Swimming oder ein Zweigesprch ber die

Schwimmkunst).
Swimming emerged as a competitive
recreational activity in the 1830s in England.
In 1828, the first indoor swimming pool, St
George's Baths was opened to the public.
[1]
By 1837, the National Swimming
Society was holding regular swimming
competitions in six artificial swimming pools,
built around London. The recreational activity
grew in popularity and by 1880, when the first
national governing body, the Amateur
Swimming Association, was formed, there
Swimming is an individual or team sport and were already over 300 regional clubs in
activity. Competitive swimming is one of the operation across the country.[2]
most popular Olympic sports, with events in
butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle,
and individual medley. In addition to these
individual events, Olympic swimmers also
take part in relays. Swimmers can also
compete in open-water events (e.g., in a sea
or lake).

History

The routes taken by Webb and T.W. Burgess

across the English Channel, in 1875 and
1911, respectively.
In 1844 two Native American participants at a
swimming competition in London introduced
the front crawl to a European audience.
Sir John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-
over stroke from some South American
natives and successfully debuted the new
stroke in 1873, winning a local competition in
England. His stroke is still regarded as the
Leander swimming across the Hellespont.
most powerful to use today.[3]
Detail from a painting by Bernard Picart.
Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to
Evidence of recreational swimming in swim the English Channel (between England
prehistoric times has been found, with the and France), in 1875. Using the breaststroke
earliest evidence dating to Stone technique, he swam the channel 21.26 miles
Age paintings from around 10000 years ago. (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His
Written references date from 2000 BC, with feat was not replicated or surpassed for the
some of the earliest references to swimming next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the
including the Iliad, the Odyssey, crossing in 1911.
the Bible, Beowulf, the Quran and others. In
Other European countries also established
1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German
swimming federations; Germany in
professor of languages, wrote the first
1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896.
swimming book, The Swimmer or A Dialogue
The first European amateur swimming
on the Art of Swimming (Der Schwimmer
competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The
world's first women's swimming contrast to walking, where one foot is always
championship was held in Scotland in 1892.[4] in contact with the ground, the legs are kept
Men's swimming became part of the first mostly straight and the center of
modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. In gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in
1902, the Australian Richmond an inverted pendulum fashion.[2] A
Cavill introduced the front crawl to the characteristic feature of a running body from
Western world. In 1908, the world swimming
the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is
association, Fdration Internationale de
Natation (FINA), was formed. Women's that changes in kinetic and potential energy
swimming was introduced into the Olympics within a stride occur simultaneously, with
in 1912; the first international tournament for energy storage accomplished by springy
women outside the Olympics was the 1922 tendons and passive muscle elasticity.[3] The
Women's Olympiad. Butterfly was developed term running can refer to any of a variety of
in the 1930s and was at first a variant of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.
breaststroke, until it was accepted as a
separate style in 1952.
It is assumed that the ancestors of mankind
Swim styles developed the ability to run for long distances
about 2.6 million years ago, probably in order
In competitive swimming, four major styles to hunt animals.[4]Competitive running grew
have been established. These have been out of religious festivals in various areas.
relatively stable over the last 3040 years Records of competitive racing date back to
with minor improvements. They are: the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 BCE,
[citation needed]
while the first recorded Olympic
Butterfly Games took place in 776 BCE. Running has
been described as the world's most
Backstroke
accessible sport.
Breaststroke
History
Freestyle

Running

A scene depicting long distance runners,

originally found on a Panathenaic amphora
from Ancient Greece, circa 333 B.C.

Running is a method of terrestrial It is thought that human running evolved at

least four and a half million years ago out of
the ability of the ape-like Australopithecus, an
early ancestor of humans, to walk upright on
locomotion allowing humans and other two legs.[6]
animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a The theory proposed considered to be the
type of gait characterized by an aerial phase most likely evolution of running is of early
in which all feet are above the ground humans' developing as endurance runners
(though there are exceptions[1]). This is in from the practice of persistence hunting of
animals, the activity of following and chasing referred to as "cyclists",[2] "bikers",[3] or less
until a prey is too exhausted to flee, commonly, as "bicyclists".[4] Apart from two-
succumbing to "chase myopathy" (Sears wheeled bicycles, "cycling" also includes the
2001), and that human features such as
riding of unicycles, tricycles, quadracycles,
the nuchal ligament, abundant sweat glands,
the Achilles tendons, big knee joints and recumbent and similar human-powered
muscular glutei maximi, were changes vehicles (HPVs).
caused by this type of activity (Bramble &
Lieberman 2004, et al.).[7][8][9] The theory as Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century
first proposed used comparative physiological and now number approximately one billion
evidence and the natural habits of animals worldwide.[5] They are the principal means of
when running, indicating the likelihood of this transportation in many parts of the world.
activity as a successful hunting method.
Further evidence from observation of
Cycling is widely regarded as a very effective
modern-day hunting practice also indicated
this likelihood (Carrier et al. 1984). [9] and efficient mode of transportation[6]
[7]
[10]
According to Sears (p. 12) scientific optimal for short to moderate distances.
investigation (Walker & Leakey 1993) of the
Nariokotome Skeleton provided further Bicycles provide numerous benefits in
evidence for the Carrier theory.[11] comparison with motor vehicles, including the
Competitive running grew out of religious sustained physical exercise involved in
festivals in various areas such as Greece, cycling, easier parking, increased
Egypt, Asia, and the East African Rift in maneuverability, and access to roads, bike
Africa. The Tailteann Games, an Irish paths and rural trails. Cycling also offers a
sporting festival in honor of the reduced consumption of fossil fuels,
goddess Tailtiu, dates back to 1829 BCE, and
is one of the earliest records of competitive less air or noise pollution, and much
running.[citation needed] The origins of the reduced traffic congestion. These lead to less
Olympics and Marathon running are financial cost to the user as well as to society
shrouded by myth and legend, though the at large (negligible damage to roads, less
first recorded games took place in 776 BCE. road area required).[8] By fitting bicycle racks
[12]
Running in Ancient Greece can be traced on the front of buses, transit agencies can
back to these games of 776 BCE.
significantly increase the areas they can
...I suspect that the sun, moon, earth, stars, serve.[9]
and heaven, which are still the Gods of many
barbarians, were the only Gods known to the Among the disadvantages of cycling are the
aboriginal Hellenes. Seeing that they were
requirement of bicycles (excepting tricycles or
always moving and running, from their
running nature they were called Gods or quadracycles) to be balanced by the rider in
runners (Thus, Theontas)... order to remain upright, the reduced
protection in crashes in comparison to motor
Socrates in Plato - Cratylus vehicles,longer travel time (except in densely
populated areas), vulnerability to weather
conditions, difficulty in transporting
Bicycling passengers, and the fact that a basic level of
fitness is required for cycling moderate to
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is long distances.
the use
of bicycles for transport, recreation, exercise
or sport.[1] Persons engaged in cycling are Skiing
 on the other a shorter ski for kicking. The
bottom of the short ski was either plain or
covered with animal skin to aid this use, while
the long ski supporting the weight of the skier
was treated with animal fat in similar manner
to modern ski waxing.

Early skiers used one long pole or spear. The

Skiing is a mode of transport, recreational first depiction of a skier with two ski
activity and competitive winter sport in which poles dates to 1741.
the participant uses skis to glide on snow.
Many types of competitive skiing events are Until the mid-19th century skiing was
recognized by the International Olympic primarily used for transport, and since then
Committee (IOC), and the International Ski has become a recreation and sport.[7]Military
Federation (FIS).
ski races were held in Norway during the 18th
History[edit] century,[8] and ski warfare was studied in the
late 18th century.[9] As equipment evolved
and ski lifts were developed skiing evolved
into two main genres during the late 19th and
early 20th century, Alpine and Nordic.

Types of skiing

Alpine

Also called downhill skiing, alpine skiing

typically takes place on a piste at a ski resort.
It is characterized by fixed-heel bindings that
Video demonstration of a variety of ski
attach at both the toe and the heel of the
techniques used in the 1940s.
skier's boot. Because alpine equipment is
Skiing has a history of almost five millennia. somewhat difficult to walk in, ski lifts,
[1]
Although modern skiing has evolved from including chairlifts, bring skiers up the
beginnings in Scandinavia, it may have been slope. Backcountry skiing can be accessed
practiced as early as 600 BC in what is by helicopter, snowcat, hiking and snowmobil
now China.[2][3] e. Facilities at resorts can include night
skiing, aprs-ski, and glade skiing under the
The word "ski" is one of a handful of words supervision of the ski patrol and the ski
Norway has exported to the international school. Alpine skiing branched off from the
community. It comes from the Old older Nordic skiing around the 1920s, when
Norse word "sk" which means "split piece of the advent of ski lifts meant that it was not
wood or firewood".[4][5] necessary to walk any longer. Alpine
equipment specialized to where it can only be
Asymmetrical skis were used at least in used with the help of lifts.
northern Finland and Sweden until the late
19th century. On one leg the skier wore a
long straight non-arching ski for sliding, and
Nordic opponent's court. The object of the game is to
play the ball in such a way that the opponent
is not able to play a valid return. The player
who is unable to return the ball will not gain a
point, while the opposite player will.

Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all

levels of society and at all ages. The sport
can be played by anyone who can hold a
racket, including wheelchair users. The
modern game of tennis originated
The Nordic disciplines include cross-country in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th
skiing and ski jumping, which share in century as "lawn tennis".[1] It had close
common the use of binding that attach at the connections both to various field ("lawn")
toes of the skier's boots but not at the heels. games such as croquet and bowls as well as
Cross-country skiing may be practiced on to the older racket sport of real tennis. During
groomed trails or in most of the 19th century, in fact, the term
undeveloped backcountry areas. Ski jumping "tennis" referred to real tennis, not lawn
skiing is practiced at certain areas that are tennis: for example, in Disraeli's
deemed for ski jumping only. novel Sybil (1845), Lord Eugene De Vere
announces that he will "go down to Hampton
Telemark
Court and play tennis."
Telemark skiing is a ski turning technique and
The rules of tennis have changed little since
FIS-sanctioned discipline. It is named after
the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from
the Telemark region of Norway. Using
1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot
equipment similar to nordic skiing, the ski
on the ground at all times, and the adoption
bindings having the ski boot attached only at
of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition
the toe. This allows the skier to raise his/her
to professional tennis has been the adoption
heel throughout the turn.
of electronic review technology coupled with
a point challenge system, which allows a
player to contest the line call of a point, a
system known as Hawk-Eye.

Tennis is played by millions of recreational

players and is also a popular worldwide
spectator sport. The four Grand
Tennis Slam tournaments (also referred to as the
"Majors") are especially popular:
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played the Australian Open played on hard courts,
individually against a single opponent the French Open played on red clay
(singles) or between two teams of two courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts,
players each (doubles). Each player uses and the US Open played also on hard courts.
a tennis racket that is strung with cord to
strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt HistoryPredecessors
over or around a net and into the
 tennis.[8] During the 18th century and early
19th century, as real tennis declined, new
racket sports emerged in England.[9]

Further, the patenting of the first lawn

mower in 1830, in Britain, is strongly believed
to have been the catalyst, worldwide, for the
preparation of modern-style grass courts,
Jeu de paume in the 17th century sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, greens,
etc. This in turn led to the codification of
Historians believe that the game's ancient modern rules for many sports, including lawn
origin lay in 12th century northern France, tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls and
where a ball was struck with the palm of the others.[10]
hand.[3] Louis X of France was a keen player
of jeu de paume ("game of the palm"), which Origins of the modern game
evolved into real tennis, and became notable
as the first person to construct indoor tennis Between 1859 and 1865 Harry Gem and his
courts in the modern style. Louis was friend Augurio Perera developed a game that
unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and combined elements of racquets and the
accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts Basque ball game pelota, which they played
made in Paris "around the end of the 13th on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham,
century".[4]In due course this design spread England, United Kingdom.[11][12] In 1872, along
across royal palaces all over Europe.[4] In with two local doctors, they founded the
June 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne and world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.[13]
following a particularly exhausting game,
Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine In December 1873, British army officer
and subsequently died of Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed and
either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there patented a similar game ; which he
was also suspicion of poisoning.[5] Because of called sphairistik (Greek: ,
the contemporary accounts of his death, meaning "ball-playing"), and was soon known
Louis X is history's first tennis player known simply as "sticky" for the amusement of
by name.[5] Another of the early enthusiasts of guests at a garden party on his friend's estate
the game was King Charles V of France, who of Nantclwyd Hall, in Llanelidan, Wales.
had a court set up at the Louvre Palace.[6] [14]
According to R. D. C. Evans,
turfgrass agronomist, "Sports historians all
It wasn't until the 16th century agree that [Wingfield] deserves much of the
that rackets came into use, and the game credit for the development of modern
began to be called "tennis", from tennis."[9][15] According to Honor Godfrey,
the French term tenez, which can be museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield
translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!", "popularized this game enormously. He
an interjection used as a call from the server produced a boxed set which included a net,
to his opponent.[7] It was popular in England poles, rackets, balls for playing the game
and France, although the game was only and most importantly you had his rules. He
played indoors where the ball could be hit off was absolutely terrific at marketing and he
the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan sent his game all over the world. He had very
of this game, which is now known as real good connections with the clergy, the law
profession, and the aristocracy and he sent
thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in
1874."[16] The world's oldest tennis
tournament, the Wimbledon Championships,
were first played in London in 1877.[16][17] The
first Championships culminated a significant
debate on how to standardize the rules.[16]

Tennis doubles final at 1896 Olympic Games

Tennis also became popular in France, where

the French Championships dates to 1891
although until 1925 it was open only to tennis
players who were members of French clubs.
[23]
Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the
French Open, and the Australian
Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887 Open (dating to 1905) became and have
remained the most prestigious events in
In the U.S. in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, tennis.[17][24] Together these four events are
a young socialite, returned from Bermuda called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed
with a sphairistik set. She became from bridge rather than baseball).[25]
fascinated by the game of tennis after
watching British army officers play.[18] She laid
out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket
Club at Camp Washington,
Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. The
first American National championship was
played there in September 1880. An
Englishman named O.E. Woodhouse won the Lawn tennis in Canada, ca. 1900
singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by
defeating Canadian I. F. Hellmuth.[19] There The comprehensive rules promulgated in
was also a doubles match which was won by 1924 by the International Lawn Tennis
a local pair. There were different rules at Federation, now known as the International
each club. The ball in Boston was larger than Tennis Federation (ITF), have remained
the one normally used in New York. On 21 largely stable in the ensuing eighty years, the
May 1881, the United States National Lawn one major change being the addition of
Tennis Association (now the United States the tiebreak system designed by Jimmy Van
Tennis Association) was formed to Alen.[26] That same year, tennis withdrew from
standardize the rules and organize the Olympics after the 1924 Games but
competitions.[20] The U.S. National Men's returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under
Singles Championship, now the US Open, demonstration event in 1984. This
was first held in 1881 at the Newport reinstatement was credited by the efforts by
Casino, Newport, Rhode Island.[21] The U.S. the then ITF President Philippe Chatrier, ITF
National Women's Singles Championships General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice
were first held in 1887 in Philadelphia.[22] President Pablo Llorens, and support from
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. The professional tennis circuit, and revenues from
success of the event was overwhelming and the sale of television rights, tennis's
the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a popularity has spread worldwide, and the
full medal sport at Seoul in 1988. sport has shed its middle-class English-
speaking image[33] (although it is
acknowledged that this stereotype still
exists).[33][34]

