Achievements of our national athletes, sports

Sports  are all forms of usually competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game; others provide tie-breaking methods, to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of such two-sided contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports seasons, followed in some cases by playof. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing  contestants may compete, each against all with one winner.

Different types of sports:
-soccer
-tennis
-volleyball 
-baseball 
-basketball 
-football
-badminton 
     

Reading comprehension activity

Triathlon is a sport that consists of three parts, swimming, cycling and running. Athletes race against each other. They swim first, cycle second and run last. Triathlon became an Olympic Sport in 2000 at the Sydney Summer Olympics in Australia. In the Olympics athletes swim for 1.5 km, cycle for 40 km and then run for 10 km. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China the women’s gold medal in triathlon was won by an Australian, Emma , who completed the race in just under two hours. Jan Frodeno from Germany won the men’s gold medal; he finished the race in one hour and 48 minutes.
A popular triathlon event is the Sprint Triathlon. It is a shorter race. It is half the distance of the triathlon of the Olympics. In the Sprint Triathlon athletes swim for 750 metres, cycle for 20 km and run for 5 km. If you think that this is too short for you, you can try the Ironman Triathlon. In the Ironman competition athletes swim for 3.86 km, cycle for 180 km and then run for 42.2 km! The fastest athletes can finish an Ironman Triathlon in just over eight hours!

Fill in the blanks:

1. The Sprint Triathlon is ___________________ than an Olympic Triathlon.

2. The fastest athletes finish an Ironman Triathlon in just over ______________ hours.

3. A triathlon has _________ parts, cycling, ________________ and swimming.

4. The 2008 summer Olympics were held in ________________________________.

Video about sports:
What are sports?