Track and Field in the National Archives
With 44 events, some of them dating back to the original Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, track and field is really several sports in one. From the highest jumps to some of the fastest world records, track and field has it all.
You can learn about the impact of sports in the exhibit All American: The Power of Sports, which ran in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, DC, from September 16, 2022, through January 7, 2024.
Jim Thorpe, circa 1910. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. View in the National Archives Catalog.
A participant runs in the track competition of the Texas State Special Olympics at the University of Texas campus, August 1986. Photo by David N. Stead. Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. View in the National Archives Catalog.
A track and field athlete jumps hurdles at Chemawa Indian School Track, May 1971. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Gerald Ford watches Track and Field athletes practice for the 1976 Summer Olympics, at New York State University College Campus in Plattsburgh, New York, on July 10, 1976. White House Photographic Office Collection (Ford Administration) December 6, 1973 – January 20, 1977. View in the National Archives Catalog
Air Force 2nd Lt. Alonzo Babers runs in a track and field heat at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Ken Hackman. Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Track and field athletes practice for the 1976 Summer Olympics at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, July 1976. President Gerald Ford is among the spectators. White House Photographic Office Collection (Ford Administration). View in the National Archives Catalog.
Special Olympics athlete competes in the running long jump competition at Howard University in Washington, DC, May 2006. Photo by JO1 Kristin Fitzsimmons. Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President Ronald Reagan greeting Florence Griffith Joyner in the Oval Office, October 1988. Part of the Reagan White House Photographs series. View in the National Archives Catalog.
President George W. Bush shakes hands with U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Team member Scott Winkler in the Rose Garden at the White House, July 2008. Photo by Shealah Craighead. Records of the White House Photo Office (George W. Bush Administration). View in the National Archives Catalog.
Army runners approaching the finish line at a track and field meet, circa 1930. Records of the U.S. Military Academy. View in the National Archives Catalog.
Read more about the track and field–related holdings at the National Archives:
- The Unwritten Record: Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX with Archival Footage of Sporting Legends (2022)
- Education Updates: Primary Sources Related to the Olympics (2021)
- The Unwritten Record: An Update on Still Picture Catalog Additions (2020)
- The Text Message: Malvin Whitfield: Ambassador for Track and Field (2016)
- The Unwritten Record: This Week in Universal News: The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin (2014)
- Pieces of History: The Greatest Athlete of the First Half of the Century (2012)
- Catalog: Mildred McDaniel, Tuskegee Institute, US Olympic High Jumper
- DocsTeach: Babe Didrikson Star Athlete, 42, Dies of Cancer