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International

Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in
Newport, Rhode Island.[35] The building
contains a large collection of tennis
memorabilia as well as a hall of fame
honouring prominent members and tennis
players from all over the world. Each year,
International Tennis Hall of Fame at the a grass court tournament and an induction
Newport Casino ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame
members are hosted on its grounds.
The Davis Cup, an annual competition
between men's national teams, dates to
1900.[29] The analogous competition for
women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was
founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the ITF.
Gymnastics
In 1926, promoter C. C. Pyle established the
first professional tennis tour with a group of Gymnastics is not a sport but involves the
American and French tennis players playing performance of exercises requiring
exhibition matches to paying audiences. [24] balance, strength, flexibility, agility,
[31]
The most notable of these early endurance and control. The movements
professionals were the American Vinnie involved in gymnastics contribute to the
Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne development of the arms, legs, shoulders,
Lenglen.[24][32] Once a player turned pro he or chest and abdominal muscle groups.
she could not compete in the major (amateur) Alertness, precision, daring, self-
tournaments.[24] confidence and self-discipline are mental
traits that can also be developed through
In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of gymnastics. [1]Gymnastics evolved from
some amateurs taking money under the table exercises used by the ancient Greeks that
led to the abandonment of this distinction, included skills for mounting and dismounting
inaugurating the Open Era, in which all a horse, and from circus performance skills.
players could compete in all tournaments,
and top players were able to make their living Most forms of competitive gymnastics events
from tennis. With the beginning of the Open are governed by the Fdration
Era, the establishment of an international Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Each
country has its own national governing body The Federation of International
(BIW) affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic Gymnastics (FIG) was founded in Liege in
gymnastics is the best known of the 1881.[5]By the end of the nineteenth century,
men's gymnastics competition was popular
gymnastic events. It typically involves the
enough to be included in the first
women's events of vault, uneven bars, "modern" Olympic Games in 1896. From then
balance beam and floor exercise. Men's on until the early 1950s, both national and
events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still international competitions involved a
rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. changing variety of exercises gathered under
the rubric, gymnastics, that included for
Other FIG disciplines include rhythmic example, synchronized team floor
gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrob calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping,
running, and horizontal ladder. During the
atic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics.
1920s, women organized and participated in
Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG gymnastics events. The first women's
include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group Olympic competition was primitive, only
gymnastics, men's rhythmic gymnastics involving synchronized calisthenics and track
and TeamGym. Participants can include and field. These games were held in 1928, in
children as young as 20 months old doing Amsterdam.
kindergym and children's gymnastics, By 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and
recreational gymnasts of ages 3 and up, events for both men and women had been
competitive gymnasts at varying levels of standardized in modern format, and uniform
skill, and world-class athletes. grading structures (including a point system
from 1 to 15) had been agreed upon. At this
time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world
History with highly disciplined and difficult
Gymnastics originated in ancient Spain and performances, setting a precedent that
was originally intended for military training, continues. Television has helped publicize
where it was used by soldiers to prepare for and initiate a modern age of gymnastics.
warfare. Both men's and women's gymnastics now
attract considerable international interest, and
In the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-
excellent gymnasts can be found on every
century Germany, two pioneer physical
continent.
educators Johann Friedrich
GutsMuths (17591839) and Friedrich In 2006, a new points system for Artistic
Ludwig Jahn (17781852) created gymnastics was put into play. With an A
exercises for boys and young men on Score (or D score) being the difficulty score,
apparatus they had designed that ultimately which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high
led to what is considered modern scoring elements in a routine (excluding
gymnastics. Don Francisco Amors y Vault). The B Score (or E Score), is the score
Ondeano, was born on February 19, 1770 in for execution, and is given for how well the
Valencia and died on August 8, 1848 in Paris. skills are performed.[
He was a Spanish colonel, and the first
person to introduce educative gymnastic in
France. Jahn promoted the use of parallel
bars, rings and high bars in international
competition.[4]
Early 20th-century gymnastics in Stockholm,
Sweden
Track and Field
Track and field is a sport which literary traditions, this was the only athletic
includes athletic contests established on the event of the games for the first 13 Olympic
skills of running, jumping, and throwing.[1] The festivals. In modern times, the two most
name is derived from the sport's prestigious international track and field
typical venue: a stadium with an oval running competitions are athletics competition at the
track enclosing a grass field where the Olympic Games and the IAAF World
throwing and jumping events take place. Championships in Athletics. The International
Track and field is categorised under the Association of Athletics Federations is
umbrella sport of athletics, which also the international governing body.
includes road running, cross country running,
and race walking. Records are kept of the best performances in
specific events, at world and national levels,
The foot racing events, which right down to a personal level. However, if
include sprints, middle- and long-distance athletes are deemed to have violated the
events, race walking and hurdling, are won event's rules or regulations, they are
by the athlete with the fastest time. The disqualified from the competition and their
jumping and throwing events are won by the marks are erased.
athlete who achieves the greatest distance or
height. Regular jumping events include long In North America, the term track and field
jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, may be used to refer to other athletics
while the most common throwing events events, such as the marathon, rather than
are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. strictly track-based events.
There are also "combined events" or "multi
events", such as the pentathlon consisting of History
five events, heptathlon consisting of seven
events, and decathlon consisting of ten
events. In these, athletes participate in a
combination of track and field events. Most
track and field events are individual
sports with a single victor; the most
prominent team events are relay races, which
typically feature teams of four. Events are
A Greek vase from 500 BC depicting a
almost exclusively divided by gender,
although both the men's and women's running contest
competitions are usually held at the same The sport of track and field has its roots in
venue. human prehistory. Track and field-style
events are among the oldest of all
It is one of the oldest sports. In ancient times, sporting competitions, as running, jumping
it was an event held in conjunction with and throwing are natural and universal forms
of human physical expression. The first
festivals and sports meets such as
recorded examples of organized track and
the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The field events at a sports festival are
ancient Olympic Games began in the year the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first
776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only
nearby city of Elis, won the stadium race, a one event was contested: the stadion
foot race 600 feet long. According to some footrace.[3] The scope of the Games
expanded in later years to include further
running competitions, but the introduction of runners followed a trail of paper shreds left by
the Ancient Olympic pentathlon marked a two "foxes";[9] even today RSSH runners are
step towards track and field as it is called "hounds" and a race victory is a "kill".
[10]
recognized todayit comprised a five-event The first definite record of Shrewsbury's
competition of the long jump, javelin (cross-country) Annual Steeplechase is in
throw, discus throw, stadion footrace, 1834, making it the oldest running race of the
[3]
and wrestling.[4][5] modern era.[9] The school also lays claim to
the oldest track and field meeting still in
Track and field events were also present at
existence, originating in the Second Spring
the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this
Meeting first documented in 1840.[9] This
period, and they spread to Rome in Italy
featured a series of throwing and jumping
around 200 BC.[6][7] After the period
events with mock horse races including the
of Classical antiquity (in which the sport was
Derby Stakes, the Hurdle Race and the Trial
largely Greco-Roman influenced) new track
Stakes. Runners were entered by "owners"
and field events began developing in parts of
and named as though they were horses.[9] 13
Northern Europe in the Middle Ages.
miles (21 km) away and a decade later, the
The stone put and weight throw competitions
first Wenlock Olympian Games were held
popular among Celtic societies in Ireland and
at Much Wenlock racecourse.[11] Events at the
Scotland were precursors to the modern shot
1851 Wenlock Games included a "half-mile
put and hammer throw events. One of the
foot race" (805 m) and a "leaping in distance"
last track and field events to develop was
competition.[12]
the pole vault, which stemmed from
competitions such as the Fierljeppen contests In 1865, Dr William Penny Brookes of
in the Northern European Lowlands in the Wenlock helped set up the National Olympian
18th century. Association, which held their first Olympian
Games in 1866 at The Crystal Palace in
London.[12] This national event was a great
success, attracting a crowd of over ten
thousand people.[12] In response, that same
year the Amateur Athletic Club was formed
and held a championship for "gentlemen
amateurs" in an attempt to reclaim the sport
for the educated elite.[12] Ultimately the
An early model of hurdling at the Detroit "allcomers" ethos of the NOA won through
Athletic Club in 1888 and the AAC was reconstituted as
the Amateur Athletic Association in 1880, the
Discrete modern track and field competitions, first national body for the sport of athletics.
separate from general sporting festivals, were The AAA Championships, the de facto British
first recorded in the 19th century. These were national championships despite being for
typically organised by educational England only, have been held annually since
institutions, military organisations and sports 3 July 1880 with breaks only during two world
clubs as competitions between rival wars and 20062008.[13] The AAA was
establishments.[8] Competitions in the effectively a global governing body in the
English public schools were conceived as early years of the sport, codifying its rules for
human equivalents of horse racing, fox the first time.
hunting and hare coursing, influenced by
a Classics-rich curriculum. The Meanwhile, the United States began holding
Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt is the oldest an annual national competitionthe USA
running club in the world, with written records Outdoor Track and Field Championships
going back to 1831 and evidence that it was first held in 1876 by the New York Athletic
established by 1819. The school Club.[14] The establishment of general sports
organised Paper Chase races in which governing bodies for the United States
(the Amateur Athletic Union in 1888) and
France (the Union des socits franaises de for the sport. The National Collegiate Athletic
sports athltiques in 1889) put the sport on a Association held their first Men's Outdoor
formal footing and meant that international Track and Field Championship in 1921,
competitions became possible. making it one of the most prestigious
competitions for students, and this was soon
followed by the introduction of track and field
at the inaugural World Student Games in
1923.[16] The first continental track and field
competition was the 1919 South American
Championships, which was followed by
the European Athletics Championships in
1934.[17]
Up until the early 1920s, track and field had
been almost exclusively a male-only pursuit.
A growing women's sports movement in
Europe and North America led to the
establishment of the Women's World
Games in 1921 and this ultimately caused the
introduction of five track and field events for
American athlete Jim Thorpe lost his Olympic
women in the athletics at the 1928 Summer
medals for violating amateurism rules of the Olympics.[18] In China, women's track and
Olympic Games. field events were being held in the 1920s, but
were subject to criticism and disrespect from
The establishment of the modern Olympic audiences. In 1923, physical education
Games at the end of the 19th century marked advocate Zhang Ruizhen called for greater
a new high for track and field. The Olympic equality and participation of women in
athletics programme, comprising track and Chinese track and field.[19] The rise of Kinue
field events plus a marathon race, contained Hitomi and her 1928 Olympic medal for
many of the foremost sporting competitions of Japan signified the growth of women's track
the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Olympics and field in East Asia.[20] More women's
also consolidated the use of metric events were gradually introduced as years
measurements in international track and field progressed (although it was only towards the
events, both for race distances and for end of the century that the men's and
measuring jumps and throws. The Olympic women's programmes approached parity of
athletics programme greatly expanded over events). Marking an increasingly inclusive
the next decades, and track and field approach to the sport, major track and field
contests remained among the Games' most competitions for disabled athletes were first
prominent. The Olympics was the elite introduced at the 1960 Summer Paralympics.
competition for track and field, and
only amateur sportsmen could compete.
Track and field continued to be a largely
amateur sport, as this rule was strictly
enforced: Jim Thorpe was stripped of his
track and field medals from the 1912
Olympics after it was revealed that he had
played baseball professionally.[15]
That same year, the International Amateur
Athletic Federation (IAAF) was established,
becoming the international governing
body for track and field, and it enshrined Carl Lewis was among the athletes who
amateurism as one of its founding principles helped increase track and field's profile.
With the rise of numerous regional Jones, damaged the public image and
championships, as well as the growth in marketability of the sport.
Olympic-style multi-sport events (such as From the 1990s onwards, track and field
the Commonwealth Games and the Pan- became increasingly more professional and
American Games), competitions between international, as the IAAF gained over two
international track and field athletes became hundred member nations. The IAAF World
widespread. From the 1960s onwards, the Championships in Athletics became a fully
sport gained more exposure and commercial professional competition with the introduction
appeal through television coverage and the of prize money in 1997,[8] and in 1998
increasing wealth of nations. After over half a the IAAF Golden Leaguean annual series
century of amateurism, the amateur status of of major track and field meetings in Europe
the sport began to be displaced by provided a higher level of economic incentive
growing professionalism in the late 1970s.
[8] in the form of a US$1 million jackpot. In 2010,
As a result, the Amateur Athletic Union was the series was replaced by the more
dissolved in the United States and it was lucrative IAAF Diamond League, a fourteen-
replaced with a non-amateur body solely meeting series held in Europe, Asia, North
focused on the sport of athletics: The America and the Middle Eastthe first ever
Athletics Congress (later USA Track and worldwide annual series of track and field
Field).[21] The IAAF soon followed suit in meetings.
1982, abandoning amateurism, and later
removing all references to it from its name by
Events
rebranding itself as the International
Association of Athletics Federations.[8] The
following year saw the establishment of Track and field events are divided into three
the IAAF World Championships in Athletics broad categories: track events, field events,
the first ever global competition just for and combined events. The majority of
athleticswhich, with the Olympics, became athletes tend to specialise in just one event
one of track and field's most prestigious (or event type) with the aim of perfecting their
competitions. performances, although the aim of combined
The profile of the sport reached a new high in events athletes is to become proficient in a
the 1980s, with a number of athletes number of disciplines. Track events involve
becoming household names (such as Carl running on a track over a specified distances
Lewis, Sergey Bubka, Sebastian Coe, Zola
andin the case of
Budd and Florence Griffith-Joyner).
Many world records were broken in this the hurdling and steeplechase events
period, and the added political obstacles may be placed on the track. There
element between competitors of the United are also relay races in which teams of
States, East Germany, and the Soviet Union, athletes run and pass on a baton to their
in reaction to the Cold War, only served to team member at the end of a certain
stoke the sport's popularity. The increase in
distance.
the commercial capacity of track and field
was also met with developments in the
application of sports science, and there were There are two types of field events: jumps,
many changes to coaching methods, and throws. In jumping competitions, athletes
athlete's diet regimes, training facilities and are judged on either the length or height of
sports equipment. This was also their jumps. The performances of jumping
accompanied by an increase in the use events for distance are measured from a
of performance-enhancing drugs, and board or marker, and any athlete
prominent cases, such as those of Olympic
overstepping this mark is judged to have
gold medallists Ben Johnson and Marion
fouled. In the jumps for height, an athlete
must clear their body over a crossbar without a mile),[24] and the 400 m was the successor
knocking the bar off the supporting to the 440 yard dash or quarter-mile race.[25]
standards. The majority of jumping events
are unaided, although athletes propel At the professional level, sprinters begin the
themselves vertically with purpose-built sticks race by assuming a crouching position in
in the pole vault. the starting blocks before leaning forward and
gradually moving into an upright position as
The throwing events involve hurling an the race progresses and momentum is
implement (such as a heavy weight, javelin or gained.[26] Athletes remain in the same lane
discus) from a set point, with athletes being on the running track throughout all sprinting
judged on the distance that the object is events,[25] with the sole exception of the
thrown. Combined events involve the same 400 m indoors. Races up to 100 m are largely
group of athletes contesting a number of focused upon acceleration to an athlete's
different track and field events. Points are maximum speed.[26] All sprints beyond this
given for their performance in each event and distance increasingly incorporate an element
the athlete with the greatest points total at the of endurance.[27] Human physiology dictates
end of all events is the winner. that a runner's near-top speed cannot be
maintained for more than thirty seconds or so
Running/Sprints because lactic acid builds up once leg
muscles begin to suffer oxygen deprivation.
[25]
Top speed can only be maintained for up
to 20 metres.[28]

The 60 metres is a common indoor event and

indoor world championship event. Less-
common events include the 50 metres, 55
metres, 300 metres and 500 metres which
The finish of a women's 100 m race are run in some high
school and collegiate competitions in the
Races over short distances, or sprints, are United States. The 150 metres, though rarely
among the oldest running competitions. The competed, has a star-studded history: Pietro
first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Mennea set a world best in 1983,[29]Olympic
Games featured only one event, the stadion champions Michael Johnson and Donovan
race, which was a race from one end of the Bailey went head-to-head over the distance
stadium to the other.[3] Sprinting events are in 1997,[30] and Usain Bolt improved
focused around athletes reaching and Mennea's record in 2009.[29]
sustaining their quickest possible running
speed. Three sprinting events are currently
held at the Olympics and outdoor World
Championships: the 100 metres, 200 metres,
and 400 metres. These events have their
roots in races of imperial measurements that
later changed to metric: the 100 m evolved
from the 100 yard dash,[23] the 200 m
distances came from the furlong (or 1/8 of
Middle distance producing systems, and also that they have
strong speed endurance.[35]

The 1500 m and mile run events have

historically been some of the most prestigious
track and field events. Swedish rivals Gunder
Hgg and Arne Andersson broke each other's
1500 m and mile world records on a number
of occasions in the 1940s.[36][37] The
prominence of the distances were maintained
by Roger Bannister, who (in 1954) was the
first to run the long-elusive four-minute mile,
[38][39]
and Jim Ryun's exploits served to
popularise interval training.[33] Races between
British rivals Sebastian Coe, Steve
Arne Andersson (left) and Gunder Ovett and Steve Cram characterised middle-
Hgg (right) broke a number of middle distance running in the 1980s.[40] From the
distance world records in the 1940s. 1990s onwards, North Africans such
as Noureddine Morceli of Algeria and Hicham
Further information: Middle-distance running El Guerrouj of Morocco came to dominate the
1500 and mile events.[33]
The most common middle-distance track
events are the 800 metres, 1500
Beyond the short distances of sprinting
metres and mile run, although the 3000
events, factors such as an athlete's reactions
metres may also be classified as a middle-
and top speed becomes less important, while
distance event.[31] The 880 yard run, or half
qualities such as pace, race tactics
mile, was the forebear of the 800 m distance
and endurance become more so.[32][33]
and it has its roots in competitions in the
United Kingdom in the 1830s.[32] The 1500 m Long distance
came about as a result of running three laps
of a 500 m track, which was commonplace in
continental Europe in the 20th century.[33]

Runners start the race from a standing

position along a curved starting line and after
hearing the starter's pistol they head towards
the innermost track to follow the quickest
route to the finish. In 800 m races athletes
begin at a staggered starting point before the
turn in the track and they must remain in their
lanes for the first 100 m of the race.[34] This
rule was introduced to reduce the amount of Kenenisa Bekele leading in a long distance
physical jostling between runners in the early track event
stages of the race.[32] Physiologically, these Main article: Long-distance running
middle-distance events demand that athletes
have good aerobic and anaerobic energy
There are three common long distance Relay races
running events in track and field
competitions: 3000 metres, 5000 Relay races are the only track and field event
metres and 10,000 metres. The latter two in which a team of runners directly compete
races are both Olympic and World against other teams.[46] Typically, a team is
Championship events outdoors, while the made up of four runners of the same sex.
3000 m is held at the IAAF World Indoor Each runner completes their specified
Championships. The 5000 m and 10,000 m distance (referred to as a leg) before handing
events have their historical roots in the 3-mile over a baton to a team mate, who then
and 6-mile races. The 3000 m was begins their leg upon receiving the baton.
historically used as a women's long distance There is usually a designated area where
event, entering the World Championship athletes must exchange the baton. Teams
programme in 1983 and Olympic programme may be disqualified if they fail to complete the
in 1984, but this was abandoned in favour of change within the area, or if the baton is
a women's 5000 m event in 1995.[41] dropped during the race. A team may also be
disqualified if its runners are deemed to have
In terms of competition rules and physical wilfully impeded other competitors.
demands, long distance track races have
much in common with middle-distance races,
except that pacing, stamina, and race tactics
become much greater factors in
performances.[42][43] However, a number of
athletes have achieved success in both
middle- and long-distance events,
including Sad Aouita who set world records
from 1500 m to 5000 m.[44] The use of pace-
setters in long distance events is very Girls handing over the baton in a relay race
common at the elite level, although they are in Leipzig in 1950
not present at championship level
competitions as all qualified competitors want Relay races emerged in the United States in
to win.[43][45] the 1880s as a variation on charity races
between firemen, who would hand a
The long distance track events gained red pennant on to team mates every
popularity in the 1920s by the achievements 300 yards. There are two very common relay
of the "Flying Finns", such as multiple events: the 4100 metres relay and
Olympic champion Paavo Nurmi. The the 4400 metres relay. Both events entered
successes of Emil Ztopek in the 1950s the Olympic programme at the 1912 Summer
promoted intense interval training methods, Games after a one-off men's medley
but Ron Clarke's world record-breaking feats relay featured in 1908 Olympics.[47]The 4
established the importance of natural training 100 m event is run strictly within the same
and even-paced running. The 1990s saw the lane on the track, meaning that the team
rise of North and East African runners in long collectively runs one complete circuit of the
distance events. Kenyan and Ethiopian track. Teams in a 4 400 m event remain in
athletes, in particular, have since remained their own lane until the runner of the second
dominant in these events.[41] leg passes the first bend, at which point
runners can leave their lanes and head heavy wooden barriers as obstacles. A
towards the inner-most part of the circuit. For competition between the Oxford and
the second and third baton change overs, Cambridge Athletic Clubs in 1864 refined this,
team mates must align themselves in respect holding a 120-yard race (110 m) with ten
of their team position leading teams take hurdles of 3-foot and 6 inches (1.06 m) in
the inner lanes while team mates of the height (each placed 10 yards (9 m) apart),
slower teams must await the baton on outer with the first and final hurdles 15 yards from
lanes.[46][48] the start and finish, respectively. French
organisers adapted the race into metric
The IAAF keeps world records for five (adding 28 cm) and the basics of this race,
different types of track relays. As with the men's 110 metres hurdles, has remained
4100 m and 4400 m events, all races largely unchanged.[53] The origin of the 400
comprise teams of four athletes running the metres hurdles also lies in Oxford, where
same distances, with the less commonly (around 1860) a competition was held over
contested distances being 440 yards and twelve 1.06 m high wooden
the 4200 m, 4800 m and 41500 m relays. barriers were placed along the course. The
[49]
Other events include the distance medley modern regulations stem from the 1900
relay (comprising legs of 1200 m, 400 m, Summer Olympics: the distance was fixed to
800 m, and 1600 m), which is frequently held 400 m while ten 3-foot (91.44 cm) hurdles
in the United States, and a sprint relay, were placed 35 m apart on the track, with the
known as the Swedish medley relay, which is first and final hurdles being 45 m and 40 m
popular in Scandinavia and held at the World away from the start and finish, respectively.
Youth Championships in [54]
Women's hurdles are slightly lower at
Athletics programme.[50] Relay events have 84 cm (2 ft 9 in) for the 100 m event and
significant participation in the United States, 76 cm (2 ft 6 in) for the 400 m event.[53][54]
where a number of large meetings (or relay
carnivals) are focused almost exclusively on By far the most common events are the 100
relay events. metres hurdles for women, 110 m hurdles for
men and 400 m hurdles for both sexes. The
Hurdling men's 110 m has been featured at every
modern Summer Olympics while the men's
400 m was introduced in the second edition
of the Games.[53][54] Women's initially
competed in the 80 metres hurdles event,
which entered the Olympic programme
in 1932. This was extended to the 100 m
hurdles at the 1972 Olympics,[53] but it was
not until 1984 that a women's 400 m hurdles
event took place at the Olympics (having
A women's 400 m hurdles race at the 2007 been introduced at the 1983 World
Dutch Championships Championships in Athletics the previous
year).[54]
Races with hurdles as obstacles were first
popularised in the 19th century in England.
[52]
The first known event, held in 1830, was a
variation of the 100-yard dash that included
 The long jump is one of the oldest track and
field events, having its roots as one of the
events within the ancient Greek
pentathlon contest. The athletes would take a
short run up and jump into an area of dug up
Men traversing the water jump in a
earth, with the winner being the one who
steeplechase competition
jumped farthest.[57] Small weights (Halteres)
Outside of the hurdles events, were held in each hand during the jump then
the steeplechase race is the other track and swung back and dropped near the end to
field event with obstacles. Just as the gain extra momentum and distance.[58] The
hurdling events, the steeplechase finds its modern long jump, standardised in England
origin in student competition in Oxford, and the United States around 1860, bears
England. However, this event was born as a resemblance to the ancient event although no
human variation on the original steeplechase weights are used. Athletes sprint along a
competition found in horse racing. A length of track that leads to a jumping board
steeplechase event was held on a track for and a sandpit.[59] The athletes must jump
the 1879 English championships and the before a marked line and their achieved
1900 Summer Olympics featured men's distance is measured from the nearest point
2500 m and 4000 m steeplechase races. The of sand disturbed by the athlete's body.[60]
event was held over various distances until
The athletics competition at the first Olympics
the 1920 Summer Olympics marked the rise
featured a men's long jump competition and a
of the 3000 metres steeplechase as the
women's competition was introduced at
standard event.[55] The IAAF set the
the 1948 Summer Olympics.[59] Professional
standards of the event in 1954, and the event
long jumpers typically have strong
is held on a 400 m circuit that includes
acceleration and sprinting abilities. However,
a water jump on each lap.[56] Despite the long
athletes must also have a consistent stride to
history of men's steeplechase in track and
allow them to take off near the board while
field, the women's steeplechase only gained
still maintaining their maximum speed.In
World Championship status in 2005, with its
addition to the traditional long jump,
first Olympic appearance coming in 2008.
a standing long jump contest exists which
Jumping requires that athletes leap from a static
position without a run-up. A men's version of
Long jump
this event featured on the Olympic
programme from 1900 to 1912.[62]

