Sport: general, in Britain

Sport: general, in Britain

Sport is good for all

To begin a conversation about sport it is important to say some words

about it’s history. And I’d like to tell you about Olympic Games. An

athletic festival with competitions in music and poetry was held every four

years on the island of Peplos in Southern Greece. The period between the

games was called an Olympiad.

The games were held in honour of Zeus, the principle god of the

Greeks, who according to the legend lived on Mount Olympus. The festival

lasted five days and became a symbol of peace and friendship because in

keeping with the decree of that time no wars should be waged during an

Olympiad.

The athletes competed in running, boxing, wrestling, horse and chariot

racing and the like. The winners were given laurel wreaths in the temple of

Zeus.

And nowadays the Olympic Games have been regularly held in different

countries of the world and have become a wonderful tradition which helps to

bring people closer together.

People all over the world are fond of sport. Some people do morning

exercises, train themselves in clubs and in different sections. There are

many sport clubs that anyone can join. Light athletics gives much

opportunity to those who go in for it. It includes track field events:

running, long-jumping, high jumping, and others. But there’re a lot of

people, who like sport too but they only watch sport games and listen to

sport news. They prefer to read interesting stories about sportsmen. But

they don’t go in for sport.

Many children are fond of ball games: basketball, volleyball,

football. They are so exiting. Children like to take part in the

competitions to see who is the quickest, the strongest, who can jump best,

and who is the best swimmer or player. Pupils in different classes hold

competitions in different kinds of sport. All the competitions and games

are very popular with the pupils. A lot of fans always come to watch them.

But there’re some bad sides of sport. Sport today means big business

for both players and sponsors. Sporting events like the World Cup, which

has a big TV audience, make huge amounts of money. Companies like Coca Cola

and Adidas have paid a lot of money to sponsor a sport events. They know

that their names and logons at the sport stadiums and participants’

clothes. The high rewards have encouraged some sportsmen to take drags to

improve their performance.

As for me my favorite sport is swimming. It’s a wonderful sport. And

It’s a good exercise too. It makes people strong and healthy.

I think sport helps people to stay in a good shape, keeps them fit,

healthy and makes them more organized and better disciplined in their daily

activities.

Sports in Great Britain

National sports in Great Britain... It is a very interesting question,

because many kinds of sport have taken the origin in England.

The Englishmen love sports, they are called sports-lovers in spite

of the fact that some of them neither play games nor even watch them. They

only like to speak about sports.

Some kinds of sport are professional in England.

Many traditional sporting contests take place in England, for example,

cricket. This game is associated with England. There are many cricket clubs

in this country. English people like to play cricket. They think that

summer without cricket isn't summer. If you want to play cricket you must

wear white boots, a white shirt and white long trousers.

There are two teams. Each team has eleven players. Cricket is popular in

boys' schools. Girls play cricket too.

Football has got a long history. Football was played by the whole

village teams in the middle ages in England.

Now football is the most popular game in Britain. It is a team game.

There are some amateur teams but most of the teams are professional ones in

England. Professional football is a big business. Football is played at

schools too.

In rugby football you can see a ball, but it is not round. It is

oval. This is a team game. There are fifteen players in each team. It is a

popular game in England. There are many amateur rug-by football teams in

this country.

If we speak about football we can mention an American football too.

It is a game that is played between two teams of players using an oval ball

that can be handled or kicked. The captain of the team must be the oldest

or best player.

Table tennis or ping-pong originated in 1880. But the British

players are not lucky in tennis international championships. Many people

like to play table tennis. This game is played by men and women.

There are some tennis clubs in England, but if you play there it is

necessary to pay money for it. Englishmen like playing tennis but many of

them prefer to watch this game.

Wimbledon is the centre of lawn tennis. Some years ago Wimbledon was

a village, now it is a part of London. The most important tennis

competition takes place there every summer.

Englishmen pay much attention to swimming, rowing and walking. The most

famous boat race in England is between Oxford and Cambridge. It is usually

held on the Thames River. A lot of people come to watch it.

There are some racing competitions in England. They are motor-car

racing, dog-racing, donkey-racing, boat-racing, horse-racing. All kinds of

racings are popular in England. It is interesting to see the egg-and-spoon

race. The runner, who takes part in this competition, must carry an egg in

a spoon. It is not allowed to drop the egg.

I must speak about the Highland Games in Scotland. All competitors

wear Highland dress. There are such competitions as putting the weight,

tossing the caber and others. The English are great lovers of sports.