmelita Jeter)

4x400m relay

The rules for the 4x400m relay are largely similar to the 4x100m relays.

The team members cover a distance of 400m each before passing on the baton to the next team member, within the same 20m designated changeover area.

However, there is one key difference. While the first member runs 400m in a single designated lane, the subsequent members of a team can interchange lanes starting from the back-straight halfway through the second leg.

Generally, 400m runners compete for the inside line, which is the shortest route to the finish line.

The 4x400m relay was also introduced at the Olympics as a men’s-only event at the 1912 Stockholm Games, while the women’s event was first run at Munich 1972.

Tokyo 2020 featured a 4x400m mixed team relay, with two male runners and two female runners. It was the first time that a mixed-gendered race was run at the Olympic Games. Poland’s Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszyński won the maiden gold medal in the event with an Olympic record timing of 3:09.87s.

India qualified for the 4x400m mixed team relay at the Tokyo Olympics, where Mohammad Anas Yahiya, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Arokia Rajiv exited the event after the heats.

4x400m relay world records

Men – 2:54.29 set by United States during 1993 World Championships (Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson)

Women – 3:15.17 set by Soviet Union during Seoul 1988 (Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olha Bryzhina)

Mixed – 3:09.34 set by United States during 2019 World Championships (Wilbert London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry)

90,000 Athletics: types, history, rules

Athletics is an Olympic sport that includes running, race walking, all-around, running, cross-country and technical sports. Athletics is usually called the queen of sports, because it is one of the most popular sports and its disciplines have always won the largest number of medals at the Olympic Games. Track and field athletes are athletes who practice one or more types of athletics.

Athletics Federation

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was founded in 1912 and unites national federations. The association is headquartered in Monaco.

The All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) is engaged in the development and popularization of athletics in Russia, and also manages the All-Russian competitions.

The European Athletics Association is the European governing body for athletics.

The history of the development of athletics (briefly)

Athletics is considered a very ancient sport, as evidenced by ubiquitous archaeological finds (coins, vases, sculptures, etc.). The oldest of the track and field sports is running. By the way, the run was carried out at a distance equal to one stage – one hundred and ninety-two meters. It is from this name that the word stadium comes from.

The ancient Greeks called all physical exercises athletics, which in turn was usually divided into “light” and “heavy”. They referred to athletics as exercises that develop dexterity and endurance (running, jumping, archery, swimming, etc.). Accordingly, all exercises that developed strength belonged to “weight” lifting.

The first Olympic champion in athletics is considered to be Koroibos (776 BC), this date is considered to be the beginning of the history of athletics.The modern history of athletics dates back to the competition in running a distance of about 2 km by college students in Rugby (Great Britain) in 1837. and the height from the run.

In 1865, the London Athletic Club was founded, which was involved in the popularization of athletics.

In 1880, the Amateur Athletic Association was organized, uniting all the athletics organizations of the British Empire.

The rapid development of athletics is associated with the Olympic Games (1896), in which she was given the largest place.

How did athletics come about?

Athletics competitions have been held throughout the entire existence of mankind. Initially, people were exclusively interested in educating warriors capable of bringing victory in battles. The military interest in the education of physically developed men gradually began to degenerate into sports games, the main competitions in which were endurance and strength.From that moment on, the birth of athletics began.

Athletics Rules

The athlete or team with the best result in the final races or final attempts of technical disciplines is considered the winner in the athletics competition.

Cross-country athletics, as a rule, are divided into several stages:

• qualification;
• ¼ final;
• ½ final;
• the final.

The number of participants in the competition is determined by the rules of the competition, while men and women do not participate in common starts.

Athletics Stadium

Athletics stadiums are open or closed. Usually the stadium is combined with a football stadium and a field. The open-air stadium consists of an oval 400 meter track, which in turn is divided into 8 or 9 tracks, as well as sectors for technical disciplines. Often, javelin or hammer throwing competitions are taken outside the stadium for safety reasons.

Indoor stadiums (arenas) differ from open ones by a shorter track (200 m) and the number of tracks into which it is divided (4-6 pcs.).

Types of athletics

Let’s take a look at what sports are included in athletics. Race walking is an athletics discipline that differs from running sports in that the athlete must have constant contact with the ground. Race walking competitions are held on the track (10,000 m., 20 000 m., 30 000 m., 50 000 m.) Or highway (20 000 m. And 50 000 m.).