Triple jump

Naide Gomes in the jumping phase of the

event
Olga Rypakova performing a triple jump in jump was included in the 1896 Olympics and
2012 a women's competition followed in 1928.

Similar to the long jump, the triple jump takes Jumping technique has played a significant
place on a track heading towards a sandpit. part in the history of the event. High jumpers
Originally, athletes would hop on the same typically cleared the bar feet first in the late
leg twice before jumping into the pit, but this 19th century, using either
was changed to the current "hop, step and the Scissors, Eastern cut-off or Western
jump" pattern from 1900 onwards.[63] There is roll technique. The straddle
some dispute over whether the triple jump technique became prominent in the mid-20th
was contested in ancient Greece: while some century, but Dick Fosbury overturned tradition
historians claim that a contest of three jumps by pioneering a backwards and head-first
occurred at Ancient Games,[63] others such as technique in the late 1960s the Fosbury
Stephen G. Miller believe this is incorrect, Flop which won him the gold at the 1968
suggesting that the belief stems from a Olympics. This technique has become the
mythologised account of Phayllus of overwhelming standard for the sport from the
Croton having jumped 55 1980s onwards.[68][70] The standing high
ancient feet (around 16.3 m).[58][64]The Book of jump was contested at the Olympics from
Leinster, a 12th-century Irish manuscript, 1900 to 1912, but is now relatively
records the existence of geal-ruith (triple uncommon outside of its use as an exercise
jump) contests at the ancient Tailteann drill.
Games.[65]
Pole vault
The men's triple jump competition has been
ever-present at the modern Olympics, but it
was not until 1993 that a women's version
gained World Championship status and went
on to have its first Olympic appearance three
years later.[63] The men's standing triple
jump event featured at the Olympics in 1900
and 1904, but such competitions have since
become very uncommon, although it is still
used as a non-competitive exercise drill.[66]

High jump
Anna Giordano Bruno releases the pole after
The first recorded instances of high jumping clearing the bar
competitions were in Scotland in the 19th
In terms of sport, the use of poles for vaulting
century.[67] Further competitions were
distances was recorded
organised in 1840 in England and in 1865 the
in Fierljeppen contests in the Frisian area of
basic rules of the modern event were
Europe, and vaulting for height was seen
standardised there.[68] Athletes have a short
at gymnastics competitions in Germany in the
run up and then take off from one foot to
1770s.[71] One of the earliest recorded pole
jump over a horizontal bar and fall back onto
vault competitions was in Cumbria, England
a cushioned landing area.[69] The men's high
in 1843.[72] The basic rules and technique of
the event originated in the United States. The The genesis of the shot put can be traced to
rules required that athletes do not move their pre-historic competitions with rocks:[76] in
hands along the pole and athletes began the Middle ages the stone put was known in
clearing the bar with their feet first and Scotland and the steinstossen was recorded
twisting so that the stomach faces the in Switzerland. In the 17th
bar. Bamboo poles were introduced in the century, cannonball throwing competitions
20th century and a metal box in the runway within the English military provided a
for planting the pole became standard. precursor to the modern sport.[77] The term
Landing mattresses were introduced in the "shot" originates from the use of round shot-
mid-20th century to protect the athletes who style ammunition for the sport.[78] The modern
were clearing increasingly greater heights.[71] rules were first laid out in 1860 and required
that competitors take legal throws within a
The modern event sees athletes run down a square throwing area of seven feet (2.13 m)
strip of track, plant the pole in the metal box, on each side. This was amended to a circle
and vault over the horizontal bar before area with a seven-foot diameter in 1906, and
letting go of the pole and falling backwards the weight of the shot was standardised to
onto the landing mattress.[73] While earlier 16 pounds (7.26 kg). Throwing technique was
versions used wooden, metal or bamboo, also refined over this period, with bent arm
modern poles are generally made from throws being banned as they were deemed
artificial materials such too dangerous and the side-step and throw
as fibreglass or carbon fibre.[74] The pole vault technique arising in the United States in
has been an Olympic event since 1896 for 1876.[77]
men, but it was over 100 years later that the
first women's world championship The shot put has been an Olympic sport for
competition was held at the 1997 IAAF World men since 1896 and a women's competition
Indoor Championships. The first women's using a 4 kg (8.82 lb) shot was added in
Olympic pole vaulting competition occurred in 1948. Further throwing techniques have
2000. arisen since the post-war era: in the
1950s Parry O'Brien popularised the 180
Throwing degree turn and throw technique commonly
known as the "glide", breaking the world
Track and field contains some of the foremost record 17 times along the way,
kinds of throwing sports, and the four major while Aleksandr Baryshnikov and Brian
disciplines are the only pure throwing events Oldfield introduced the "spin" or rotational
to feature at the Olympic Games.[75] technique in 1976.

Shot put Discus throw

Remigius Machura preparing to throw within Zoltn Kvg preparing to spin and throw
the circle the discus
Discus is one of the events where the athlete As an implement of war and
has to throw a heavy disc in the attempt to hunting, javelin throwing began in prehistoric
mark a farther distance than their times.[84]Along with the discus, the javelin was
competitors. As one of the events within the the second throwing event in the ancient
ancient pentathlon, the history of the discus Olympic pentathlon. Records from 708 BC
throw dates back to 708 BC.[80] In ancient show two javelin competition types co-
times a heavy circular disc was thrown from a existing: throwing at a target and throwing the
set standing position on a small pedestal, and javelin for distance. It was the latter type from
it was this style that was revived for the 1896 which the modern event derives.[85] In ancient
Olympics.[81] This continued until the 1906 competitions, athletes would wrap
Intercalated Games in Athens, which featured an ankyle (thin leather strip) around the
both the ancient style and the increasingly javelin that acted as a sling to facilitate extra
popular modern style of turning and throwing. distance.[86] The javelin throw gained much
By the 1912 Olympics, the ancient standing popularity in Scandinavia in the late 18th
throw style had fallen into disuse and century and athletes from the region are still
contests starting within a 2.5 m squared among the most dominant throwers in men's
throwing area became the standard. [82]The competitions.[85] The modern event features a
discus implement was standardised to 2 kg short run up on a track and then the thrower
(4.4 pounds) in weight and 22 cm (8 inches) releases the javelin before the foul line.
in diameter in 1907.[81] The women's discus
was among the first women's events on the The first Olympic men's javelin throw contest
Olympic programme, being introduced in was held in 1908 and a women's competition
1928.,[83] although they had been competing was introduced in 1932. The first javelins
at some national and regional levels were made of various types of wood, but in
previously.The first modern athlete to throw the 1950s, former athlete Bud
the discus while rotating the whole body was Held introduced a hollow javelin, then a metal
Czech athlete Frantisek Janda-Suk. He javelin, both of which increased throwers
invented the technique when studying the performances.[85] Another former
position of the famous statue of Discobolus. athlete, Mikls Nmeth invented the rough-
tailed javelin and throws reached in excess of
Javelin throw 100 m edging towards the limits of stadia.
[88]
The distances and the increasing number
of horizontal landings led the IAAF to
redesign the men's javelin to reduce distance
and increase the implement's
downward pitching moment to allow for
easier measurement. Rough-tailed designs
were banned in 1991 and all marks achieved
with such javelins were removed from the
record books. The women's javelin
underwent a similar redesign in 1999. The
current javelin specifications are 2.6 to 2.7 m
Bregje Crolla beginning to throw the javelin in length and 800 grams in weight for men,
and 2.2 to 2.3 m and 600 g for women.
Hammer throw advanced training techniques.[93] Professional
hammer throwers as historically large, strong,
sturdy athletes. However, qualities such as
refined technique, speed and flexibility have
become increasingly important in the modern
era as the legal throwing area has been
reduced from 90 to 34.92 degrees and
throwing technique involves three to four
controlled rotations.

Combined events[edit]
Yury Shayunou spinning with the hammer
within the circle Combined (or multi-discipline) events are
competitions in which athletes participate in a
Main article: Hammer throw
number of track and field events, earning
The earliest recorded precursors to the points for their performance in each event,
modern hammer throw stem from the which adds to a total points score. Outdoors,
Tailteann Games around 1800 BC, which the most common combined events are the
featured events such as throwing either a men's decathlon (ten events) and
weight attached to a rope, a large rock on a the women's heptathlon (seven events). Due
wooden handle, or even a chariot wheel on a to stadium limitations, indoor combined
wooden axle. Other ancient competitions events competition have a reduced number
included throwing a cast iron ball attached to of events, resulting in the men's
a wooden handle the root of the term heptathlon and the women's pentathlon.
"hammer throw" due to their resemblance to Athletes are allocated points based on an
the tools.[91] In 16th century England, contests international-standard points scoring system,
involving the throwing of such as the decathlon scoring table.
actual blacksmith's Sledgehammers were
recorded. The hammer implement was The Ancient Olympic
standardised in 1887 and the competitions pentathlon (comprising long jump, javelin,
began to resemble the modern event. The discus, the stadion race and wrestling) was a
weight of the metal ball was set at 16 pounds precursor to the track and field combined
(7.26 kg) while the attached wire had to events and this ancient event was restored at
measure between 1.175 m and 1.215 m.[91] the 1906 Summer Olympics (Intercalated
Games). A men's all-around was held at
The men's hammer throw became an the 1904 Summer Olympics, contested
Olympic event in 1900 but the women's event between five American and two British
using a 4 kg (8.82 lb) weight was not athletes.
widely competed until much later, finally
featuring on the women's Olympic
Composition of combined events
programme in 2000.[92] The distances thrown
by male athletes became greater from the
1950s onwards as a result of improved Event Track Field
equipment using the denser metals, a switch
to concrete throwing areas, and more
 L H P
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Wome 2 8 0 n g ve the stadiums that first hosted such
o
n's 0 0 m g h lin competitions. The two basic features of a
t
heptat 0 0 hu j j th track and field stadium are the outer oval-
p
hlon m m rdl u u ro shaped running track and an area
u
es m m w of turf within this trackthe field. In earlier
t
p p competitions, track lengths varied:
the Panathinaiko Stadium measured
333.33 metres at the 1896 Summer
L H P
S Olympics, while at the 1904 Olympics the
o i o
1 60 h distance was a third of a mile (536.45 m)
Men's n g l
6 0 m o at Francis Field. As the sport developed, the
heptat g h e
0 0 hu t IAAF standardised the length to 400 m and
hlon (i j j v
m 0 rdl p stated that the tracks must be split into six to
ndoor) u u a
m es u eight running lanes. Precise widths for the
m m u
t lanes were established, as were regulations
p p lt
regarding the curvature of the track. Tracks
made of flattened cinders were popular in the
L H early 20th century but synthetic tracks
S became standard in the late
o i
Wome 60 h 1960s. 3M's Tartan track (an all-weather
8 n g
n's m o running track of polyurethane) gained
0 g h
pentat hu t popularity after its use at the 1968 US
0 j j
hlon (i rdl p Olympic Trials and the 1968 Summer
m u u
ndoor) es u Olympics and it began the process in which
m m
t synthetic tracks became the standard for the
p p
sport. Many track and field stadiums
are multi-purpose stadiums, with the running
Stadium track surrounding a field built for other sports,
such as the various types of football.
 circular throwing area with a toe board at one
end. The throwing area is a sector. Some
stadia also have a water jump area on one
side of the field specifically
for steeplechase races.

Indoor

A typical layout of an outdoor track and field

stadium

The field of the stadium combines a number

of elements for use in the jumping and
throwing events. The long jump and triple
jump areas comprise a straight, narrow 40-
metre running track with a sandpit at one or
The Aspire Dome during the 2010 World
both ends. Jumps are measured from a take
Indoor Championships
off boardtypically a small strip of wood with
a plasticine marker attachedwhich ensures Basic indoor venues may be
athletes jump from behind the measurement adapted gymnasiums, which can easily
line. The pole vault area is also a 40-metre accommodate high jump competitions and
running track and has an indentation in the short track events. Full-size indoor arenas
ground (the box) where vaulters plant their (i.e. those fully equipped to host all events for
poles to propel themselves over a crossbar the World Indoor Championships) bear
before falling onto cushioned landing mats. similarities with their outdoor equivalents.
The high jump is a stripped down version of Typically, a central area is surrounded by a
this, with an open area of track or field that 200-metre oval track with four to eight lanes.
leads to a crossbar with a square area of The track can be banked at the turns to allow
landing mats behind it. athletes to run around the radius more
comfortably. Some have a second running
The four throwing events generally all begin track going straight across the field area,
on one side of the stadium. The javelin parallel to the straights of the main circuit.
throw typically takes place on a piece of track This track is used for the 60 metres and 60
that is central and parallel to the straights of metres hurdles events, which are held almost
the main running track. The javelin throwing exclusively indoors.
area is a sector shape frequently across the
Pitch (sports field) in the middle of the Another common adaptation is a 160-yard
stadium, ensuring that the javelin has a track (11 laps to a mile) that fits into a
minimal chance of causing damage or injury. common basketball court sized arena. This
The discus throw and hammer throw contests was quite popular when races were held at
begin in a tall metal cage usually situated in imperial distances, which gradually was
one of the corners of the field. The cage phased out by different organizations in the
reduces the danger of implements being 1970s and 1980s. Examples of this
thrown out of the field of play and throws configuration include the Millrose
travel diagonally across the field in the centre Games at Madison Square Garden, and
of the stadium. The shot put features a
the Sunkist Invitational formerly held in and animal skin, particularly seal skin was
the Los Angeles Sports Arena.[96] used to create the body. The main purpose
for creating the kayak, which literally
All four of the common jumping events are translates to "hunter's boat" was for hunting
held at indoor venues. The long and triple and fishing.[3] The kayak's stealth capabilities,
jump areas run alongside the central 60 m allowed for the hunter to sneak up behind
track and are mostly identical in form to their animals on the shoreline, and successfully
outdoor counterparts. The pole vault track catch their prey. By the mid-1800s the kayak
and landing area are also alongside the became increasingly popular and the
central running track. Shot put (or weight Europeans became interested. German and
throw) is the only throwing event held indoors French men began kayaking for sport. In
due to size restrictions. The throwing area is 1931, a man named Adolf Anderle became
similar to the outdoor event, but the landing the first person to kayak down the
sector is a rectangular section surrounded by Salzachofen Gorge, this is where the
netting or a stop barrier. birthplace of modern-day white-water
kayaking is believed to have begun. Kayak
In addition to hosting the World Indoor races were introduced in the Berlin Olympic
Championships, the IAAF has hosted Games in 1936. In the 1950s fiberglass
the IAAF World Indoor Tour since 2016. kayaks were developed and commonly used,
until 1980s when polyethylene plastic kayaks
came about. Kayaking progressed as a fringe
sport in the U.S. until the 1970s, when it
became a mainstream popular sport. Now,
more than 10 white water kayaking events
are featured in the Olympics.

Kayaking Types of kayaks

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving
across water. It is distinguished "Sit on top" kayaks place the paddler in an
from canoeing by the sitting position of the open, shallowly-concave deck above the
paddler and the number of blades on the water level. "Cockpit style" involves sitting
paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe- with the legs and hips inside the kayak hull
like boat in which the paddler sits facing
with a spray deck or "spray skirt" that creates
forward, legs in front, using a double-bladed
paddle to pull front-to-back on one side and a water-resistant seal around the waist.
then the other in rotation.[1] Most kayaks have "Inflatables" are a hybrid of the two previous
closed decks, although sit-on- configurations; these boats have an open
top and inflatable kayaks are growing in deck, but the paddler sits below the level of
popularity as well. the deck. "Tandems" are configured for
multiple paddlers, in contrast to the single
History
person designs featured by most kayaks.
Tandems can be used by two or even three
Kayaks were created thousands of years ago
paddlers.
by the Inuit, formerly known as Eskimos, of
the northern Arctic regions. They used
Activities involving kayaks
driftwood and sometimes the skeleton of
whale, to construct the frame of the kayak,
 as its relatively low cost of entry compared to
motorized boats.

