Short answers, pulled from the story.
Athletics is a group of sporting events built on competitive running, jumping, and throwing. Its most common forms are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and race walking. Racing events are decided by finishing position or time, while jumps and throws are won by the highest or furthest measurement.
Organized athletics trace back to the ancient Olympic Games of 776 BC, where the only event was a stadium-length sprint called the stadion. The rules and format of the modern events were defined in Western Europe and North America during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In much of North America the word athletics refers to sports in general, reflecting its historical usage, so it is rarely used for the specific sport. The term track and field is used instead in the United States and Canada, covering running, jumping, throwing, race walking, and marathon running, while cross-country running is generally treated as a separate sport.
World Athletics is the global governing body of athletics. It was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletics Federation, became the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001, and took its current name in 2019. It has 215 member nations and territories divided into six continental areas.
World Athletics defines athletics in six disciplines: track and field, road running, race walking, cross-country running, mountain running, and trail running. Mountain running was added in 2003 and trail running was added in 2015. All forms are individual sports except relay races.
Athletes with physical disabilities have competed at separate international events since the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1952, and the Paralympic Games have continued since 1960. The International Paralympic Committee governs the competitions, classifying athletes by disability so that, for example, a T12 athlete is a track competitor with a visual impairment.