Running is one of the oldest sports, according to which the official rules of the competition were approved, and has been included in the program since the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Running in athletics is represented by the following types: sprint, middle-distance running, long-distance running, hurdling, relay race.

Types of running in athletics:

• Short distance running (100 m, 200 m, 400 m), non-standard distances include 30 m, 60 m, 300 m.
• Medium distance running (800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m), additionally 600, 1000, 1610 m (mile), 2000 m can be distinguished.
• Long distance running (5000 m, 10000 m, 42195 m).
• Obstacle course (steeple chase) 2000 m in the arena and 3000 m in the open stadium.
• Running with hurdles (women – 100 m, men – 110 m, 400 m).
• Relay race (4 × 100 meters, 4 × 400 meters).

Jumping is classified into vertical (high jump and pole vault) and horizontal (long jump and triple jump).

• The high jump is an athletics discipline that refers to vertical jumps of technical types. A jump consists of a takeoff run, preparation for pushing off, pushing off, crossing the bar and landing.
• Pole vault is a technical discipline that refers to vertical jumping. In this jump, the athlete needs to go over the bar (without overturning it) using an athletics pole.
• Long jump refers to horizontal jumps and requires athletes to sprint and jump.
• A triple jump consists of a run, three alternating jumps and a landing.

Throwing is an exercise for athletes that requires explosive muscular effort. The goal in this form is to move the projectile to the maximum distance from the athlete. Types of throwing in athletics:

• Throwing a grenade or a ball, the weight of a grenade is 700 g for men, women and middle-aged boys throw a grenade weighing 500 g. Balls weigh 155-160 g.
• Shot put, the male core weighs 7,260 kg and the female 4 kg.
• Throwing hammer, the male hammer weighs 7.260 kg and the female hammer weighs 4 kg.
• Discus throw, the male disc weighs 2 kg, the female disc weighs 1 kg.
• Javelin-throwing. The male spear weighs 800 g and has a length of 260-270 cm, the female spear, respectively, 600 g and 220-230 cm.

All-around is a sports discipline that includes competitions in several disciplines of one or different sports.

What does athletics include?

Cross-country sports, race walking, all-around, runs, cross-country and technical sports.

To date, the program of the Olympic Games includes 24 types for men and 23 types for women. Athletes compete in:

• running 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000 and 10,000 meters,
• marathon running (42.195 km),
• hurdles running on 110 m (for women 100 m),
• running 400 meters,
• steeple-chase – running on 3000 meters with obstacles,
• race walking for 20 and 50 km (only men),
• high jump,
• pole vaulting,
• long jump,
• triple jump,
• shot put,
• discus throwing,
• throwing a hammer,
• javelin throw
• all-around – decathlon for men and heptathlon – for women,
• relay races 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 meters.

Cyclic athletics include: race walking, sprint, middle and long distance running. The technical types of athletics include throwing, vertical and horizontal jumping.

Athletics Championships

• Summer Olympic Games.
• World Championships in Athletics – held since 1983, every two years on odd years.
• Indoor World Championships – held since 1985, every two years on even years.
• European Athletics Championships – held since 1934, every two years.
• World Junior Championships – held every two years since 1986. Athletes not older than 19 years old are allowed to participate.
• World Championship for boys and girls – held every two years, since 1999. Athletes who turn 16 and 17 years old in the year of the competition are allowed to participate.
• European Indoor Championships – held since 1966, every two years on odd years.The next championship was held in 2015 in Prague.
• IAAF Continental Cup – held every four years. The next Cup was held in 2014 in Marrakesh (Morocco).
• World Cross Country Championships – held every two years.
• World Race Walking Cup – held every two years.

What does athletics develop?

The main physical qualities are endurance, strength, speed, flexibility.In addition, during athletics, the skills of coordination of movements, quick and economic movement and the rational implementation of complex physical exercises are acquired.

We have tried to cover the topic as fully as possible, so this information can be safely used in the preparation of messages, reports on physical education and essays on the topic “Athletics”.

