Track and field athletics officials or track and field athletics technical officials are

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

s responsible for judging the various events within

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. They can be sub-divided into four main groups: field judges, track judges, timekeepers, and starters. While most are versatile over the course of a season, they are given specific assignments to focus on during the course of a meet. At a high-level meet there might be, for example, an official to call the athletes and record their results, one or more officials to watch the circle or jumping line, one or more officials to mark the landing spot, one to operate a wind game and one to watch the time limit for the athlete. New electronic devices for

timing Timing is the tracking or planning of the spacing of events in time. It may refer to: * Timekeeping, the process of measuring the passage of time * Synchronization, controlling the timing of a process relative to another process * Time metrolo ...

, measurement or other technological operations might require additional specialists. And ultimately there is a referee to supervise that all are performing to the proper specifications according to the rules; and to make on the spot decisions when there is a controversial issue to settle. Within the United Kingdom, athletics officials are governed by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

, within the United States, the supervising body is

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

.Officials Certification
/ref> In other countries it is usually supervised by the National Governing Body to finish the race from start to end....etc..

References

* {{Athletics-stub