Overview of international track and field competitions of the V4 countries and participation of their athletes at major competitions

International track and field competitions are nowadays an essential part of qualifying for major competitions. In the long term, Slovakia has fewer such competitions and fewer Slovak athletes qualify for major competitions, so we decided to find out how other V4 countries - the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary - are doing. The study focuses on an overview of the V4 countries' international track and field competitions and the participation of their athletes in the major competitions in 2024. The data was obtained through a document study, mainly from the websites of World Athletics, Olympics and European Athletics. By analysing the data for 2024, we found that Slovakia organised 9 international track and field competitions, which was significantly less compared to the Czech Republic (21) and Poland (22). Hungary, on the other hand, organised only 4 international track and field competitions in 2024, which were part of the World Athletics Continental Tour. The lower number of competitions organised in Slovakia also had a negative impact on the participation of athletes in major competitions, which was significantly lower in 2024 compared to the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. This fact was also reflected in the representation of athletes of individual countries in track and field events in the Top 100 rankings recorded by World Athletics. While Slovakia has 11 athletes in this ranking, the Czech Republic has 54 athletes, Poland 86 athletes and Hungary 40 athletes. The participation of athletes in domestic international track and field competitions provides athletes with the opportunity to gain valuable points for the world ranking, which is an important prerequisite for qualification for major competitions. The results of our research highlight the importance of organizing international track and field competitions for the development of track and field in individual countries and emphasize the need for systematic building of sports infrastructure and support for talented athletes.