Sea kayaking at Wilson's

Snowboarding
Promontory in Victoria, Australia
Snowboarding is a recreational activity and
Because of their range and adaptability,
Olympic and Paralympic sport that involves
kayaks can be useful for other outdoor
descending a snow-covered slope while
activities such as diving, fishing, wilderness
standing on a snowboard attached to a rider's
exploration and search and rescue during
feet.
floods.
The development of snowboarding was
Diving
inspired
Kayak diving is a type of recreational by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiin
diving where the divers paddle to a diving site g. It was developed in the United States in
in a kayak carrying all their gear to the place the 1960s, became a Winter Olympic
they want to dive. The range can be up to Sport at Nagano in 1998[1] and first featured
several kilometres along the coastline from in the Winter Paralympics at Sochi in 2014.
[2]
the launching point to a place where access Its popularity (as measured by equipment
would be difficult from the shore, although the sales) in the United States peaked in 2007
sea is sheltered. It is a considerably cheaper and has been in a decline since.
alternative to using a powered boat, as well
History
as combining the experience of sea
kayaking at the same time. Kayak diving
gives the diver independence from dive boat
operators, while allowing dives at sites which
are too far to comfortably swim, but are
sufficiently sheltered.[10]

Fishing

Kayak fishing is fishing from a kayak.

The kayak has long been a means of Snowboarder riding off of a cornice
transportation and a stealth means of
approaching easily spooked fish, such
as cobia and flounder. Kayak fishing has
gained popularity in recent times due to its
broad appeal as an environmentally friendly
and healthy method of transportation, as well
 The pioneers were not all from the United
States; in 1976, Welsh skateboard
enthusiasts Jon Roberts and Pete Matthews
developed their own snowboards to use at
their local dry ski slope.[citation needed]

Also during this same period, in 1977, Jake

Burton Carpenter, a Vermont native who had
Freeride snowboarding is snowboarding in enjoyed snurfing since the age of 14,
areas off of the main trails. impressed the crowd at a Michigan snurfing
competition with bindings he had designed to
Modern snowboarding began in 1965 when secure his feet to the board. That same year,
Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, he founded Burton
Michigan, invented a toy for his daughters by Snowboards in Londonderry, Vermont. The
fastening two skis together and attaching a "snowboards" were made of wooden planks
rope to one end so he would have some that were flexible and had water ski foot
control as they stood on the board and glided traps. Very few people picked up
downhill. Dubbed the "snurfer" (combining snowboarding because the price of the board
snow and surfer) by his wife Nancy, the toy was considered too high at $38, but
proved so popular among his daughters' eventually Burton would become the biggest
friends that Poppen licensed the idea to a snowboarding company in the business.[5]
manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, that
sold about a million snurfers over the next The first competitions to offer prize money
decade. And, in 1966 alone over half a million were the National Snurfing Championship,
snurfers were sold.[4] held at Muskegon State Park in Muskegon
Michigan.[6] In 1979, Jake Burton Carpenter,
In the early 1970s, Poppen organized came from Vermont to compete with a
snurfing competitions at a Michigan ski resort snowboard of his own design. There were
that attracted enthusiasts from all over the protests about Jake entering with a non-
country.[citation needed] One of those early snurfer board. Paul Graves, and others,
pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee advocated that Jake be allowed to race. A
of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s "modified" "Open" division was created and
when kids attached roller skate wheels to won by Jake as the sole entrant. That race
small boards that they steered by shifting was considered the first competition for
their weight). As an eighth grader in snowboards and is the start of what has now
Haddonfield, New Jersey, in the 1960s, Sims become competitive snowboarding. It was
crafted a snowboard in his school shop class also the first competition to offer prize money.
by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood Ken Kampenga, John Asmussen and Jim
and attaching aluminum sheeting to the Trim placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in
bottom.[citation needed] He produced commercial the Standard competition with best 2
snowboards in the mid-70s.[citation needed] Articles combined times of 24.71, 25.02 and 25.41
about his invention in such mainstream and Jake Carpenter won prize money as the
magazines as Newsweek helped publicize sole entrant in the "open" division with a time
the young sport.[citation needed] of 26.35.[7] In 1980 the event moved to Pando
Winter Sports Park near Grand Rapids,
Michigan because of a lack of snow that year At the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in
at the original venue.[8][9] Nagano, Japan, Snowboarding became an
official Olympic event. France's Karine
As snowboarding became more popular in Ruby was the first ever to win an Olympic
the 1970s and 1980s, pioneers such as gold medal for Woman's Snowboarding at the
Dimitrije Milovich, Jake Burton 1998 Olympics, while Canadian Ross
Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards Rebagliati[13] was the first ever to win an
from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Olympic gold medal for Men's Snowboarding.
Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards), and
Mike Olson (founder of Gnu Snowboards) Initially, ski areas adopted the sport at a
came up with new designs for boards and much slower pace than the winter sports
mechanisms that slowly developed into the public. Indeed, for many years, there was
snowboards and other related equipment that animosity between skiers and snowboarders,
we know today.[10] which led to an ongoing skier vs snowboarder
feud.[14] Early snowboards were banned from
In 1982, the first USA National Snowboard the slopes by park officials. For several years
race was held near Woodstock, Vermont, snowboarders would have to take a small
at Suicide Six. The race, organized by skills assessment prior to being allowed to
Graves, was won by Burton's first team rider ride the chairlifts. It was thought that an
Doug Bouton.[11] unskilled snowboarder would wipe the snow
off the mountain. In 1985, only seven percent
In 1983, the first World of U.S. ski areas allowed snowboarding,
Championship halfpipe competition was held [15]
with a similar proportion in Europe. As
at Soda Springs, California. Tom Sims, equipment and skills improved, gradually
founder of Sims Snowboards, organized the snowboarding became more accepted. In
event with the help of Mike Chantry, a 1990, most major ski areas had separate
snowboard instructor at Soda Springs.[12] slopes for snowboarders. Now, approximately
97% of all ski areas in North America and
In 1985, the first World Cup was held in Zrs, Europe allow snowboarding, and more than
Austria, further cementing snowboarding's half have jumps, rails and half pipes.
recognition as an official international
competitive sport. An excellent year for snowboarding was
2004, with 6.6 million participants.[16] An
In 1990, the International Snowboard industry spokesman said that "twelve year-
Federation (ISF) was founded to provide olds are out-riding adults." The same article
universal contest regulations. In addition, the said that most snowboarders are 1824
United States of America Snowboard years old and that females constitute 25% of
Association (USASA) provides instructing participants.
guidelines and runs snowboard competitions
in the U.S. today, high-profile snowboarding There were 8.2 million snowboarders in the
events like the Winter X Games, Air & Style, USA and Canada for the 2009-2010 season.
US Open, Olympic Games and other events There was a 10% increase over the previous
are broadcast worldwide. Many alpine resorts season, accounting for more than 30% of all
have terrain parks. snow sports participants.[17]
On 2 May 2012, the International Paralympic
Committee announced that adaptive
snowboarding (dubbed "para-snowboarding")
would debut as a men's and women's medal
event in the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
taking place in Sochi, Russia.[18]

Styles

Since snowboarding's inception as an Freestyle snowboarding

established winter sport, it has developed
Freestyle[edit]
various styles, each with its own specialized
equipment and technique. The most common Freestyle snowboarding is any riding that
styles today are: freeride, freestyle, and includes performing tricks. In freestyle, the
freecarve/race. These styles are used for rider utilizes natural and man-made features
both recreational and professional such as rails, jumps, boxes, and innumerable
snowboarding. While each style is unique, others to perform tricks. It is a popular all-
there is overlap between them. See also List inclusive concept that distinguishes the
of snowboard tricks. creative aspects of snowboarding, in contrast
to a style like alpine snowboarding.
Jibbing[edit]
Alpine Snowboarding[edit]
"Jibbing" is technical riding on non-standard
surfaces, which usually includes performing
tricks. The word "jib" is both a noun and a
verb, depending on the usage of the word. As
a noun: a jib includes metal rails, boxes,
benches, concrete ledges, walls, vehicles,
rocks and logs. As a verb: to jib is referring to
the action of jumping, sliding or riding on top
An Alpine snowboarder executes a heel-side
of objects other than snow.[19] It is directly
influenced by grinding a skateboard. Jibbing turn
is a freestyle snowboarding technique of
Alpine snowboarding is a discipline within
riding. Typically jibbing occurs in a
the sport of snowboarding.[20] It is practised
snowboard resort park but can also be done
on groomed pistes. It has been an Olympic
in urban environments.
event since 1998.
Freeriding[edit]
Sometimes called freecarving, this takes
place on hard packed snow or groomed runs
Freeriding communicates the concept of
and focuses on carving linked turns, much
dynamically altering various snowboarding
like surfing or longboarding. Little or no
styles in a fluid motion, such that the
jumping takes place in this discipline. Alpine
combination becomes a style onto itself.
Snowboarding consists of a small portion of
the general snowboard population, that has a
well connected social community and its own
specific board manufacturers. Alpine Slopestyle[edit]
Snowboard equipment is a ski-like hardshell
boot and plate binding system with a true Competitors perform tricks while descending
directional snowboard that is stiffer and a course, moving around, over, across, up, or
narrower to manage linking turns with greater down terrain features. The course is full of
forces and speed. Shaped skis can thank obstacles including boxes, rails, jumps, jibs
these "freecarve" snowboards for the cutting- (includes anything the board or rider can slide
edge technology leading to their creation.[21] A across). Slope-style contests consists of
skilled alpine snowboarder can link numerous choosing your own line in a terrain park using
turns into a run placing their body very close a variety of boxes, jibs and jumps. To win a
to the ground each turn, similar to a motogp slope-style contest one must pick the best
turn or waterski carve. Depending on factors and most difficult line in the terrain park and
including stiffness, turning radius and have a smooth flowing line of tricks
personality this can be done slowly or fast. performed on the obstacles. Overall
Carvers make perfect half-circles out of each impression is also a huge factor in winning a
turn, changing edges when the snowboard is slope-style contest. The rider who lands the
perpendicular to the fall line and starting hardest tricks will not always win over the
every turn on the downhill edge. Carving on a rider who lands easier tricks.
snowboard is like riding a roller coaster,
because the board will lock into a turn radius Big Air[edit]
and provide what feels like multiple Gs of Main article: Big air
acceleration.[22]

Alpine snowboarding shares more visual

similarities with skiing equipment than it does
with snowboarding equipment.[23]Compared
to freestyle snowboarding gear: [24]

boards are narrower, longer, and stiffer

to improve carving performance Sebastien Toutant at the downtown Qubec
big air competition
boots are made from a hard plastic
shell

bindings have a bail or step-in design

and are sometimes placed on suspension
plates to provide a layer of isolation
between an alpine snowboarder and the
board

Snowboarder in the halfpipe

Big air competitions are contests where riders

Snowboarder in Tannheim, Tyrol, Austria perform tricks after launching off a man made
jump built specifically for the event.
[25]
Competitors perform tricks in the air,
aiming to attain sizable height and distance, the snow at prescribed distances apart. A
all while securing a clean landing. Many gate consists of a tall pole, and a short pole,
competitions also require the rider to do a connected by a triangular panel. The racer
complex trick. But not all competitions call for must pass around the short side of the gate.
a trick to win the gold; some intermittent There are 3 main formats used in snowboard
competitions are based solely on height and racing including; single person, parallel
distance of the launch of the snowboarder. courses or multiple people on the course at
Some competitions also require the rider to the same time (SBX).
do a specific trick to win the major prize.
[26]
One of the first snowboard competitions
where Travis Rice attempted and landed a
"double back flip backside 180" took place at
the 2006 Red Bull Gap Session.[27]

Half-pipe[edit]
Climbing
The half-pipe is a semi-circular ditch dug into
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands,
the mountain or purpose built ramp made up feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a
of snow, with walls between 8 and 23 feet steep object. It is done recreationally,
(7.0 m). Competitors perform tricks while competitively, in trades that rely on it, and in
going from one side to the other and while in emergency rescue and military operations. It
the air above the sides of the pipe. is done indoors and out, on natural and
manmade structures.
Boardercross[edit]
Types[edit]
Further information: Snowboard cross
Climbing activities include:
Boardercross, also known as "Boarder X"
and "Snowboard X", is a very popular but Bouldering: Ascending boulders or
small outcrops, often with climbing shoes
relatively recent winter sport, starting in the
and a chalk bag or bucket. Usually,
1980s and earning its place as an official instead of using a safety rope from above,
Winter Olympic sport in the 2006 Turin injury is avoided using a crash pad and a
games. In Boardercross, several riders human spotter (to direct a falling climber
(usually 4 to 6) race down a course similar to on to the pad. They can also give beta, or
a motorcycle motocross track (with jumps, advice)
berms and other obstacles constructed out of
Buildering: Ascending the exterior
snow on a downhill course). Unlike traditional
skeletons of buildings, typically without
head-to-head races, competitors use the
protective equipment.
same terrain, sometimes resulting in
accidental collisions. Canyoneering: Climbing
along canyons for sport or recreation.
Snowboard Racing
Main article: Snowboard racing Chalk climbing: Ascending chalk cliffs
uses some of the same techniques as ice
In Snowboarding Racing, riders must climbing.
complete a downhill course constructed of a
series of turning indicators (gates) placed in
 Competition Climbing: A formal, Rope climbing: Climbing a short, thick
competitive sport of recent origins, rope for speed. Not to be confused
normally practiced on artificial walls that with roped climbing, as in rock or ice
resemble natural rock formations. The climbing.
International Federation of Sport Climbing
(IFSC) is the official organization Scrambling which includes easy rock
governing competition climbing worldwide climbing, and is considered part
and is recognized by of hillwalking.
the IOC and GAISF and is a member of
the International World Games Sport climbing is a form of rock
Association (IWGA). Competition climbing that relies on
Climbing has three major disciplines: permanent anchors fixed to the rock, and
Lead, Bouldering and Speed. possibly bolts, for protection, (in contrast
with traditional climbing, where the rock is
Ice climbing: Ascending ice or hard typically devoid of fixed anchors and
snow formations using special equipment, bolts, and where climbers must place
usually ice axes and crampons. removable protection as they climb).
Techniques of protecting the climber are
similar to those of rock climbing, with Top roping: Ascending a rock climbing
protective devices (such as ice screws route protected by a rope anchored at the
and snow wedges) adapted to frozen top and protected by a belayer below
conditions.
Traditional climbing (more casually
Indoor climbing: Top roping, lead known as Trad climbing) is a form of
climbing, and bouldering artificial walls climbing without fixed anchors and bolts.
with bolted holds in a climbing gym. Climbers place removable protection such
as camming devices, nuts, and other
Mountaineering: Ascending mountains passive and active protection that holds
for sport or recreation. It often involves the rope to the rock (via the use of
rock and/or ice climbing. carabiners and webbing/slings) in the
event of a fall and/or when weighted by a
Pole climbing: Climbing poles and climber.
masts without equipment.
Free solo climbing: Climbing without
Lumberjack tree-trimming and ropes or protection.
competitive tree-trunk or pole climbing for
speed using spikes and belts. Tree climbing: Recreationally
ascending trees using ropes and other
Rock climbing: Ascending rock protective equipment.
formations, often using climbing shoes
and a chalk bag. Equipment such as A tower climber is a professional who
ropes, bolts, nuts, hexes and camming climbs broadcasting or telecommunication
devices are normally employed, either as towers or masts for maintenance or
a safeguard or for artificial aid. repair.
Rock, ice and tree climbing all usually use
Rope access: Industrial climbing,
ropes for safety or aid. Pole climbing and
usually abseiling, as an alternative rope climbing were among the first exercises
to scaffolding for short works on exposed to be included in the origins of modern
structures. gymnastics in the late 18th century and early
19th century.
;

Jogging

; Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a

Rollerblading slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is
to increase physical fitness with less stress
Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned
on the body than from faster running, or to
by Nordica, part of the Tecnica
maintain a steady speed for longer periods of
Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy.
[4][5]
time. Performed over long distances, it is a
form of aerobic endurance training.
Definition[edit]
The company was started by Scott Olson (b.
1960) and Brennan Olson (b. 1964)
in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports;
when they sold the company, it became
Rollerblade, Inc.[6] and has changed hands
over time between Nordica, Benetton
Group and Tecnica.[7]

Even though the long

established Roces company was the first to
manufacture in-line skates in 1981,[8] their
distribution was limited to Italy and Central
Europe for the first few years. For the first few
years after Rollerblade was developed, Evening jogger in Skien, Norway.
Rollerblade, Inc. were the only manufacturer
of in-line skates that had worldwide Jogging is running at a gentle pace.[1] The
distribution. This allowed Rollerblade, Inc. to definition of jogging as compared with
capitalize and grab a huge percentage of the running is not standard. One definition
world market share and almost total describes jogging as running slower than 6
dominance of the North American market with miles per hour (10 km/h).[2]
their aggressive advertising campaigns and
Jogging is also distinguished from running by
sponsored in-line-only sporting events.[9]
having a wider lateral spacing of foot strikes,
Rollerblade, Inc. manufactures different types creating side-to-side movement that likely
of skates, such as those for aggressive adds stability at slower speeds or when
skating, fitness, or recreational use with coordination is lacking.[citation needed]
removable "walkable" liners.[10]
History[edit]

; The word jog originated in England in the

mid-16th century.[3] The etymology of the
word is unknown, but it may be related Burundi jogging ban[edit]
to shog or have been a new invention.[citation
needed]
In 1593, William Shakespeare wrote In March 2014, jogging was banned
in Taming of the Shrew, "you may be jogging in Burundi due to "fears it was being used as
whiles your boots are green". At that point, it a cover for subversion". According to the
usually meant to leave.[4] BBC, "The tradition of Saturday morning runs
started during Burundi's long years of ethnic
The term jog was often used in English and conflict", as residents in the city
North American literature to describe short of Bujumbura, where the surrounding hills
quick movements, either intentional or were home to armed militants before 2005,
unintentional.[citation needed] It is also used to "would try to vent their fear and frustration
describe a quick, sharp shake or jar.[citation and claustrophobia, by running, often in a
needed]
Richard Jefferies, an English naturalist, group".
wrote of "joggers", describing them as quickly
moving people who brushed others aside as
they passed.[5] This usage became common
throughout the British Empire, and in his ;
1884 novel My Run Home, the Australian
author Rolf Boldrewood wrote, "Your
bedroom curtains were still drawn as I
passed on my morning jog".