90,000 the latest news of Russian and international competitions in 2021, schedule and results, statistics, interviews of athletes, photos and videos

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October 10 | Sports.ru

16:31 India intends to bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics | 10

15:08 Zhurova on the revocation of accreditation from the Moscow laboratory: “It seems that our rivals want us not to be allowed to the 2022 Olympics” | 33

13:26 Chairman of the RUSADA Supervisory Board: “Formalization of the decision to suspend the accreditation of the Moscow laboratory has no effect on Russian athletes” | 4

12:51 Kristina Timanovskaya: “If you knew how many athletes were killed in the Athletics Federation of Belarus” | 12

09:18 I.about RUSADA CEO: “We have no reason to dispute the revocation of laboratory accreditation in arbitration. We must prepare for the Olympics “| 10

October 10 | Sports.ru

09:13 Svetlana Khorkina on the revocation of accreditation from the Moscow laboratory: “They can’t keep up with us. Why can’t they sit? “| 15

October 9 | Sports.ru

23:38 Deputy Svishchev: “The activities of the Moscow laboratory have already been suspended. The fact that the accreditation has now been revoked is a bad sign ”| 7

22:28 Sports lawyer Patsev: “Nobody works in the Moscow laboratory.What’s the point of keeping it at all? “| 10

21:38 I. on RUSADA’s general director about the revocation of accreditation from the Moscow laboratory: “This is, of course, strange. Our laboratory has not been accredited for a long time “| 19

21:27 WADA did not comment RUSADA on new members of the supervisory board of the organization | 4

20:07 WADA revoked the accreditation of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory | 201

October 9 14:40
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October 9 | Sports.ru

14:33 Pozdnyakov on resignations in the supervisory board of RUSADA: “Very disturbing news. When the founders were ROC and PKR, there was more order “| 17

02:30 Fetisov, Tretyak, Shipulin and Taymazov became members of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Svishchev headed it | 47

October 8 | Sports.ru

23:15 Vitaly Vinogradov resigned from RUSADA’s Supervisory Board.He became the fourth member of the council to leave office in October | 6

19:28 Putin instructed the Russian Ministry of Sports to take measures aimed at the restoration of RUSADA and ARAF | 51

18:44 Vladimir Putin instructed to submit proposals for state awards for their contribution to the preparation of Russian athletes for the 2020 Olympics | 5

16:44 WADA found five organizations not complying with the anti-doping code | 4

16:13 Lasitskene and Sidorova nominated for the title of the best athlete in Europe in September | 1

October 8 | Sports.ru

11:45 WADA: “We are concerned about the sudden resignation of three members of the RUSADA Supervisory Board. We have requested additional information in order to conduct a thorough assessment of the situation ”| 23

11:15 The Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation sent out a warning letter to athletes, coaches and organizations about the abuse of the drug “Epocrine” (Baza) | 40

October 7 | Sports.ru

18:30 Secretary of the general meeting of RUSADA: “A legal assessment of Bukhanov’s actions, clearly damaging the interests of the agency and Russian sports,” must be given | 30

17:38 Chairman of the RUSADA Supervisory Board about Bukhanov’s words about illegitimacy: “The Supervisory Board carries out its activities in a standard operating mode” | 6

14:51 Ivanovo Half Marathon “Red Thread” canceled.It was supposed to pass on October 9 | 0

14:09 Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshenko: “We have a goal for the Russian national team at the Olympic Games to always be in the top 3 medals” | 67

13:25 St. Petersburg Half Marathon “White Nights” will not take place. The race was previously postponed to autumn 2021 | 1

October 7 | Sports.ru

12:43 AIU has filed two more charges against the 2008 Olympic medalist Blessing Okagbare. She was banned from competition in July for doping | 5

12:11 Mikhail Bukhanov: “The renewed supervisory board of RUSADA is illegitimate.It does not comply with the World Anti-Doping Code “| 25

11:20 Russian Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin headed the government commission on the fight against doping in sports | 24

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Athletics (PODA) | PKR

Athletics (Sports of the Blind) | PKR

Athletics – includes: short-distance running (sprint), long-distance running (stayer run), jumping (long, high, pole vault), shot put, throwing (hammer, discus, spear).Therefore, when practicing athletics, such qualities as flexibility, speed, endurance, strength, speed-strength abilities are developed. All types of muscles are strengthened.

Athletics is a mass sport that contributes to the all-round physical development of a person, because combines simple and vital movements (walking, running, jumping, throwing). Systematic athletics exercises develop strength, speed, endurance and other qualities necessary in everyday life.

For the first time, Soviet athletes took part in the European Championship in 1946 in Norway, and in 1948 the All-Union Athletics Section became a member of the International Athletics Federation. Two years later, the athletes of the USSR at the European Championship in Brussels won the largest number of points for prizes. In 1952, the USSR national team took part in the Olympic Games for the first time. The debut was successful: 2 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze medals.

