General

Despite progress in women's and LGBT rights, the way the mainstream media portrays non-conforming or sexually ambiguous athletes has not changed much in three decades, argues a leading expert on gender in sport, citing the treatment of Olympic athletes Caster Semenya (left) and Johnnie Weir.

Whether an athlete is running high school cross country, preparing for a local half marathon, or getting ready for an ultra-competitive international triathlon, improving the strength and stamina of their hip muscles can help improve times while reducing the risk of injury.

Changes to starting gun, automatic timing and pole vault rules highlight changes for 2009.

There are several ways for track and field athletes to get the
most out of those few precious months of the off-season before heading indoors
for the winter and getting ready for outdoor track in the spring.

SITUATION 1: At the start of a cross country race, Team A members appear at the starting line wearing headgear with fake antlers attached (the school's mascot being "the elks"). The referee directs the competitors to remove this headwear. The coach objects as the games committee did not prohibit headwear. RULING: Correct procedure.

3-2-4(o): The games committee may restrict the wearing of items which are worn in excess of the school-issued uniform allowed by rule.

1. RISK MINIMIZATION IN TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITION - The Track and Field Rules Committee highly recommends continued emphasis on safety and risk minimization throughout the entire Track and Field competition, including but not limited to:

Rationale: The correcting of the score due to an error of permitting a disqualified contestant to participate had not previously been addressed. This change will cover correction of the score due to use of disqualified contestant due to conduct during the meet and/or one who should not have participated in the meet at any time.

Indoor track isn't just outdoor track under a roof or in a bubble. Not only are the track and events different from those contested outdoors, but these differences make indoor track attractive to track and field athletes for a number of reasons.