 Track and field events were also present at the <unk> Games in Greece around this period , and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC . After the period of Classical antiquity ( in which the sport was largely Greco @-@ Roman influenced ) new track and field events began developing in parts of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages . The stone put and weight throw competitions popular among Celtic societies in Ireland and Scotland were precursors to the modern shot put and hammer throw events . One of the last track and field events to develop was the pole vault , which stemmed from competitions such as the <unk> contests in the Northern European <unk> in the 18th century . 
