Track and Field Word Search Printable

Find 16 track and field words, Hurdles to Javelin, then press New puzzle or print the sheet and answer key.

Name Date

Track and Field Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

YTSETCKOTWHOGYC

TBATONYLNTHOHTU

DMNDSWAHURDLESH

DIDKAOEAGGTOAIA

LAPODIUMAOEETSM

IWIEXNJNIAPJLPM

SSTOPWATCHMUUNE

PAUOHTVYSZCLFHR

RANSZOENTAKEOFF

IPSPAKLCROSSBAR

NMEINMITEURMIDL

THHKCINFLOPJSAA

YOTEHLBOLFMSTWN

BNISOEXNYBCRSBE

IIEARAEMSMZJHOT

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

SprintSPRINT
HurdlesHURDLES
MileMILE
LapLAP
HeatHEAT
BatonBATON
AnchorANCHOR
CrossbarCROSSBAR
TakeoffTAKEOFF
SandpitSANDPIT
JavelinJAVELIN
HammerHAMMER
LaneLANE
StopwatchSTOPWATCH
SpikesSPIKES
PodiumPODIUM

16 of 24 words from the Favorite Track and Field Words list.

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Answer key: Track and Field Word Search

YTSETCKOTWHOGYC

TBATONYLNTHOHTU

DMNDSWAHURDLESH

DIDKAOEAGGTOAIA

LAPODIUMAOEETSM

IWIEXNJNIAPJLPM

SSTOPWATCHMUUNE

PAUOHTVYSZCLFHR

RANSZOENTAKEOFF

IPSPAKLCROSSBAR

NMEINMITEURMIDL

THHKCINFLOPJSAA

YOTEHLBOLFMSTWN

BNISOEXNYBCRSBE

IIEARAEMSMZJHOT

SPRINT, HURDLES, MILE, LAP, HEAT, BATON, ANCHOR, CROSSBAR, TAKEOFF, SANDPIT, JAVELIN, HAMMER, LANE, STOPWATCH, SPIKES, PODIUM

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All 108 words

Running Events and Relays 21

Anchor The last of a relay's four runners, often the fastest.
Barrier A heavy, fixed obstacle, much sturdier than the kind that tips over.
Baton The hollow stick that teammates pass from hand to hand in a relay.
Blocks Angled footrests that a sprinter pushes against at the start of a short race.
Dash An older name for a short, all-out race, as in the hundred-yard kind.
Distance The word for the longer races, where pace and tactics count more than top speed.
Exchange zone The marked stretch of track in which the baton must change hands.
False start Moving before the signal: a fault that can put a runner out of the race.
Final The last round of an event, the one that decides the winner.
Handoff The moment the baton passes from one runner to the next.
Heat An early round, held when too many have entered to race all at once.
Hurdles A row of gates to be skimmed over at full speed without breaking stride.
Lap One circuit of the track.
Leadoff The first of a relay's four runners.
Mile A classic middle-distance race, a little over four laps of a standard track.
Relay Four teammates, one stick, and a pass each time one of them is done.
Sprint The shortest kind of race, over in seconds, with nothing held back.
Stagger The way starting marks are set farther forward in each outer lane to even out the turn.
Steeplechase A long race over heavy barriers, one of them followed by a pool of water.
Water jump The barrier with a pool behind it that makes one long race a splashy one.
Waterfall A curved starting line for longer races, from which everyone cuts to the inside lane.

Show all 108 words (87 more)

Racing Words 20

Acceleration Building up speed, the main job in the opening strides of a short race.
Backstretch The straight on the far side of the track, opposite the finish.
Breakaway A move that opens a gap between one runner and everyone else.
Cadence How many steps a runner takes each minute.
Curve Either rounded end of the track, also called the turn.
Finish line The stripe that ends the race; the clock stops when a torso reaches it.
Frontrunner Someone who likes to lead from the start instead of waiting to pass.
Headwind Moving air in a runner's face, which slows things down.
Homestretch The last straightaway before the tape.
Jog An easy, slow trot used to loosen up.
Kick A last burst of speed saved for the end of a long race.
Lean To tip the chest forward at the finish so the torso crosses sooner.
Momentum The push of a body already moving, which a good baton pass keeps alive.
Pace How fast you are covering ground, held steady or changed on purpose.
Pack A bunch of runners moving close together.
Split The time taken for one part of a race, such as one lap.
Stride One full step at speed; its length and quickness set how fast you go.
Surge A sudden pickup in speed in mid-race, meant to shake off a rival.
Tailwind Moving air at a runner's back, which helps.
Tape A ribbon once stretched across the end of a race for the winner to break.

Jumping Events 23

Approach The run that builds speed before a jump or a throw.
Attempt One try; an athlete gets only a few at each height or in each round.
Box The metal slot sunk in the runway that catches the end of the pole.
Clearance A try that leaves the crossbar where it was.
Crossbar The thin bar that must stay up for a jump or a vault to count.
Fiberglass A springy man-made material that modern vaulting poles are often built from.
Flop Today's usual style, back to the bar and head leading, made famous in 1968.
Height What goes up, a notch at a time, as a jumping contest goes on.
High jump A leap for height over a thin bar, from one foot, with nothing to help.
Hop The first part of the triple jump: off one foot and down on the same one.
Landing The end of a jump, into sand or onto thick cushions.
Long jump A leap for length: a sprint down a strip, one takeoff, and a landing in sand.
Plant To jam the end of the pole into its metal box at full speed.
Pole vault Clearing a very high bar with the help of a long, bendy stick.
Rake The tool used to smooth the sand between tries.
Runway The straight strip an athlete sprints down before a jump or a vault.
Sandpit The soft, raked landing area at the end of the runway.
Scissors An old, feet-first way over the bar, with the legs swinging one after the other.
Standards The pair of adjustable stands the crossbar rests on.
Step The second part of the triple jump: down on the other foot.
Straddle A way over the bar that was the leading style in the middle of the last century.
Takeoff The instant the foot pushes off and the athlete goes airborne.
Triple jump A hop, a step and a leap, all in one go, ending in sand.