In the United States jogging was called Archery The Sport of Archery
"roadwork" when athletes in training, such as
boxers, customarily ran several miles each In the sport of archery, the archer uses a bow
day as part of their conditioning.[citation to propel arrows to hit the target from set
needed]
In New Zealand during the 1960s or distance(s). Derived from Latin word arcus,
1970s, the word "roadwork" was mostly archery was only used for combating and
supplanted by the word "jogging", promoted hunting purposes in ancient times. But today
its a popular competitive sport. In the 1840s,
by coach Arthur Lydiard, who is credited with
archery was taken to the level of modern
popularizing jogging. The idea of jogging as sport from merely a recreational activity.
an organised activity was mooted in a sports
page article in the New Zealand Herald in At the 1900 Paris Olympics, Archery was
February 1962, which told of a group of approved as Summer Olympics sport. The
former athletes and fitness enthusiasts who only discipline of this sport featured at the
would meet once a week to run for "fitness Olympics is Recurve Archery - a type of
Target Archery. Archery is also a Summer
and sociability". Since they would be jogging,
Paralympics event.
the newspaper suggested that the club "may
be called the Auckland Joggers' Club" Common Archery Sport Types include:
which is thought to be the first use of the
noun "jogger". University of Oregon track o Target Archery competitions held
coach Bill Bowerman, after jogging with
indoors or outdoors between 18
Lydiard in New Zealand in 1962, published
the book Jogging in 1966, popularizing m and 90 m from the target.
jogging in the United States.
 o Field Archery a form of archery Golf is a club and ball sport in which players
use various clubs to hit balls into a series of
which involves shooting at targets of
holes on a course in as few strokes as
varying distance, often in rough possible.
terrain.
Golf, unlike most ball games, does not
o Clout Archery a form of Archery, require a standardized playing area. The
similar to Target Archery, except you game is played on a course with an arranged
aim at a flag among a group of progression of either nine or 18 holes. Each
hole on the course must contain a tee box to
concentric circular scoring zones from
start from, and a putting green containing the
long range. actual hole or cup (4.25 inches in width).
There are other standard forms of terrain in
o 3D Archery a form of archery in
between, such as the fairway, rough (long
which the goal is to strike targets in the grass), sand traps, and hazards (water,
shape of animals at unknown rocks, fescue) but each hole on a course is
distances. unique in its specific layout and arrangement.

o Crossbow Archery an archery Golf is played for the lowest number of

discipline in which a crossbow is used strokes by an individual, known as stroke
play, or the lowest score on the most
instead of a regular bow.
individual holes in a complete round by an
o Flight Archery - a form of archery in individual or team, known as match play.
Stroke play is the most commonly seen
which the aim is to shoot the arrow as
format at all levels.
far as possible.
Origin
o Ski Archery involves skiing and
Main article: History of golf
shooting arrows at targets.

o Darchery a combination of darts

and archery, using bows and arrows
typically used for archery, but the
target is a dart board.

The MacDonald boys playing golf, attributed

Golf to William Mosman. 18th century, National
Galleries of Scotland.
While the modern game of golf originated in a links course dating to before 1574, is
15th-century Scotland, the game's ancient considered to be a site of pilgrimage. [9] In
origins are unclear and much debated. Some 1764, the standard 18-hole golf course was
historians[3] trace the sport back to the created at St Andrews when members
Roman game of paganica, in which modified the course from 22 to 18 holes.
[10]
participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed Golf is documented as being played
leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian,
spread throughout Europe as the Romans Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is
conquered most of the continent, during the certified as the oldest golf course in the world
first century BC, and eventually evolved into by Guinness World Records.[11][12]The oldest
the modern game.[4] Others surviving rules of golf were compiled in March
cite chuiwan ("chui" means striking and "wan" 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers,
means small ball) as the progenitor, a later renamed The Honourable Company of
Chinese game played between the eighth Edinburgh Golfers, which was played
and 14th centuries.[5] A Ming Dynasty scroll at Leith, Scotland.[13]The world's oldest golf
dating back to 1368 entitled "The Autumn tournament in existence, and golf's first
Banquet" shows a member of the Chinese major, is The Open Championship, which
Imperial court swinging what appears to be a was first played on 17 October 1860 at
golf club at a small ball with the aim of sinking Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland,
it into a hole. The game is thought to have with Scottish golfers winning the earliest
been introduced into Europe during the majors.[14] Two Scotsmen from Dunfermline,
Middle Ages. Another early game that John Reid and Robert Lockhart, first
resembled modern golf was known demonstrated golf in the US by setting up a
as cambuca in England and chambot in hole in an orchard in 1888, with Reid setting
France.[6] The Persian game chaugn is up America's first golf club the same year, St.
another possible ancient origin. In Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York.[15]
addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and
curved bats) was played annually in Loenen,
Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to
commemorate the capture of the assassin
of Floris V, a year earlier.

Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport in which two

people wearing protective
gloves throw punches at each other for a
predetermined set of time in a boxing ring.
Four gentlemen golfers on the tee of a golf
course, 1930s Amateur boxing is both
an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport
The modern game originated in Scotland,
where the first written record of golf is James and is a common fixture in most international
II's banning of the game in 1457, as an gamesit also has its own World
unwelcome distraction to learning archery. Championships. Boxing is supervised by
[7]
James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he a referee over a series of one- to three-
became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first minute intervals called rounds. The result is
recorded in 1503-1504: "For golf clubbes and decided when an opponent is deemed
balles to the King that he playit with".[8] To
incapable to continue by a referee, is
many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews,
disqualified for breaking a rule, resigns
by throwing in a towel, or is pronounced the
winner or loser based on the judges'
scorecards at the end of the contest. In the
event that both fighters gain equal scores
from the judges, the fight is considered a
draw (professional boxing). In Olympic
boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be
declared, in the case of a draw - the judges
use technical criteria to choose the most
deserving winner of the bout.

While people have fought in hand-to-hand

combat since before the dawn of history, the
origin of boxing as an organized sport may be
its acceptance by the ancient Greeks as
an Olympic game in BC 688. Boxing evolved
from 16th- and 18th-century prizefights,
largely in Great Britain, to the forerunner of
modern boxing in the mid-19th century, again A painting of Minoan youths boxing, from
initially in Great Britain and later in the United an Akrotiri fresco circa BCE 1650, the earliest
States. documented use of boxing gloves.

History[edit] The earliest known depiction of boxing comes

from a Sumerian relief in Iraq from the 3rd
Ancient history[edit] millennium BCE[1] Later depictions from the
See also: Ancient Greek boxing 2nd millennium BC are found in reliefs from
the Mesopotamian nations
of Assyria and Babylonia, and in Hittite art
from Asia Minor. The earliest evidence for fist
fighting with any kind of gloves can be found
on Minoan Crete (c.16501400 BCE), and
on Sardinia, if we consider the boxing
statues of Prama mountains (c. 20001000
BC).[1]

In Ancient Greece boxing was a well

developed sport and enjoyed consistent
popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first
A boxing scene depicted on a Panathenaic introduced in the 23rd Olympiad, 688 B.C.
amphora from Ancient Greece, circa 336 B.C. The boxers would wind leather thongs around
British Museum their hands in order to protect them. There
were no rounds and boxers fought until one
of them acknowledged defeat or could not
continue. Weight categories were not used,
which meant heavyweights had a tendency to
dominate.The style of boxing practiced Early London prize ring rules[edit]
typically featured an advanced left leg stance,
with the left arm semi-extended as a guard, in
addition to being used for striking, and with
the right arm drawn back ready to strike. It
was the head of the opponent which was
primarily targeted, and there is little evidence
to suggest that targeting the body was
common.[2] Suprisingly, even historically men
didnt tend to hit below the belt.

Boxing was a popular

spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for
the fighters to protect themselves against
their opponents they wrapped leather thongs
around their fists. Eventually harder leather
A straight right demonstrated in Edmund
was used and the thong soon became
a weapon. The Romans even introduced Price's The Science of Defense: A Treatise
metal studs to the thongs to make on Sparring and Wrestling, 1867
the cestus which then led to a more sinister
Records of Classical boxing activity
weapon called the myrmex ('limb piercer').
[citation needed]
disappeared after the fall of the
Fighting events were held at
Western Roman Empire when the wearing of
Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of
weapons became common once again and
boxing was often a fight until death to please
interest in fighting with the fists waned.
the spectators who gathered at such events.
However, there are detailed records of
However, especially in later times, purchased
various fist-fighting sports that were
slaves and trained combat performers were
maintained in different cities and provinces of
valuable commodities, and their lives were
Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries.
not given up without due consideration. Often
There was also a sport in ancient
slaves were used against one another in a
Rus called Kulachniy Boy or "Fist Fighting".
circle marked on the floor. This is where the
term ring came from. In AD 393, during the As the wearing of swords became less
Roman gladiator period, boxing was common, there was renewed interest in
abolished due to excessive brutality. It was fencing with the fists. The sport would later
not until the late 17th century that boxing re- resurface in England during the early 16th
surfaced in London.[citation needed] century in the form of bare-knuckle
boxing sometimes referred to
as prizefighting. The first documented
account of a bare-knuckle fight in England
appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant
Mercury, and the first English bare-knuckle
champion was James Figg in 1719.[3] This is
also the time when the word "boxing" first
came to be used. It should be noted, that this
earliest form of modern boxing was very
different. Contests in Mr. Figg's time, in
addition to fist fighting, also contained fencing
and cudgeling. On 6 January 1681, the first
recorded boxing match took place in Britain
when Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of
Albemarle (and later Lieutenant Governor of
Jamaica) engineered a bout between his
butler and his butcher with the latter winning
the prize.
Tom Cribb vs Tom Molineaux in a re-match
Early fighting had no written rules. There for the heavyweight championship of
were no weight divisions or round limits, and England, 1811
no referee. In general, it was extremely
These rules did allow the fighters an
chaotic. An early article on boxing was
advantage not enjoyed by today's boxers;
published in Nottingham, 1713, by Sir
they permitted the fighter to drop to one knee
Thomas Parkyns, a successful Wrestler
to end the round and begin the 30-second
from Bunny, Nottinghamshire, who had
count at any time. Thus a fighter realizing he
practised the techniques he described. The
was in trouble had an opportunity to recover.
article, a single page in his manual of
However, this was considered
wrestling and fencing, Progymnasmata: The
"unmanly"[6] and was frequently disallowed by
inn-play, or Cornish-hugg wrestler, described
additional rules negotiated by the Seconds of
a system of headbutting, punching, eye-
the Boxers.[7] In modern boxing, there is a
gouging, chokes, and hard throws, not
three-minute limit to rounds (unlike the
recognized in boxing today.[4]
downed fighter ends the round rule).
Intentionally going down in modern boxing
The first boxing rules, called the Broughton's
will cause the recovering fighter to lose points
rules, were introduced by champion Jack
in the scoring system. Furthermore, as the
Broughton in 1743 to protect fighters in the
contestants did not have heavy leather
ring where deaths sometimes occurred.
[5] gloves and wristwraps to protect their hands,
Under these rules, if a man went down and
they used different punching technique to
could not continue after a count of 30
preserve their hands, because the head was
seconds, the fight was over. Hitting a downed
a common target to hit full out. Almost all
fighter and grasping below the waist were
period manuals have powerful straight
prohibited. Broughton encouraged the use of
punches with the whole body behind them to
'mufflers', a form of padded bandage or
the face (including forehead) as the basic
mitten, to be used in 'jousting' or sparring
blows.
sessions in training, and in exhibition
matches.

Ice Skating
Ice skating is the act of moving on ice by popular among the ruling family of the Qing
using ice skates. It can be done for a variety dynasty.[2]
of reasons, including exercise, leisure,
traveling, and various sports. Ice skating Rising popularity and first clubs[edit]
occurs both on specially prepared ice
surfaces (arenas, tracks, parks),
both indoors and outdoors, as well as on
naturally occurring bodies of frozen water,
such as ponds, lakes and rivers. History[edit]

Early history of ice skating[edit]

The Skating Minister by Henry Raeburn,

'Skating fun' by 17th century Dutch depicts a member of the Edinburgh Skating
painter Hendrick Avercamp Club in the 1790s.

A study by Federico Formenti of Ice skating was brought to Britain from the
the University of Oxford suggests that the Netherlands, where James II was briefly
earliest ice skating happened in exiled in the 17th century. When he returned
southern Finland more than 3,000 years ago. to England, this "new" sport was introduced
[1]
Originally, skates were merely sharpened, to the British aristocracy, and was soon
flattened bone strapped to the bottom of the enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
foot. Skaters did not actually skate on the ice,
but rather glided on top of it. True skating The first organised skating club was
emerged when a steel blade with sharpened the Edinburgh Skating Club, formed in the
edges was used. Skates now cut into the ice 1740s, (some claim the club was established
instead of gliding on top of it. Adding edges as early as 1642).[3][4][5]
to ice skates was invented by the Dutch in
the 13th or 14th century. These ice skates An early contemporary reference to the club
were made of steel, with sharpened edges on appeared in the second edition (1783) of
the bottom to aid movement. The the Encyclopdia Britannica:
construction of modern ice skates has stayed
largely the same since then. In The metropolis of Scotland has
the Netherlands, ice skating was considered produced more instances of elegant
proper for all classes of people, as shown in skaters than perhaps any country
many pictures by the Old Masters. whatever: and the institution of a
skating club about 40 years ago has
Ice skating was also practised in China contributed not a little to the
during the Song dynasty, and became improvement of this elegant
amusement.[3]
From this description and others, it is maintenance of natural ice did not exist,
apparent that the form of skating these early rinks used a substitute
practiced by club members was indeed consisting of a mixture of hog's lard and
an early form of figure skating rather various salts. An item in the 8 May 1844
than speed skating. For admission to the issue of Littell's Living Age headed the
club, candidates had to pass a skating "Glaciarium" reported that "This
test where they performed a complete establishment, which has been removed
circle on either foot (e.g., a figure eight), to Grafton street East' Tottenham Court
and then jumped over first one hat, then Road, was opened on Monday afternoon.
two and three, placed over each other on The area of artificial ice is extremely
the ice.[3] convenient for such as may be desirous
of engaging in the graceful and manly
On the Continent, participation in ice pastime of skating".
skating was limited to members of the
upper classes. Emperor Rudolf II of Emergence as a sport[edit]
the Holy Roman Empire enjoyed ice
skating so much, he had a large ice
carnival constructed in his court in order
to popularise the sport. King Louis XVI of
France brought ice skating to Paris during
his reign. Madame de
Pompadour, Napoleon I, Napoleon III and
the House of Stuart were, among others,
royal and upper class fans of ice skating.
James Smart rounds the barrel turn

Skating became popular as a recreation,

a means of transport and spectator sport
in The Fens in England for people from all
walks of life. Racing was the preserve of
workers, most of them agricultural
labourers. It is not known when the first
skating matches were held, but by the
early nineteenth century racing was well
Interior of the Glaciarium in 1876
established and the results of matches
The next skating club to be established were reported in the press.[7] Skating as a
was in London and was not founded until sport developed on the lakes of Scotland
1830.[3] By the mid-19th century, ice and the canals of the Netherlands. In the
skating was a popular pastime among the 13th and 14th centuries wood was
British upper and middle classes, (Queen substituted for bone in skate blades, and
Victoria got to know her future in 1572 the first iron skates were
husband, Prince Albert, through a series manufactured.[8] When the waters froze,
of ice skating trips.[6]) and early attempts skating matches were held in towns and
at the construction of artificial ice rinks villages all over the Fens. In these local
were made during the 'rink mania' of matches men (or sometimes women or
1841-44. As the technology for the
children) would compete for prizes of e met in the Guildhall, Cambridge, to set
money, clothing or food.[9] up the National Skating Association, the
first national ice skating body in the world.
The winners of local matches were invited [10]
The founding committee consisted of
to take part in the grand or championship several landowners, a vicar, a fellow
matches in which skaters from across the of Trinity College, a magistrate, two
Fens would compete for cash prizes in Members of Parliament, the mayor
front of crowds of thousands. The of Cambridge, the Lord Lieutenant of
championship matches took the form of a Cambridge, journalist James Drake
Welsh main or "last man standing" Digby, the president of Cambridge
contest. The competitors, 16 or University Skating Club, and Neville
sometimes 32, were paired off in heats Goodman, a fellow of Peterhouse
and the winner of each heat went through College (and son of Potto Browns milling
to the next round. A course of 660 yards partner, Joseph Goodman).[11] The newly
was measured out on the ice, and a formed Association held their first one-
barrel with a flag on it placed at either and-a-half-mile British professional
end. For a one-and-a-half mile race the championship at Thorney in December
skaters completed two rounds of the 1879.
course, with three barrel turns.[9]
Figure skating[edit]

Fen runners

In the Fens skates were called pattens, Jackson Haines

fen runners, or Whittlesey runners. The
footstock was made of beechwood. A Main article: Figure skating
screw at the back was screwed into the
The first instructional book concerning ice
heel of the boot, and three small spikes at
skating was published in London in 1772.
the front kept the skate steady. There
The book, written by a British artillery
were holes in the footstock for leather
lieutenant, Robert Jones, describes
straps to fasten it to the foot. The metal
basic figure skating forms such as circles
blades were slightly higher at the back
and figure eights. The book was written
than the front. In the 1890s fen skaters
solely for men, as women did not
started to race in Norwegian style skates.
normally ice skate in the late 18th century.
It was with the publication of this manual
On Saturday 1 February 1879 a number
that ice skating split into its two main
of professional ice skaters
disciplines, speed skating and figure
from Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshir
skating.
The founder of modern figure skating as it The International Skating Union was
is known today was Jackson Haines, an founded in 1892 as the first international
American. He was the first skater to ice skating organization in Scheveningen,
incorporate ballet and dance movements in the Netherlands. The Union created the
into his skating, as opposed to focusing first codified set of figure skating rules
on tracing patterns on the ice. Haines and governed international competition in
also invented the sit spin and developed a speed and figure skating. The first
shorter, curved blade for figure skating Championship, known as the
that allowed for easier turns. He was also Championship of the Internationale
the first to wear blades that were Eislauf-Vereingung, was held in Saint
permanently attached to the boot. Petersburg in 1896. The event had four
competitors and was won by Gilbert
Fuchs.