The track and field athletics department was opened in the Kirov Children’s School in 1952.The first coach of this department was Aleksey Aleksandrovich Kirov. In a short period of time, he created a friendly team of guys who fell in love with athletics. The guys trained, rested together, performed at competitions. In the early 60s, the first stars appeared. The winners of the Russian championship were Lydia Nekhoroshkina, Tatyana Novikova, Lyudmila Vaganova and Lyudmila Chuprakova – Lyudmila Sergeevna Krasovskaya (she was also the record holder of the RSFSR in javelin throw among girls).

It’s safe to say that the queen of sports – athletics – is one of the most ancient sports.The athletics department opened in 1952. Over the years of the department’s work, a large number of not only good athletes have left the school, but also many wonderful people who have left a significant mark on the life of the city of Perm and Zakamsk. Currently, the department has 470 children under the guidance of 9 trainers – teachers

90,000 Irina Privalova: Russian athletics looks to the future with optimism

Acting President of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) Irina Privalova, in an interview with TASS, shared her opinion on the results of the ended Olympic season, talked about improving mutual understanding with the head of the working group of the International Association of Athletics Federations Rune Andersen and expressed her hope for solving the problems with obtaining American visas by Russian athletes.

– Summarize, please, the results of the actually completed Olympic season.

On this topic

– For the difficult situation in which Russian athletics has been for several years, the performance of our athletes at the most important international starts of the year can be called good. At the Tokyo Olympics, out of ten athletes, two won medals: gold and silver. Some of our federations in other sports, represented at the Games in full strength, have not been able to achieve such success.

The Russian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports also appreciated the results of our athletes at the Olympic Games. On November 22, a meeting of the expert council will take place at the Ministry of Sports, at which the plan for the next Olympic cycle will be worked out in detail.

As for the younger generation, our athletes performed well at the European and World Junior Championships. This is the future of Russian athletics, and it is to the members of the youth, junior and youth teams that the closest attention will be paid in the period leading up to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

– Is it true that when the Olympic ten was formed, there was no unanimous opinion about the inclusion of Maria Lasitskene in the team? Why did you insist on including it?

– I myself was an athlete and I perfectly understood even a month before the Olympic Games that you can be confident in Masha and her coach Gennady Gabrilyan after they announced that they would have time to prepare for Tokyo, having told before that about the course of recovery from the injury. I was provided with medical documents indicating that the athlete will soon be in the ranks.The head coach of the national team, Yuri Mikhailovich Borzakovsky, also insisted that Masha should be included in the Olympic team, which is also very important.

It was almost a consolidated decision, but not unanimous. The names of those who doubted the correctness of the decision to include in the Olympic top ten an athlete who missed the Russian championship due to an injury, I see no reason to name it now. Everything is already in the past, and I am very glad that Masha fully justified our hopes in Japan

However, to be honest, I would have insisted on including her in the Olympic squad anyway after many years of great performances at the biggest starts.She, like no one else, deserved this right.

– A month after the Games, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the champions and prize-winners of the 2020 Olympics. Almost everyone came to the Kremlin, except for athletes …

– We perfectly understand that meeting with the head of our state is a great holiday. But due to the situation with the covid, all participants in that event were forced, as you know, to go through a week’s quarantine. And Masha and Angelica, who missed more than one start this season through no fault of their own, could not refuse the final of the Diamond League.Their participation in such a tournament is to a certain extent important for the future restoration of the federation in its previous status.

The absence of Masha and Angelica at the meeting with the President of the country was discussed in advance and found understanding. I think that in the future they will still have pleasant reasons for receiving invitations to meet with the head of our state.

– ARAF has been suspended from membership in the International Association of Athletics Federations [World Athletics] for almost six years.At the next council or congress ce World Athletics, which will be held in the fall, can the situation change?

– We have a light at the end of the tunnel, because the federation is now very clearly working towards its restoration. We are clearly fulfilling all the points of the roadmap and are looking forward to the next year with optimism. I think now we should not expect any changes in our status, since the roadmap is spelled out until the spring of 2022. And then we will look forward to a change in the situation in which we find ourselves now.

