Olympic athletics tests the participating athletes on their pure physical prowess. These events use simple equipment and very little of it. Two thousand of the world's best athletes will be competing in 26 sports, including athletics, at the Olympic Stadium at the London 2012 Olympics. Athletics events are among the most revered as they are often the same now as when they were first held in 776 B.C..

Athletics today displays a variety of events involving running, throwing or jumping or some combination of those three skills. As an example, perhaps the only difference in many sports, shot put being one, from then to now is that the athletes are much bigger and stronger than they once were. Shot put is one of the most impressive displays of raw strength out of any of the events at the Olympic Games.

Observers will find it easy to spot the ancient ties to battle and hunting when viewing the Javelin Throw. Looking for distance and not accuracy, a relatively short runway precedes the throw that launches a sharp-tipped javelin, only weighing about 28 ounces, soaring through the air. Uwe Hohn accomplished a throw just over 341 feet at the 1984 Olympics. in simple terms, Olympic high jump has athletes in a contest to see who can leap over the highest bar without knocking it down. In the past, contestants have tested all types of combinations of feet or head first and body facing up or down. The most common method used today is with the body up and the feet following last. this method was introduced in the 1960's. athletes are disqualified when they knock the bar off three times.

Athletes in the long jump have three attempts to land the furthest length, from the foul line. Long jump requires strength but also speed on the approach and many athletes also compete in the sprinting events. Interestingly, part of the success of the jump relies on nature. Wind speed is measured during the competition and in the event that it becomes too strong, the jump will not be validated. This was the case when carl lewis (also a sprinter) jumped over 29 feet and was then disqualified because of the speed of the wind.

The Olympic motto of 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' (Faster, Higher, Stronger) is represented best by the tradition steeped track and field events. Person against person, with no advantage of technology, teams or equipment, athletics is the perfect embodiment of the ancient Olympic Games of Greece. Men and women of all colors, races and beliefs come together in peace to contest for prestige, respect and the glory that goes with being the best of the best.

Information on the history of athletics at the Olympics. Also a rundown of the sports involved and some of the rules.

Kirsty is the author of London 2012 Olympics, a website aimed at helping people prepare for their trip to the London 2012 Olympics. Anyone interested in athletics (including getting London 2012 Olympic tickets) at the London Olympics should check out the London 2012 Olympic athleticspage.