Central Park, New York City, Winter: The Weightlifting

Skating Pond, 1862 by Currier and Ives.
Weightlifting, also called Olympic-style
For a time, the stiff and rigid British figure weightlifting, or Olympicweightlifting, is an
skating forms dominated in America, athletic discipline in the modern Olympic
trumping Haines's more artistic way of programme in which the athlete attempts a
skating. Haines instead attempted to maximum-weight single lift of a barbell loaded
spread his innovations in ice skating style with weight plates.
in Europe, gaining success in such
countries as Sweden and Austria. His The two competition lifts in order are
style was still opposed by both his the snatch and the clean and jerk. Each
American colleagues as well as skaters weightlifter receives three attempts in each,
from Victorian England, who continued to and the combined total of the highest two
advocate a stiffer and more restrained successful lifts determines the overall result
style of skating. Haines continued to add within a bodyweight category. Bodyweight
new dance elements to his routines, and categories are different for male and female
astounded a crowd in Vienna in the winter competitors. A lifter who fails to complete at
of 1868. Many in the audience expressed least one successful snatch and one
wonder at how a normal man could move successful clean and jerk also fails to total,
over the ice in such a manner.[citation and therefore receives an "incomplete" entry
needed]
Haines's performance led to the for the competition. The clean and press was
establishment of the Vienna School, once a competition lift, but was discontinued
which continued to develop Haines's due to difficulties in judging proper form.
artistic style.
In comparison with other strength sports, 94 kg (207 lb)
which test limit strength (with or without lifting
aids), Weightlifting tests aspects of human 105 kg (231 lb)
ballistic limits (explosive strength); the lifts
are therefore executed fasterand with more 105 kg and over (231 lb+)
mobility and a greater range of motion during
Women's weight classes:
their executionthan other strength
movements. Properly executed, the snatch
48 kg (106 lb)
and the clean and jerk are both dynamic and
explosive while appearing graceful, especially
53 kg (117 lb)
when viewed from a recording at a slowed
speed. 58 kg (128 lb)

While there are relatively few competitive 63 kg (139 lb)

Olympic weightlifters, the lifts performed in
the sport of weightlifting, and in particular 69 kg (152 lb)
their component lifts (e.g. squats, deadlifts,
cleans), are commonly used by elite athletes 75 kg (165 lb)
in other sports to train for both explosive and
functional strength. 90 kg (198 lb)

Competition[edit] 90 kg and over (198 lb+)[1]

Official procedure[edit]
The sport is controlled by the International
Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Based
in Budapest, it was founded in 1905.

Weight classes[edit]

Athletes compete in a division determined by

their body mass. There have been eight male
divisions and seven female divisions since
1998.

Men's weight classes:

56 kg (123 lb)
Snatch
62 kg (137 lb)
In each weight division, lifters compete in
69 kg (152 lb) both the snatch and clean and jerk. Prizes
are usually given for the heaviest weights
77 kg (170 lb) lifted in each and in the overallthe
maximum lifts of both combined. The order of
85 kg (187 lb) the competition is up to the liftersthe
competitor who chooses to attempt the
lowest weight goes first. If they are grouped along with the other competitors'
unsuccessful at that weight, they have the and evaluated, it provides a numeric result
option of reattempting at that weight or trying which determines the competition's best
a heavier weight after any other competitors overall men's and women's lifters.[2] And
have made attempts at the previous weight or while, usually, the winner of the heaviest
any other intermediate weights. The barbell is weight class will have lifted the most overall
loaded incrementally and progresses to a weight during the course of a competition, a
heavier weight throughout the course of lifter in a lighter weight class may still have
competition. Weights are set in 1 kilogram lifted more weight both relative to their own
increments. When a tie occurs, the athlete bodyweight, and to the Sinclair coefficient
with the lower bodyweight is declared the formula, thereby garnering the "Best Lifter"
winner. If two athletes lift the same total award.
weight and have the same bodyweight, the
winner is the athlete who lifted the total History[edit]
weight first.[1]

During competition, the snatch event takes

place first, followed by a short intermission,
and then the clean and jerk event. There are
two side judges and one head referee who
together provide a "successful" or "failed"
result for each attempt based on their
observation of the lift within the governing
body's rules and regulations. Two successes
are required for any attempt to pass. Usually,
the judges' and referee's results are
registered via a lighting system with a white
light indicating a "successful" lift and a red Greek commemorative coin featuring modern
light indicating a "failed" lift. This is done for and ancient weightlifting (latter picture taken
the benefit of all in attendance be they from Greek vase).
athlete, coach, administrator or audience. In Pre-Olympic[edit]
addition, one or two technical officials may be
present to advise during a ruling. Competition to establish who can lift the
heaviest weight has been recorded
Local competition rules[edit] throughout civilization, with the earliest
known recordings including those found in
At local competitions, a "Best Lifter" title is
Egypt, China and ancient Greece. Today, the
commonly awarded. It is awarded to both the
modern sport of weightlifting traces its origins
best men's and women's lifters. The award is
to the European competitions of the 19th
based on a formula which employs the
century.
"Sinclair Coefficient", a coefficient derived
and approved by the sport's world governing The first male world champion was crowned
body and which allows for differences in both in 1891; the weightlifters were not
gender and bodyweight. When the formula is categorized by weight at this time, and a
applied to each lifter's overall total and then
women's championship did not exist until
1987.

Early Olympic[edit]

The first Olympic Games of 1896 included

weightlifting in the Field event of the
predecessor to today's track and field or
athletics event. During the 1900 Olympic
Games, there was no weightlifting event.
Weightlifting resumed as an event, again in
athletics, in 1904 but was omitted from the
Games of 1908 and 1912. These were the
last Games until after the First World War. In
these early Games, a distinction was drawn The 110 kg division weightlifting winners of
between lifting with 'one hand' only and lifting
the 1980 Olympic Games, held in Moscow.
with 'two hands'. The winner of the 'one hand'
competition in 1896 was Launceston Elliot, In 1928, the sport dropped the 'one hand'
while the winner of the 'two hands' event exercises altogether leaving only the three
was Viggo Jensen of Denmark.[3] remaining exercises: the clean and press, the
snatch and the clean and jerk.
In 1920, weightlifting returned to the
Olympics and, for the first time, as an event Modern Olympic[edit]
in its own right. At these Games, which took
place in Antwerp, Belgium, fourteen nations By 1972, the clean and press was
competed. The competition lifts were the 'one discontinued because athletes started to
hand' snatch, the 'one hand' clean and jerk push with legs and bend backwards instead
and the 'two hands' clean and jerk. At the of strictly pressing the weight overhead, and
next Olympic Games, in Paris, France, in this left the sole elements of what is today's
1924, the 'two hands' press and the 'two modern Olympic weightlifting programme
hands' snatch were added to the programme, the snatch and the clean and jerk. The snatch
making a total of five lifts. consists of lifting the barbell from the floor to
an overhead position in one fluid motion. It is
In the Olympic Games after 1920, instead of a very precise lift that can be nullified by a
requiring all competitors to compete against lack of balance of the athlete. The clean and
each other regardless of size, weight classes jerk consists of moving the barbell from the
were introduced and, by the 1932 Olympic floor to overhead in 2 movements: from the
Games, weightlifting was divided into five floor to the shoulders, and from the shoulders
weight divisions. to overhead.

Women's Olympic[edit]

As early as 1987, there were official world

championships awarded to women
weightlifters such as Karyn
Marshall and Judy Glenney.[4][5][6] However, it
was not until the 2000 Olympic Games in The shuttlecock is a feathered or (in informal
Sydney, Australia that an official Olympic matches) plastic projectile which flies
competition for women was introduced. [7] differently from the balls used in many other
sports. In particular, the feathers create much
In 2011 the International Weightlifting higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to
Federation ruled that athletes could wear a decelerate more rapidly. Shuttlecocks also
full-body "unitard" under the customary have a high top speed compared to the balls
weightlifting uniform.[8] Kulsoom in other racquet sports.
Abdullah became the first woman to do so at
the U.S. National Championships that year, The game developed in British India from the
and athletes are allowed to do so at the earlier game of battledore and shuttlecock.
Olympics.[8] IWF rules previously stated that European play came to be dominated
an athlete's knees and elbows must be by Denmark but the game has become very
visible so officials can determine if a lift is popular in Asia, with recent competition
correctly executed. dominated by China. Since 1992, badminton
has been a Summer Olympic sport with five
events: men's singles, women's singles,
men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed
doubles. At high levels of play, the sport
demands excellent fitness: players
require aerobic stamina, agility, strength,
speed, and precision. It is also a technical
Badminton sport, requiring good motor coordination and
the development of sophisticated racquet
Badminton is a racquet sport played movements.
using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across
a net. Although it may be played with larger History
teams, the most common forms of the game
are "singles" (with one player per side) and
"doubles" (with two players per side).
Badminton is often played as a casual
outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach;
formal games are played on a rectangular
indoor court. Points are scored by striking the
shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it
within the opposing side's half of the court.
An 1804 depiction of battledore and
Each side may only strike the shuttlecock shuttlecock
once before it passes over the net. Play ends
once the shuttlecock has struck the floor or if
a fault has been called by the umpire, service
judge, or (in their absence) the opposing
side.[1]
 Early on, the game was also known
as Poona or Poonah after the garrison town
of Pune,[7][9] where it was particularly popular
and where the first rules for the game were
drawn up in 1873.[5][6][n 2] By 1875, returning
officers had started a badminton club
in Folkestone. Initially, the sport was played
with sides ranging from 14 players but it was
quickly established that games between two
or four competitors worked the best.[3] The
shuttlecocks were coated with India
rubber and, in outdoor play, sometimes
An 1854 depiction of battledore and weighted with lead.[3] Although the depth of
shuttlecock by John Leech the net was of no consequence, it was
preferred that it should reach the ground.[3]
Games employing shuttlecocks have been
played for centuries across Eurasia[n 1] but the The sport was played under the Pune rules
modern game of badminton developed in the until 1887, when the J.H.E. Hart of
mid-19th century among the British as a the Bath Badminton Club drew up revised
variant of the earlier game of battledore and regulations.[4] In 1890, Hart and Bagnel Wild
shuttlecock. ("Battledore" was an older term again revised the rules.[5] The Badminton
for "racquet".)[3] Its exact origin remains Association of England published these rules
obscure. The name derives from the Duke of in 1893 and officially launched the sport at a
Beaufort's Badminton house called "Dunbar"[n 3] in Portsmouth on 13
House in Gloucestershire,[4] but why or when September.[11] The BAE started the first
remains unclear. As early as 1860, a London badminton competition, the All England Open
toy dealer named Isaac Spratt published a Badminton Championships for gentlemen's
booklet titled Badminton BattledoreA New doubles, ladies' doubles, and mixed doubles,
Game but unfortunately no copy has in 1899.[4] Singles competitions were added in
survived.[5] An 1863 article in The Cornhill 1900 and an EnglandIreland championship
Magazine describes badminton as match appeared in 1904.[4]
"battledore and shuttlecock played with sides,
across a string suspended some five feet England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Denmark
from the ground".[6] , France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and New
Zealand were the founding members of the
The game may have originally developed International Badminton Federation in 1934,
among expatriate officers in British India, now known as the Badminton World
[7]
where it was very popular by the 1870s. Federation. India joined as an affiliate in
[5]
Ball badminton, a form of the game played 1936. The BWF now governs international
with a wool ball instead of a shuttlecock, was badminton. Although initiated in England,
being played in Thanjavur as early as the competitive men's badminton has traditionally
1850s[8] and was at first played been dominated in Europe by Denmark.
interchangeably with badminton by the Worldwide, Asian nations have become
British, the woollen ball being preferred in dominant in international
windy or wet weather. competition. China, Denmark, India, Indonesi
a, Malaysia, and South Korea are the nations The net is 1.55 metres (5 ft 1 inch) high at the
which have consistently produced world-class edges and 1.524 metres (5 ft) high in the
players in the past few decades, with China centre. The net posts are placed over the
being the greatest force in men's and doubles sidelines, even when singles is
women's competition recently. played.

Rules The minimum height for the ceiling above the

court is not mentioned in the Laws of
The following information is a simplified Badminton. Nonetheless, a badminton court
summary of badminton rules based on the will not be suitable if the ceiling is likely to be
BWF Statutes publication, Laws of hit on a high serve.
Badminton.[12]
Serving
Court

Badminton court, isometric view

The court is rectangular and divided into

halves by a net. Courts are usually marked
for both singles and doubles play, although
badminton rules permit a court to be marked
for singles only.[12] The doubles court is wider
than the singles court, but both are of same
length. The exception, which often causes
confusion to newer players, is that the
doubles court has a shorter serve-length
dimension. The legal bounds of a badminton court during
various stages of a rally for singles and
The full width of the court is 6.1 metres doubles games
(20 ft), and in singles this width is reduced to
5.18 metres (17 ft). The full length of the When the server serves, the shuttlecock must
court is 13.4 metres (44 ft). The service pass over the short service line on the
courts are marked by a centre line dividing opponents' court or it will count as a fault.
the width of the court, by a short service line
at a distance of 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 inch) from At the start of the rally, the server and
the net, and by the outer side and back receiver stand in diagonally opposite service
boundaries. In doubles, the service court is courts (see court dimensions). The server
also marked by a long service line, which is hits the shuttlecock so that it would land in
0.76 metres (2 ft 6 inch) from the back the receiver's service court. This is similar
boundary. to tennis, except that a badminton serve must
be hit below waist height and with the racquet
shaft pointing downwards, the shuttlecock is
not allowed to bounce and in badminton, the golden point. Whoever scores this point will
players stand inside their service courts win.
unlike tennis.
At the start of a match, the shuttlecock is cast
When the serving side loses a rally, the serve and the side towards which the shuttlecock is
immediately passes to their opponent(s) (this pointing serves first. Alternatively, a coin may
differs from the old system where sometimes be tossed, with the winners choosing whether
the serve passes to the doubles partner for to serve or receive first, or choosing which
what is known as a "second serve"). end of the court to occupy first, and their
opponents making the leftover the remaining
In singles, the server stands in their right choice.
service court when their score is even, and in
her/his left service court when her/his score is In subsequent games, the winners of the
odd. previous game serve first. Matches are best
out of three: a player or pair must win two
In doubles, if the serving side wins a rally, the games (of 21 points each) to win the match.
same player continues to serve, but he/she For the first rally of any doubles game, the
changes service courts so that she/he serves serving pair may decide who serves and the
to a different opponent each time. If the receiving pair may decide who receives. The
opponents win the rally and their new score is players change ends at the start of the
even, the player in the right service court second game; if the match reaches a third
serves; if odd, the player in the left service game, they change ends both at the start of
court serves. The players' service courts are the game and when the leading player's or
determined by their positions at the start of pair's score reaches 11 points.
the previous rally, not by where they were
standing at the end of the rally. A The server and receiver must remain within
consequence of this system is that, each time their service courts, without touching the
a side regains the service, the server will be boundary lines, until the server strikes the
the player who did not serve last time. shuttlecock. The other two players may stand
wherever they wish, so long as they do not
Scoring block the vision of the server or receiver.
Main article: Scoring system development of
badminton Lets

Each game is played to 21 points, with If a let is called, the rally is stopped and
players scoring a point whenever they win a replayed with no change to the score. Lets
rally regardless of whether they may occur because of some unexpected
served[12] (this differs from the old system disturbance such as a shuttlecock landing on
where players could only win a point on their court (having been hit there by players
serve and each game was played to 15 playing in adjacent court) or in small halls the
points). A match is the best of three games. shuttle may touch an overhead rail which can
be classed as a let.
If the score reaches 20-all, then the game
continues until one side gains a two-point If the receiver is not ready when the service
lead (such as 2422), except when there is a is delivered, a let shall be called; yet, if the
tie at 29-all, in which the game goes to a receiver attempts to return the shuttlecock,
the receiver shall be judged to have been spiritual development; as well as
ready. entertainment and the preservation of a
nation's intangible cultural heritage.

; Although the term martial art has become

associated with the fighting arts of eastern
Asia, it originally referred to the combat
systems of Europe as early as the 1550s.
The term is derived from Latin, and means
"arts of Mars", the Roman god of war.[1] Some
Skateboarding authors have argued that fighting
arts or fighting systems would be more
Skateboarding is an action sport which appropriate on the basis that many martial
involves riding and performing tricks using arts were never "martial" in the sense of
a skateboard. Skateboarding can also be being used or created by professional
considered a recreational activity, an art form, warriors.
a job, or a method of transportation.
[1]
Skateboarding has been shaped and
influenced by many skateboarders
throughout the years. A 2009 report found
that the skateboarding market is worth an
estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue with
11.08 million active skateboarders in the
world.[2]In 2016, it was announced that Bowling
skateboarding will be represented at the 2020
Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.[3] Bowling refers to a series of sports or leisure
activities in which a player rolls or throws
Since the 1970s, skateparks have been a bowling ball towards a target. It is one of
constructed specifically for use by the major forms of throwing sports. In pin
skateboarders, Freestyle BMXers, aggressive bowling variations, the target is usually to
skaters, and very recently, scooters. knock over pins at the end of a lane. When all
the pins are knocked down on the first roll,
this is a strike. In target variations, the aim is
usually to get the ball as close to a mark as
possible. The pin version of bowling is often
played on a flat wooden or other synthetic
surface (which can be oiled in different
patterns for different techniques),[1] while in
Martial Arts target bowling, the surface may be grass,
gravel or a synthetic surface.[2] The most
Martial arts are codified systems and common types of pin bowling include ten-
traditions of combat practices, which are pin, nine-pin, candlepin, duckpin and five-pin
practiced for a number of reasons: as self- bowling, while in target
defense, military and law bowling, bowls, skittles, kegel, bocce, carpet
enforcement applications, mental and bowls, ptanque, and boules, both indoor and
outdoor varieties are popular. Today the sport Nine-pin bowling: pins usually
of bowling is played by 100 million people in attached to strings at the tops, uses a ball
more than 90 countries worldwide (including without finger holes.
70 million in the United States),[3] and
continues to grow through entertainment Candlepin bowling: tallest pins, thin
with matching ends, and bowled with the
media such as video games for home
smallest and lightest (at 1.1 kilograms
consoles and handheld devices.[4] (2.4 lb)) handheld ball of any bowling
sport.
The term bowling in the United States and
Canada most frequently refers to ten-pin Duckpin bowling: short, squat, and
bowling; in the United Kingdom and other bowled with a handheld ball.
Commonwealth countries it more often refers
to lawn bowls. Five-pin bowling: tall, between
duckpins and candlepins in diameter with
Variations[edit] a rubber girdle, bowled with a handheld
ball, mostly found in Canada.
Bowling games can be distinguished into two Target bowling[edit]
general classes:

Pin bowling[edit]

A bowls tournament in Berrigan, New South

Video: A man bowling in Japan
Wales, Australia
A woman bowling during 45th Victory Day
Another form of bowling is usually played
celebration Bowling Tournament '15 in
outdoors on a lawn. At outdoor bowling, the
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her left foot is over the players throw a ball, which is sometimes
foul line, which would nullify this delivery and eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it
score zero points, regardless of any pins closest to a designated point or slot in the
knocked over. bowling arena.

