This sport was developed gradually during the history of human social development; as far back as the ancient times, humans had to fight with elements of nature and wild animals in order to survive; they often had to cross over mountains and rivers, jump over obstacles, and throw stone, stick, and various kinds of hunting tools. In daily life, humans are constantly repeating and improving these movements, which eventually became the various forms of labor skills, such as walking, running, jumping, and throwing; these skills are then passed down through the generations.

Athletic events were already present at the ancient Olympic Games held at Olympia, Greece in 776 B.C. In 1896, at the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, athletic events of walking, running, jumping, and throwing were among the main sport events. Athletic events are divided into field events and track events.

Field events are further divided into jump and throw; jump includes high jump, pole jump, long jump and triple jump; throw includes shot, discus, javelin and hammer.
Track events refer to all running events, including short/middle/long-distance race, hurdle, and relay events. All track events take place at standard athletic stadiums with an 8-lane track; the length of the track is 400 meters. Only marathon events take place on the streets.

This sport does not have just a long history, but also the most amount of medals given at major sport competitions. The level of athletics sports is often a major indicator of a nation’s sports development. Because of this, the athletics events are often the most-watched events at the Olympic Games.

這是從人類社會發展史中逐步發展而成的，遠在上古時代，人們為了生存需求而與大自然及野獸博鬥，經常走動於淙山峻嶺、橫跨溪流、飛越障礙、投擲石塊、木棒和各種捕獵工具等。在日常生活中，人們不斷重複和改進這些動作，逐步形成了走、跑、跳、擲等各種生活勞動技能，並把這些技能一代代地傳授下去。

公元前776年，在希臘奧林匹克村舉行的古代奧運會上就有田徑項目。1896年，在希臘雅典舉行的第一屆現代奧林匹克運動會上，田徑運動的走、跑、跳、投等一些項目就被列為主要競賽項目。

項目共分為兩大類，分別是田賽和徑賽。

田賽又分成兩類，分別是跳和擲，跳包括跳高、撐竿跳高、跳遠及三級跳遠；擲則包括鉛球、鐵餅、標槍及鏈球。

徑賽則是指所有跑步項目，分別有短跑、中距離跑、長跑、跨欄及接力，這些項目都在比賽場館進行，標準場館內均設有一8條賽道的跑道，該跑道的長度為400公尺，只有馬拉松是需要在街道上進行。

這項運動不但歷史悠久，並且也是大型運動賽會中設立獎牌數最多的項目，而且田徑運動水平，往往也是一個國家體育運動發展水平的主要指標，因此，田徑運動在奧運會上往往都是十分引人注目的競賽項目。