Throwing Events 20

Cage The tall metal enclosure that keeps a stray throw from leaving the field.
Circle The ring an athlete must stay inside while throwing.
Crossover A sideways step in which one leg passes in front of the other.
Discus A heavy disc thrown with a spinning motion from inside a tall metal cage.
Glide A way of crossing the ring backward and turning to push the shot.
Grip How the fingers hold what is about to be thrown.
Hammer A metal ball on a wire, whirled around the body and let go.
Heave A mighty throw of something heavy.
Hurl To fling with great force.
Implement The official word for the thing being thrown, whichever event it is.
Javelin A long spear thrown after a sprint, the only throw made on the run.
Launch To set something flying.
Release The moment a throw leaves the fingers.
Rotation A complete spin of the thrower's body inside the ring.
Sector The wedge-shaped zone in which a throw has to land to count.
Shot put The event of pushing, not throwing, a heavy metal ball out of a ring.
Spin The whirling way of building speed inside the ring before letting go.
Technique The skilled way of moving that turns strength into results.
Toe board A raised curb at the front of the ring that the foot may press against but not top.
Wire The thin steel line between the handle and the heavy ball in one event.

The Track and the Meet 24

Athletics What most of the world calls this sport.
Bib The numbered sheet pinned to the chest or back.
Decathlon A contest of ten events for one athlete.
Event One contest on the program, such as a single race or a single kind of jump.
Infield The turf inside the track, where most jumps and throws take place.
Invitational A competition open only to teams that have been asked to come.
Judge The person who rules on whether a try was fair.
Lane The path between two painted lines that a sprinter must stay in.
Marshal A helper who keeps athletes and crowds where they should be.
Meet The whole competition, with many events on one day.
Official Anyone in charge of the rules: measuring, timing, starting or ruling on a fault.
Oval Two straights joined by two half circles: the outline of a running track.
Personal best An athlete's own top result so far in an event.
Podium Where the first three stand, the winner highest, to be given their awards.
Qualify To do well enough to move on to the next round.
Record The top mark anyone has reached in an event at some level.
Ribbon A colored strip handed out for placing at a school meet.
Scratch To pull out of an event before it starts.
Seed To rank entrants ahead of time so the fastest are spread across the early rounds.
Singlet The light, sleeveless top of a racing uniform.
Spikes Light shoes with sharp points under the front for grip.
Starter The official who gives the commands and sends a race on its way.
Stopwatch The timer in an official's hand, started at the signal and stopped at the line.
Timekeeper The person whose job is to clock each runner.

How this list was compiled: Track and field words chosen and defined for this site in five themed lists (running events and relays, racing words, jumping events, throwing events, the track and the meet), with a favorites list, an easy list and a hard list. Events and rules were checked on 2026-10-03 against the English Wikipedia articles Track and field, Relay race, Hurdling, High jump, Fosbury flop, Straddle technique, Triple jump, Pole vault, Shot put, Hammer throw, Javelin throw, Steeplechase (athletics), Decathlon and Mile run, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_and_field (CC BY-SA 4.0), and spellings against Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/. Every meaning is in our own words. No meet, record holder or athlete is named, and race lengths, weights and heights that change with the age of the athletes are left out. Licence: own work

How it works

This track and field word search printable opens on favorites such as Hurdles, Baton, Javelin and Sandpit. Five more lists split the sport the way a meet does: running events, racing words, jumps, throws and the track itself.

Read the full guide

From the blocks to the sandpit: five themed lists

Pick under Start from a list. Running Events and Relays has Steeplechase, Exchange zone and False start. Jumping Events has Crossbar, Takeoff and the old Scissors and Straddle styles. Throwing Events has Shot put, Discus and Toe board, and The Track and the Meet has Lane, Starter and Podium.

Short words for beginners, long ones for the varsity

Easy Track and Field Words keeps to short ones such as Lap, Heat, Dash, Hop and Bib. Hard Track and Field Words has Steeplechase, Homestretch, Acceleration and Invitational.

Two-word events lose the gap in the grid: Shot put reads SHOTPUT, and Pole vault reads POLEVAULT.
Hop and Step are both in the Jumping Events list: add a jump and they make the triple jump.

Questions and answers

What events are in the track and field word search?

The races from Sprint and Hurdles to Steeplechase and Relay, the four jumps (Long jump, High jump, Triple jump, Pole vault) and the four throws (Shot put, Discus, Javelin, Hammer), plus Decathlon. Each has its own clue.

What is the difference between track events and field events?

Track events are the races on the oval, won by the fastest time. Field events are the jumps and throws, won by the greatest distance or height. The lists on this page are split the same way.

Why are Jump and Bar missing from the lists?

JUMP sits inside LONGJUMP, HIGHJUMP, TRIPLEJUMP and WATERJUMP, and BAR inside CROSSBAR, so a grid could show the short word in two places. Type either one at the end of the word list to add it.

What is a decathlon?

A decathlon is a combined event in which one athlete competes in ten track and field events. The seven-event version is the heptathlon and the five-event one the pentathlon. Decathlon is in The Track and the Meet list.

All 108 words

Running Events and Relays 21

Racing Words 20

Jumping Events 23

Throwing Events 20

The Track and the Meet 24

How it works

From the blocks to the sandpit: five themed lists

Short words for beginners, long ones for the varsity

Questions and answers

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