Five main variations are found in North Health benefits[edit]

America, varying especially in New
England and parts of Canada: Bowling is an anaerobic type of physical
exercise, similar to walking with free weights.
Ten-pin bowling: largest and heaviest Bowling helps in burning calories and works
pins, and bowled with a large ball with muscle groups not usually exercised.
three finger holes, and the most popular
type in North America The flexing and stretching in bowling
works tendons, joints, ligaments,
and muscles in the arms and
promotes weight loss. While most sports are
not suitable for elderly people, it is possible to
practice bowling very well at advanced ages.
[citation needed]

Members of an American jazz dance

company perform a formal group routine in a
concert dance setting
Dance
Theatrical dance, also called performance or
Dance is a performance art form consisting concert dance, is intended primarily as a
of purposefully selected sequences of human spectacle, usually a performance upon
movement. This movement a stage by virtuoso dancers. It often tells
has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is a story, perhaps
using mime, costume and scenery, or else it
acknowledged as dance by performers and
may simply interpret the musical
observers within a particular culture.[nb accompaniment, which is often specially
1]
Dance can be categorized and described composed. Examples are
by its choreography, by its repertoire of western ballet and modern dance, Classical
movements, or by its historical Indian dance and Chinese and Japanese
period or place of origin. song and dance dramas. Most classical
forms are centred upon dance alone, but
performance dance may also appear
An important distinction is to be drawn
in opera and other forms of musical theatre.
between the contexts
of theatrical and participatory dance,[4] althou Participatory dance, on the other hand,
whether it be a folk dance, a social dance,
gh these two categories are not always
a group dance such as
completely separate; both may have special a line, circle, chain or square dance, or
functions, a partner dance such as is common in
whether social, ceremonial, competitive, eroti western Western ballroom dancing, is
c, martial, or sacred/liturgical. Other forms of undertaken primarily for a common purpose,
human movement are sometimes said to such as social interaction or exercise, of
have a dance-like quality, including martial participants rather than onlookers. Such
dance seldom has any narrative. A group
arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized
dance and a corps de ballet, a social partner
swimming and many other forms of athletics. dance and a pas de deux, differ profoundly.
Even a solo dance may be undertaken solely
Performance and participation for the satisfaction of the dancer.
Participatory dancers often all employ the
same movements and steps but, for example,
in the rave culture of electronic dance music,
vast crowds may engage in free dance,
uncoordinated with those around them. On
the other hand, some cultures lay down strict
rules as to the particular dances in which, for
example, men, women and children may or Bible and Talmud refer to many events
must participate. related to dance, and contain over 30
different dance terms.[8] In Chinese pottery as
Origins early as the Neolithic period, groups of
people are depicted dancing in a line holding
hands,[9] and the earliest Chinese word for
"dance" is found written in the oracle bones.
[10]
Dance is further described in the Lshi
Chunqiu.[11][12] Primitive dance in ancient
China was associated with sorcery and
shamanic rituals.
During the first millennium BCE in India,
Mesolithic dancers at Bhimbetka many texts were composed which attempted
to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata
Archeological evidence for early dance Muni's Natyashastra (literally "the text of
includes 9,000-year-old paintings in India at dramaturgy") is one of the earlier texts. It
the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, mainly deals with drama, in which dance
and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting plays an important part in Indian culture. It
dancing figures, dated c. 3300 BC. It has categorizes dance into four types - secular,
been proposed that before the invention of ritual, abstract, and, interpretive - and into
written languages, dance was an important four regional varieties. The text elaborates
part of the oral and performance methods of various hand-gestures (mudras) and
passing stories down from generation to classifies movements of the various limbs,
generation.[5] The use of dance steps and so on. A strong continuous tradition
in ecstatictrance states and healing rituals (as of dance has since continued in India,
observed today in many contemporary through to modern times, where it continues
"primitive" cultures, from the to play a role in culture, ritual, and, notably,
Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert) is the Bollywood entertainment industry. Many
thought to have been another early factor in other contemporary dance forms can likewise
the social development of dance.[6] be traced back
to historical, traditional, ceremonial,
and ethnic dance.

Wakeboarding

Greek bronze statuette of a veiled and Wakeboarding is a surface water

masked dancer, 3rd-2nd century BC, sport which involves riding a wakeboard over
Alexandria, Egypt. the surface of a body of water. The
wakeboard is a small, mostly rectangular, thin
References to dance can be found in very board with very little displacement and shoe-
early recorded history; Greek dance (horos)
like bindings mounted to it. It was developed
is referred to
by Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Lucian.[7] The
from a combination of water as toeside; and progress into switch stance
skiing, snowboarding, and surfing techniques. as well.

The rider is usually towed behind 911: Backside tweaked out Raley.
a motorboat, typically at speeds of 30
40 km/h (1825 mph), depending on the Air Krypt: Toeside air raley with 180
board size, rider's weight, type of tricks, and degree turn, land opposite direction from
rider's comfort. This speed could also depend take off.
on the year, make, and model of the boat
Air Raley: the rider jumps the wake
because some boats, which are not designed
and allows his or her body to swing
for wakeboarding, create a different size backwards parallel to the water. The rider
wake which the rider may not feel then swings the board and his or her body
comfortable with. But a wakeboarder can also down and lands on the other side of the
be towed by other means, including closed- wake.
course cable systems,[1][2] winches,
and personal water craft. Basket flip: Double Beer flip.

Wakeboarding maneuvers[edit] Batwing: Toeside raley with Indy grab

with the board perpendicular to the water
as opposed to parallel.

Bel Air: Tantrum without using the

wake for air.

Blind Judge: Heelside raley to

backside 180.

Blind Pete: Toeside backroll backside

Wakeboarding competition, "Wake the 360.
Line", Koln
Boardslide: A rider approaches an
As with many action sports such obstacle and slides the board
as snowboarding and surfing, there is almost perpendicular with the obstaclealong
a separate language of terms to describe the obstacle,with the obstacle in between
various tricks. The more height, the more the rider's feet.
"pop". So therefore the rider's edge is very
Crow Mobe: Toeside Frontroll with a
important to the height of the jump. Heading
frontside 360 (Scarecrow with an extra
towards the wake chest facing the boat is 180).
known as a heelside edge; approaching from
the other direction with chest facing away Dev-glass: Butter slide one side of the
from the boat is known as toeside edge. A wake and from that side jump all the way
typical beginner to intermediate rider will tend to the other side of the wake landing on a
to have an easier time hitting the wake Butter slide.
heelside because it tends to come more
Dum-Dum: Toeside front roll backside
naturally to the rider, while more advanced
360.
riders can hit the wake both heelside as well
 Fashion Air: the rider curls the board catches it again upon the end of the
behind towards the butt while keeping rotation.
knees pointing down, arches back, and
throws back hand up behind the head for Pete Rose: Toeside backroll frontside
a stylish vanity pose. 360.

Fruit Loop: Toeside front flip backside S-bend: Heelside raley with hands
180. overhead spinning a backside 360
horizontally.
G-Spot: Toeside backroll backside
180. S-Bend 720: Heelside Raley with
hands overhead spinning 2 quick
Half Cab: when you come of the top of backside 360 horizontally landing in
the water and do a surface 180 in the air triumph. Chris Nolan was the first person
ever to land this trick.[9]
Half-cab: Switch stance fronside 180.
S-Bend to Blind: Heeliside raley with
Heelside Backroll: A rider approaches handside overhead spinning a backside
the wake heelside and flips (or rolls) over 360 horizontally finishing with a quick 180
the wake on an axis parallel to the with one hand behind your back
direction of the board, as if he/she were
following it around like a continuous loop. Scarecrow: Toeside front roll with
frontside 180.
Heelside Roll to Blind: Heelside
backroll backside 180. Skeezer: switch stance crow mobe

Heelside Roll to Revert (Malt-O- Slurpee: Toeside cut into wake with
Meal): Heelside backroll frontside 180. both hands on handle behind back,
toeside roll with backside 360 rotation.
Hoochie Glide: Air Raley with melon
grab. Special-K: Toeside cut into wake with
both hands on handle behind back,
KGB: Heelside backroll backside 360 toeside roll with backside 180 rotation.

Krypt: Heelside raley to frontside 180 Surface 360: A rider spins the board
360 degrees while riding the surface of
Mobius: Heelside backroll frontside the water.
360.
Tantrum: A rider approaches the wake
Moby Dick: Tantrum with a backside heelside and back flips over the wake on
360 (handle pass). an axis perpendicular to the direction of
the board.
OHH (Other Hand Hoochie): Hoochie
Tantrum to blind: Tantrum to
glide, but with your backhand instead of
backside 180.
your front hand.
Tantrum to Revert: Tantrum to
Osmosis 540: Frontside 540 where
instead of passing the handle behind the frontside 180.
back, the rider pops the handle and
 Toeside Backroll: A rider approaches Nosegrab: The front hand grabs the
the wake toeside and flips (or rolls) over nose of the board.
the wake on an axis parallel to the
direction of the board, as if he/she were Nuclear: The back hand grabs the
following it around like a continuous loop. nose of the board.

Toeside Front Flip: A rider RoastBeef: The back hand passes

approaches the wake toeside and flips on through the front of the legs and grabs the
an axis perpendicular to the direction of heel edge of the board.
the boat.
Slob: The front hand grabs the toe
Toeside Frontroll: A rider approaches edge in front for the front foot.
the wake toeside and flips forward (or
rolls) over the wake on an axis parallel to Stalefish: The back hand grabs the
the direction of the board. heel edge between the feet.

Toeside Roll to Revert: Toeside Tailgrab: The back hand grabs the tail
backroll frontside 180. of the board.

Tootsie Roll: Toeside front roll Taipan air: The front hand reaches
backside 180. behind the front foot and grabs the toe
edge between the bindings.
Tweety Bird: Whirlybird without using
wake for air. Tuck-Knee: The back knee is
stretched down to the board on any grab
Vulcan: S-Bend to switch landing. variation. Brought forth by Mike
Heelside approach Schweene. West Coast Camps!

Whirlybird: Tantrum with a backside ;

360 (no handle pass).
Grab variations[edit]

Front Hand: Where you front hand

gets the board not your back hand. This is
normally harder
Table Tennis
Indy: The back hand grabs the toes
edge between the feet. This is normally Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a
the first grab you learn. sport in which two or four players hit a
lightweight ball back and forth across a table
Melon: The front hand grabs the heel using a small bat. The game takes place on a
edge between the feet. hard table divided by a net. Except for the
initial serve, the rules are generally as
Method: The front hand grabs the heel
follows: players must allow a ball played
edge between the feet, Melon, then
tweaks the board. toward them to bounce one time on their side
of the table, and must return it so that it
Mute: The front hand grabs the toe bounces on the opposite side at least once. A
edge of the board between the feet. point is scored when a player fails to return
the ball within the rules. Play is fast and Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901.
demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball The name "ping-pong" then came to describe
alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's the game played using the rather expensive
options, giving the hitter a great advantage. Jaques's equipment, with other
manufacturers calling it table tennis. A similar
Table tennis is governed by the worldwide situation arose in the United States, where
organization International Table Tennis Jaques sold the rights to the "ping-pong"
Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. ITTF name to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers
currently includes 220 member associations. then enforced its trademark for the term in
[1]
The table tennis official rules are specified the 1920s making the various associations
in the ITTF handbook.[2] Table tennis has change their names to "table tennis" instead
been an Olympic sport since 1988,[3] with of the more common, but trademarked, term.
several event categories. From 1988 until [9]

2004, these were men's singles, women's

singles, men's doubles and women's The next major innovation was by James W.
doubles. Since 2008, a team event has been Gibb, a British enthusiast of table tennis, who
played instead of the doubles. discovered novelty celluloid balls on a trip to
the US in 1901 and found them to be ideal for
History the game. This was followed by E.C. Goode
who, in 1901, invented the modern version of
the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled, or
stippled, rubber to the wooden blade. Table
tennis was growing in popularity by 1901 to
the extent that tournaments were being
organized, books being written on the
subject,[7] and an unofficial world
championship was held in 1902.

In 1921, the Table Tennis Association was

Parker Brothers Ping-Pong game
founded in Britain, and the International Table
The sport originated in Victorian England, Tennis Federation (ITTF) followed in 1926.[4]
[10]
where it was played among the upper-class London hosted the first official World
as an after-dinner parlour game.[4][5] It has Championships in 1926. In 1933, the United
been suggested that makeshift versions of States Table Tennis Association, now called
the game were developed by British military USA Table Tennis, was formed.[4][11]
officers in India in around 1860s or 1870s,
who brought it back with them.[6] A row of In the 1930s, Edgar Snow commented
books stood up along the center of the table in Red Star Over China that the Communist
as a net, two more books served as rackets forces in the Chinese Civil War had a
and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball. "passion for the English game of table tennis"
[7][8] which he found "bizarre".[12] On the other
hand, the popularity of the sport waned in
It had several different names, including 1930s Soviet Union, partly because of the
'whiff-whaff'. The name "ping-pong" was in promotion of team and military sports, and
wide use before British manufacturer J.
partly because of a theory that the game had Equipment
adverse health effects.[13]
Ball
In the 1950s, paddles that used a rubber
sheet combined with an underlying sponge
layer changed the game dramatically,
[4]
introducing greater spin and speed.
[14]
These were introduced to Britain by sports
goods manufacturer S.W. Hancock Ltd. The
use of speed glue increased the spin and
speed even further, resulting in changes to
Assortment of 40 mm table tennis balls
the equipment to "slow the game down".
Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic The international rules specify that the game
sport at the Olympics in 1988.[15] is played with a sphere having a mass of 2.7
grams (0.095 oz) and a diameter of 40
Rule changes
millimetres (1.57 in).[22] The rules say that the
ball shall bounce up 2426 cm (9.410.2 in)
After the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the ITTF
when dropped from a height of 30.5 cm
instituted several rule changes that were
(12.0 in) onto a standard steel block thereby
aimed at making table tennis more viable as
having a coefficient of restitution of 0.89 to
a televised spectator sport.[16][17] First, the
0.92. The ball is made of celluloid plastic as
older 38 mm (1.50 in) balls were officially
of 2015, colored white or orange, with
replaced by 40 mm (1.57 in) balls in October
a matte finish. The choice of ball color is
2000.[7][18] This increased the ball's air
made according to the table color and its
resistance and effectively slowed down the
surroundings. For example, a white ball is
game. By that time, players had begun
easier to see on a green or blue table than it
increasing the thickness of the
is on a grey table. Manufacturers often
fast sponge layer on their paddles, which
indicate the quality of the ball with a star
made the game excessively fast and difficult
rating system, usually from one to three,
to watch on television. A few months later, the
three being the highest grade. As this system
ITTF changed from a 21-point to an 11-point
is not standard across manufacturers, the
scoring system (and the serve rotation was
only way a ball may be used in official
reduced from five points to two), effective in
competition is upon ITTF approval[22] (the
September 2001.[7] This was intended to
ITTF approval can be seen printed on the
make games more fast-paced and exciting.
ball).
The ITTF also changed the rules on service
to prevent a player from hiding the ball during
The 40 mm ball was introduced after
service, in order to increase the average
the 2000 Summer Olympics.[18] However, this
length of rallies and to reduce the server's
created some controversy at the time as the
advantage, effective in 2002.[19]For the
Chinese National Team argued that this was
opponent to have time to realize a serve is
merely to give non-Chinese players a better
taking place, the ball must be tossed a
chance of winning since the new type of ball
minimum of 16 cm in the air. The ITTF states
has a slower speed (a 40 mm table tennis
that all events after July 2014 are played with
ball is slower and spins less than the original
a new poly material ball.[20] [21]
38 mm one, and at that time, most Chinese
players were playing with fast attack and The wooden portion of the racket, often
smashes). China won all four Olympic gold referred to as the "blade", commonly features
medals and three silvers in 2000, and have anywhere between one and seven plies of
continued to dominate.[citation needed] wood, though cork, glass fiber, carbon fiber,
aluminum fiber, and Kevlar are sometimes
Table used. According to the ITTF regulations, at
least 85% of the blade by thickness shall be
of natural wood.[27] Common wood types
include balsa, limba, and cypress or "hinoki",
which is popular in Japan. The average size
of the blade is about 17 centimetres (6.7 in)
long and 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide.
Although the official restrictions only focus on
the flatness and rigidness of the blade itself,
these dimensions are optimal for most play
styles.

Table tennis regulations allow different

surfaces on each side of the racket.
Diagram of a table tennis table showing the [28]
Various types of surfaces provide various
official dimensions
levels of spin or speed, and in some cases
The table is 2.74 m (9.0 ft) long, 1.525 m they nullify spin. For example, a player may
(5.0 ft) wide, and 76 cm (2.5 ft) high with any have a rubber that provides much spin on
continuous material so long as the table one side of their racket, and one that
yields a uniform bounce of about 23 cm provides no spin on the other. By flipping the
(9.1 in) when a standard ball is dropped onto racket in play, different types of returns are
it from a height of 30 cm (11.8 in), or possible. To help a player distinguish
about 77%.[23][24] The table or playing surface between the rubber used by his opposing
is uniformly dark coloured and matte, divided player, international rules specify that one
into two halves by a net at 15.25 cm (6.0 in) side must be red while the other side must be
in height. The ITTF approves only wooden black.[27] The player has the right to inspect
tables or their derivates. Concrete tables with his opponent's racket before a match to see
a steel net or a solid concrete partition are the type of rubber used and what colour it is.
sometimes available in outside public spaces, Despite high speed play and rapid
such as parks.[25] exchanges, a player can see clearly what
side of the racket was used to hit the ball.
Paddle/racket Current rules state that, unless damaged in
Main article: Table tennis racket play, the racket cannot be exchanged for
another racket at any time during a match.
Players are equipped with a laminated
wooden racket covered with rubber on one or
two sides depending on the grip of the player.
The ITTF uses the term "racket",[26] though
"bat" is common in Britain, and "paddle" in
the U.S. and Canada.
 Henry Walsh makes note of a "Mr. Young"
Diving plunging 56 feet in 1870, and also states that
25 years prior, a swimmer named Drake
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into could cover 53 feet.[5]
water from a platform or springboard, usually
while performing acrobatics. Diving is an The English Amateur Swimming
internationally recognized sport that is part of Association (at the time called the Swimming
the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured Association of Great Britain) first started a
and non-competitive diving is a recreational "plunging championship" in 1883.[6][7] The
pastime. Plunging Championship was discontinued in
1937.
Diving is one of the most
popular Olympic sports with spectators. Fancy diving[edit]
Competitors possess many of the same
characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, Diving into a body of water had also been a
including strength, method used by gymnasts
flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air in Germany and Sweden since the early 19th
awareness. Some professional divers were century. The soft landing allowed for more
originally gymnasts or dancers as both the elaborate gymnastic feats in midair as the
sports have similar characteristics to jump could be made at a greater distance.
diving. Dmitri Sautin holds the record for most This tradition evolved into 'fancy diving', while
Olympic diving medals won, by winning eight diving as a preliminary to swimming became
medals in total between 1992 and 2008. known as 'Plain diving'.

History[edit] In England, the practice of high diving

diving from a great height gained
Plunging[edit] popularity; the first diving stages were
erected at the Highgate Ponds at a height of
15 feet in 1893 and the first world
championship event, the National Graceful
Diving Competition, was held there by
the Royal Life Saving Society in 1895. The
event consisted of standing and running
Plunging, the first competitive diving sport. dives from either 15 or 30 feet.

