Athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympics: All you need to know

The sport in brief: The oldest Olympic sport, with winners of a sprint race recorded as far back as 776 BC, athletics has remained the pre-eminent spectacle since the first modern Games in 1896. No other sport provides more medal opportunities, with 47 titles on offer in track, field and road events.

Anything new for Rio 2016? Some track and field finals will be held in the morning session for the first time at an Olympics since 1988.

British prospects: The gold medal-winning trio from 2012 - Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford and Jessica Ennis-Hill - remain Britain's most likely prospects. They showed they are still the favourites by winning world titles last year, although Ennis-Hill can expect a strong challenge from team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson, among others, for the heptathlon crown.

Who are the favourites? Sprint king Usain Bolt remains the man to beat in Rio as he looks to complete another Olympic treble, while fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is aiming for her third 100m title.

I didn't know that: Unknown and unheralded Ethiopian Abebe Bikila caused a shock at the 1960 Games by winning the marathon - running barefoot. He was the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal and claimed victory again four years later in Tokyo - this time wearing shoes.

Previous British medallists: 194 (53 gold, 79 silver, 62 bronze)

Most recent British golds: 2012: Jessica Ennis-Hill (heptathlon), Mo Farah (5,000m & 10,000m), Greg Rutherford (long jump)

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