At the nearest council, I think, an assessment will be given of our implementation of the relevant points of the roadmap, which should be fully implemented by March next year. If we have undertaken such obligations, then it is necessary to fulfill everything

– How often do you communicate with the head of the World Athletics working group, Rune Andersen, who has been in charge of ARAF for more than five years?

– I communicate with him quite regularly.Now it’s much easier to do this, everything can be discussed in Zoom, you don’t need to fly anywhere. I would also call the results of our communication fruitful because international experts who are constantly working in the federation provide us with great help. We now understand each other more, there are much more points of contact.

– How is the recovery roadmap going?

– We do not deviate from it. We do everything that is written in it.

– Is the return of RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) compliance status a prerequisite for the restoration of ARAF in international rights? This situation was in the previous roadmap, as far as I know.

On this topic

– This is not spelled out in the new card. I believe that this is also the merit of our international experts. ARAF cannot in any way affect the change in the status of RUSADA, therefore it is quite logical that the restoration of the status of our anti-doping agency is not a condition for our return to the international athletics family.

– Does ARAF currently have any debts to the International Federation that could slow down the recovery process?

– No.

– One of the points of the roadmap is that the federation has a board of trustees …

– It has already been created and is in the process of formation. I can say that one of the members of the new board of trustees is the rector of Moscow State University, Viktor Antonovich Sadovnichy. This is very important for us, since this university is one of the main centers of student athletics in Russia. And the development of university sports is one of the priority areas of the ARAF.It is no secret that many promising young athletes, after entering higher education institutions, prematurely end their careers due to the lack of an opportunity to train normally. This cannot but worry us, where should our national team look for a reserve, if not in college sports?

– Where are you planning to hold the Russian Summer Athletics Championship in 2022?

– The final decision on this issue will be made shortly. Kazan and Cheboksary are among the main contenders.We will see who will offer the best conditions. It’s great when you have a choice. The regions are also competing for youth and junior championships. When there was hope for an early restoration of the federation itself, the process began, and interest in holding national championships was growing before our very eyes.

– The main start of the next season will be the World Cup in the USA. And if the anxiety about the possibility of our athletes’ performance at the international starts of the next season with each completed item of the roadmap gradually disappears, then no one can guarantee participation in the tournament in the United States due to problems with obtaining visas …

– As I said earlier, the federation itself really cannot do anything in this direction.We have high hopes for the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Obtaining American visas is not a federation level. I think that all these organizations, together with the Russian Olympic Committee, will find a way out of the situation.

90,000 Athletics – Sports Federation of the Blind

PR protocol athletics May 11-15, 2021 Ufa

Protocols

Russian Athletics Championship , Cheboksary, 2021

Protocols

All-Russian athletics competition from 23 to 27 February 2021, Chelyabinsk

Final protocols

Final protocols of the Russian Athletics Championship “sport of the blind” September 25-29, 2020, Republic of Bashkortostan, Ufa.

Final protocols

World Athletics Championships, 7 – 15 November 2019, Dubai

Relay 4×100
Women 1500m
Men 400m
Men 1500m
Men 5000m T11
Men 5000m T13
Spear

Championship of Russia, 12 – 18 July 2019, Cheboksary

Judges, results of the commission for the admission of participants
Protocols: women
Protocols: men

Championship of Russia, May 11-14, 2019, St.Salavat

Final protocols

All-Russian athletics competition, February 28 – March 02, 2019, St. Petersburg

Minutes Part 1
Minutes Part 2
Minutes Part 3

Championship of Russia, July 15-18, 2018, Chelyabinsk

Final protocols

Protocols

Championship of Russia, May 28-31, 2018, St.Sochi

Protocols

All-Russian athletics competition, February 24-27, 2018, Saransk

Protocols of a woman (zip archive)

Protocols of a man (zip-archive)

Championship of Russia, 17-20 May 2017, Salavat

Final protocols

Championship of Russia in sports of the blind, athletics, June 23-27, 2017, St.Saransk

Women

Men

All-Russian sports competitions in athletics, March 4-6, 2017,
Chelyabinsk

Final protocols

Championship of Russia in sports of the blind, athletics, June 1-5, 2016, Cheboksary

Composition of the main panel of judges

Women’s running

Women

Men running

Men

12-15 February 2016, St.Novocheboksarsk

All-Russian competition in sports of the blind, athletics, 12-15 February 2016, Novocheboksarsk

All-Russian competition in sports of the blind, athletics, 12-14 February 2016, Novocheboksarsk

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