Although diving has been a popular pastime It was at this event that the Swedish tradition
across the world since ancient times, the first of fancy diving was introduced to the sport by
modern diving competitions were held the athletes Otto Hagborg and C F Mauritzi.
in England in the 1880s. The exact origins of They demonstrated their acrobatic
the sport are unclear, though it likely derives techniques from the 10m diving board at
from the act of diving at the start of swimming Highgate Pond and stimulated the
races.[2][3]The 1904 book Swimming by Ralph establishment of the Amateur Diving
Thomas notes English reports of plunging Association in 1901, the first organization
records dating back to at least 1865.[4] The devoted to diving in the world (later
1877 edition to British Rural Sports by John amalgamated with the Amateur Swimming
Association). Fancy diving was formally
introduced into the championship in 1903.[8][9]

Olympic era[edit]

A man dives into the Great South

Bay of Long Island.

Divers have to perform a set number of dives

Swedish high diver Arvid Spngberg at according to established requirements,
the 1908 Olympic Games from the fourth including somersaults and twists. Divers are
Olympiad. judged on whether and how well they
completed all aspects of the dive, the
Plain diving was first introduced into conformance of their body to the
the Olympics at the 1904 event. The 1908 requirements of the dive, and the amount of
Olympics in London added 'fancy diving' and splash created by their entry to the water. A
introduced elastic boards rather than fixed possible score out of ten is broken down into
platforms. Women were first allowed to three points for the takeoff (meaning the
participate in the diving events for the 1912 hurdle), three for the flight (the actual dive),
Olympics in Stockholm.[8] and three for the entry (how the diver hits the
water), with one more available to give the
In the 1928 Olympics, 'plain' and 'fancy'
judges flexibility.
diving was amalgamated into one event
'Highboard Diving'. The diving event was first The raw score is multiplied by a difficulty
held indoors in the Empire Pool for the 1934 factor, derived from the number and
British Empire Games and 1948 Summer combination of movements attempted. The
Olympics in London. diver with the highest total score after a
sequence of dives is declared the winner.
Competitive diving[edit]
Synchronized diving[edit]
Most diving competitions consist of three
disciplines: 1 m and 3 m springboards, and Synchronized diving was adopted as an
the platform. Competitive athletes are divided Olympic sport in 2000. Two divers form a
by gender, and often by age group. In team and perform dives simultaneously. The
platform events, competitors are allowed to dives are identical. It used to be possible to
perform their dives on either the five, seven dive opposites, also known as a pinwheel,
and a half (generally just called seven), nine, but this is no longer part of competitive
or ten meter towers. In major diving meets, synchronized diving. For example, one diver
including the Olympic Games and the World would perform a forward dive and the other
Championships, platform diving is from the an inward dive in the same position, or one
10 meter height. would do a reverse and the other a back
movement. In these events, the diving would
be judged both on the quality of execution determined from a combination of the moves
and the synchronicity in timing of take-off undertaken, in which position and from what
and entry, height and forward travel. height. In major international events, there
are seven judges in which case the highest
Scoring the dive[edit] and lowest scores are again discarded and
the middle five are summed, then multiplied
There are rules governing the scoring of a by 35, and multiplied by the DD, so as to
dive. Usually a score considers three provide consistent comparison with 5-judge
elements of the dive: the approach, the flight, events. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult for
and the entry. The primary factors affecting one judge to manipulate scores.
the scoring are:
This seven-judge procedure has been
if a hand-stand is required, the length modified as of the 2012 London Olympics:
of time and quality of the hold rather than eliminating one high and one low
award and then reducing the total by 35 as in
the height of the diver at the apex of
previous international events, the two highest
the dive, with extra height resulting in a
higher score awards and the two lowest are disregarded,
leaving three to be summed and multiplied by
the distance of the diver from the the difficulty rating.
diving apparatus throughout the dive (a
diver must not be dangerously close, There is a general misconception about
should not be too far away, but should scoring and judging. In serious meets, the
ideally be within 2 feet (0.61 m) of the absolute score is somewhat meaningless. It
platform) is the relative score, not the absolute score
that wins meets. Accordingly, good judging
the properly defined body position of
implies consistent scoring across the dives.
the diver according to the dive being
performed, including pointed toes and Specifically, if a judge consistently gives low
feet touching at all times scores for all divers, or consistently gives
high scores for the same divers, the judging
the proper amounts of rotation and will yield fair relative results and will cause
revolution upon completion of the dive divers to place in the correct order. However,
and entry into the water absolute scores have significance to the
individual divers. Besides the obvious
angle of entry a diver should enter
instances of setting records, absolute scores
the water straight, without any angle.
are also used for rankings and qualifications
amount of splash many judges for higher level meets.
award divers for the amount of splash
created by the diver on entry, with less In synchronised diving events, there is a
splash resulting in a higher score. panel of seven, nine, or eleven judges; two or
three to mark the execution of one diver, two
To reduce the subjectivity of scoring in major or three to mark the execution of the other,
meets, panels of five or seven judges are and the remaining three or five to judge the
assembled. If five judges then the highest synchronisation. The execution judges are
and lowest scores are discarded and the positioned two on each side of the pool, and
middle three are summed and multiplied by they score the diver which is nearer to them.
the degree of difficulty (DD),[10] which is
The 2012 London Olympics saw the first use continuous and sequential endurance
of eleven judges. disciplines.[1] While many variations of the
sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form,
The score is computed similarly to the scores involves swimming, cycling, and running in
from other diving events, but has been immediate succession over various
modified starting with the 2012 London distances. Triathletes compete for fastest
Olympics for the use of the larger judging overall course completion time, including
panels. Each group of judges will have the timed "transitions" between the individual
highest and lowest scores dropped, leaving swim, cycle, and run components.[1] The word
the middle score for each diver's execution "triathlon" is of Greek origin from
and the three middle scores for or treis ("three") and
synchronization. The total is then weighted or athlos ("competition").[2]
by 35 and multiplied by the DD. The result is
that the emphasis is on the synchronization A transition area is set up where the athletes
of the divers. change gear for different segments of the
race. This is where the switches from
The synchronisation scores are based on: swimming to cycling and cycling to running
occur. These areas are used to store
time of take-off bicycles, performance apparel, and any other
accessories needed for the next stage of the
height attained race. The transition from swim to bike is
referred to as T1 and that between the bike
synchronisation of rotations and twists
and run is referred to as T2. The athlete's
overall time for the race includes time spent
time of entry to the water
in T1 and T2.[3] Transition areas vary in size
forward travel from the board depending on the number of participants
expected. In addition, these areas provide a
The judges may also disqualify the diver for social headquarters before the race. [4]
certain violations during the dive, including:
The nature of the sport focuses on persistent
receiving a score of 0 on all dives and often periodized training in each of the
performed in the event three disciplines, as well as combination
workouts and general strength conditioning.
improper equipment usage (e.g.,
female divers not using hair ties) History[edit]

Triathlon is considered by some to have its

beginnings in 1920s France.[6] According to
triathlon historian and author Scott
Tinley (and others[7]), the origin of triathlon is
attributed to a race during the 1920s1930s
that was called variously "Les trois sports",
Triathlon
"La Course des Dbrouillards", and "La
A triathlon is a multiple-stage course des Touche Tout." This race is held
competition involving the completion of three
every year in France near Joinville-le-Pont, goal, at that time, of putting triathlon on the
in Meulan and Poissy. Olympic program.[10] The ITU sanctions and
organizes the World Cup and World Triathlon
An earlier tri-sport event in 1902 featured Series races each year, with annual world
running, cycling, and canoeing.[7] There are champions crowned each year for elite pro-
documented tri-sport events featuring triathletes, junior pro-triathletes, and age-
running, swimming, & cycling (not necessarily group athletes (in 5-year age-groups.) ITU
in that order) in 1920, 1921, 1945, and the races are conducted in a draft legal format for
1960s.[7] In 1920, the French newspaper L the bike leg, whereas drafting is not permitted
Auto reported on a competition called "Les at the amateur level. In addition, the ITU has
Trois Sports" with a 3 km (1.9 mi) run, 12 km a Long Distance Triathlon series.
(7.5 mi) bike, and a swim across the
channel Marne. Those three parts were done The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a
without any break. Another event was held in private company that sanctions and
1921 in Marseilles with the order of events organizes the Ironman and Ironman
bike-run-swim.[7] French newspapers reported 70.3 races each year. These races serve as
on a race in Marseille in 1927, and in 1934 an qualifying events for their own annual World
article about "Les Trois Sports" (the three Championships. The Ironman World
sports) in the city of La Rochelle was written Championship is held annually in Kailua-
about a race with: (1) a channel crossing (c. Kona, Hawai'i in October while the Ironman
200 m [660 ft]), (2) a bike competition 70.3 World Championship is held in
(10 km [6.2 mi]) around the harbor of La September and changes location each year.
Rochelle and the parc Laleu, and (3) a run The "Ironman" and "Iron" brands are property
(1,200 m [3,900 ft]) in the stadium Andr- of the WTC. Therefore, long-distance multi-
Barbeau.[8] sport events organized by groups other than
the WTC may not officially be called
Modern triathlon[edit] "Ironman" or "Iron" races.[11] For its part, the
ITU does not sanction WTC races;
The first modern swim/bike/run event to be [12]
however, USAT uses a combination of ITU
called a 'triathlon' was held at Mission Bay, and WTC rules to sanction WTC's branded
San Diego, California on September 25, events.[13] The Challenge Family brand
1974. The race was conceived and directed produces long-distance events around the
by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan, world, and includes events like Challenge
members of the San Diego Track Club, and Roth.[14]
was sponsored by the track club. 46
participants entered this event. It was
reportedly not inspired by the French events,
[9]
although a race the following year at Fiesta
Island, San Diego, California, is sometimes
called 'the first triathlon in America.'[6]

Organizations[edit]

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was

founded in 1989 as the international The symbol for triathlon in the Olympics
governing body of the sport, with the chief
International Ultra-Triathlon Association Outside the Olympics trampolining also
(IUTA) is the official governing body includes the events of synchronized
of Ultratriathlon, which involves triathlon in trampoline, tumbling (or power tumbling) and
distances longer than an iron-distance race. double mini-trampoline.
[15]

Origins[edit]
Olympics[edit] In the early 1930s, George Nissen observed
Further information: Triathlon at the Summer trapeze artistes performing tricks when
Olympics bouncing off the safety net. He made the first
modern trampoline in his garage to reproduce
The sport made its debut on this on a smaller scale and used it to help
the Olympic program at the Sydney Games in with his diving and tumbling activities. He
2000 over the Olympic Distance (swim: formed a company to build trampolines for
sale and used a variant of
1,500 m [1,650 yd] bike: 40 km [24.9 mi] the Spanish word trampolin (diving board) as
run: 10 km [6.2 mi]). a trademark. He used the trampoline to
entertain audiences and also let them
Paralympics[edit] participate in his demonstrations as part of
his marketing strategy. This was the
Paratriathlon at the Summer Paralympics will beginnings of a new sport.
debut at the 2016 Summer Paralympics to be In the USA, trampolining was quickly
held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[16] introduced into school physical education
[17]
Paratriathlon is a variant of the triathlon for programs and was also used in private
athletes with a physical disability. The entertainment centers. However, following a
Paralympic event will be a sprint race with number of injuries and lawsuits caused by
insufficient supervision and inadequate
athletes competing in six
training, trampolining is now mostly
categories according to the nature of their conducted in specialist gyms with certified
physical impairments. trainers. This has caused a large reduction in
the number of competitive athletes in the
United States and a consequent decline from
; the earlier American prominence in the sport.
Elsewhere in the world the sport was most
strongly adopted in Europe and the
former Soviet Union. Since trampolining
became an Olympic sport in 2000, many
more countries have started developing
programs and China's program developed
Trampolining World Champion athletes in less than a
decade.
Trampolining is a
Moves[edit]
competitive Olympic sport in
Main article: Trampolining terms
which gymnasts perform acrobatics while
bouncing on a trampoline.[1] These can Competitive trampolining routines consist of
include simple jumps in the pike, tuck, or combinations of 10 contacts with the
trampoline bed combining varying rotations,
straddle position to more complex twists and shapes with take-off and landing in
combinations of forward or one of four positions:
backward somersaults and twists.
 Feet Rotation is performed about the body's
longitudinal and lateral axes, producing twists
Seat and somersaults respectively. Twists are
done in multiples of a half, and somersaults
Front in multiples of a quarter. For example,
a barani ball out move consists of a take-off
from the back followed by a tucked 1 front
Back
somersault combined with a twist, to land
A routine must always start and finish on feet. on feet. Rotation around the dorso-ventral
In addition to the 10 contacts with the bed in axis is also possible (producing side-
a routine, competitors must start their routine somersaults and turntables), but these are
within 60 seconds after presenting to the not generally considered to be valid moves
judges. They are also permitted up to one within competitions and carry no 'tariff' for
"out bounce", a straight jump to control their difficulty.
height at the end of a routine, before sticking Trampoline skills can be written in FIG
the landing. The trampolinist must stop (Federation Internationale de Gymnastique)
completely - this means that the bed must shorthand. FIG shorthand consists of one
stop moving as well - and they have to hold digit signifying the number of quarter
still for a count of 3 seconds before moving. rotations, followed by digits representing the
In competitions, moves must usually be number of half twists in each somersault, and
performed in one of the following 3 basic a symbol representing the position of the skill.
shapes: / represents a straight position, <
represents a pike position, and represents
a tuck position. For example, 42/ is a back
Shape Method
somersault with a full twist in the straight
position, 800 is a double back somersault
with no twists in the tuck position, and 821/ is
with knees clasped to chest by a double somersault that has a full twist in the
Tucked
hands first full somersault and a half twist in the
second full somersault while remaining in a
straight position.
with hands touching close to feet
Piked
and both arms and legs straight

body in straight position with legs

Straigh
together, toes pointed, and arms
t
by the sides

Billard
A fourth 'shape', known as 'puck' because it
appears to be a hybrid of pike and tuck, is
A billiard, a type of shot in cue
often used in multiple twisting somersaults - it
sports (see below)
is typically used in place of a 'tuck' and in
competition would normally be judged as an
open tuck shape. Billiards: cue sports in general,
including pool, carom billiards, snooker,
A straddle, or straddled pike is a variant of a etc.; the term "billiards" by itself is also
pike with arms and legs spread wide and is sometimes used to refer to any of the
only recognised as a move as a shaped jump following more specifically:
and not in any somersault moves.
 Carom billiards (also known as
French billiards) games in general (a Darts
chiefly non-British usage) Darts is a form of throwing sport in
which small missiles are thrown at a circular
Three-cushion billiards even dartboard fixed to a wall.[2] Though various
more specifically, the most popular boards and rules have been used in the past,
form of carom billiards worldwide (the the term "darts" usually now refers to a
most common specific usage) standardised game involving a specific board
design and set of rules. As well as being a
The specific game of English professional competitive sport, darts is a
billiards (a chiefly British, Irish and traditional pub game, commonly played
Australian usage) in Britain and Ireland, across
the Commonwealth,
the Netherlands, Germany,
Pool (pocket billiards) games,
the Scandinavian countries, the United
such as eight-ball and nine-ball, in States, and elsewhere.
general (a chiefly colloquial North
American usage) Equipment[edit]
See the list of cue sports for various
Dartboard[edit]
other games with "billiards" in their
names; also more specifically:

Pin billiards (disambiguation)

Bar billiards, a game combining

elements of bagatelle and English
billiards

Electric billiards, an obsolete term

for pinball (from billard lectrique in
French, in which pinball is today
Darts were historically used in warfare in
called flipper, a borrowing from English)
ancient history; skirmishers used darts of
Mathematics and physics varying sizes, similar to miniature javelins. It
was the practice of this skill that developed
Billiard (number), the long-scale into a game of skill. Before the First World
name used in most European languages War, pubs in the United Kingdom had
for the number 1015 (called quadrillion in dartboards made from solid blocks of wood,
the short scale generally used in English). usually elm.[3][4] They had to be soaked
overnight to heal the holes made by the
Dynamical billiards, the mathematical
theory of particle trajectories within a darts, and it was a messy business for
closed reflective boundary the publican, although darts was a popular
game. This changed when a company called
Nodor, whose primary business was
making modelling clay (which has no odour,
hence the name Nodor), started producing
clay dartboards in 1923. The clay dartboards
never caught on, and Nodor switched to
making the traditional elm dartboards that
were popular at the time. Their model of the plastic-tipped darts to stick inside. When
dartboard was not a great success until a dart strikes the board, the section makes
someone came up with the idea of using contact with a metal plate, telling the
the century plant to make a dartboard. Small computer where the player has thrown.
bundles of sisal fibres of the same length
were bundled together. The bundles were Illumination should be arranged to brightly
then compressed into a disk and bound with illuminate the dartboard and minimize
a metal ring. It was an instant success, as the shadows of thrown darts. The main supply for
darts did little or no damage to the board the illumination should be protected against
they just parted the fibres when they entered accidental piercing, or placed away from the
the board; this type of board was more board.
durable and required little maintenance.
History[edit]
Quality dartboards are made of sisal fibres;
less expensive boards are sometimes made
of cork or coiled paper. However, several
types of sisal fibre are used in dartboards
today, originating from East Africa, Brazil, or
China. Despite widespread belief that some
dartboards are constructed using pig bristles,
camel hair, or horse hair, there is no evidence
that boards have ever been produced "Hope and Anchor dart club", Hope and
commercially from these materials. Anchor, 20 Waterloo Street (now Macbeth
Street), Hammersmith, London, UK. ca 1925.
A regulation board is 17 34 inches (451 mm)
NB publican Charles Fletcher (seated front
in diameter and is divided into 20 radial
row center) with elm board
sections. Each section is separated with
metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal.
[5]
The best dartboards have the thinnest wire,
so that the darts have less chance of hitting a
wire and bouncing out. The numbers
indicating the various scoring sections of the
board are also normally made of wire,
especially on tournament-quality boards. The
wire ring on which the numbers are welded
can be turned to facilitate even wear of the
board. Boards of lesser quality often have the Playing darts
numbers printed directly on the board.
The dartboard may have its origins in the
cross-section of a tree. An old name for a
Recently, some companies have produced
dartboard is "butt"; the word comes from the
electronic dartboards. These dartboards have
French word but, meaning "target".[6]In
electronic scoring computers that are
particular, the Yorkshire and Manchester Log
preprogrammed with a wide variety of game
End boards differ from the standard board in
types. The board is made of plastic facings
that they have no treble, only double and
with small holes. The holes slant out, allowing
bullseye, the Manchester board being of a
smaller diameter, with a playing area of only turkey feathers. These darts were mainly
25 cm across with double and bull areas imported from France and became known as
measuring just 4 mm. The London Fives French darts.[12] Metal barrels were patented
board is another variation. This has only 12 in 1906 but wood continued to be used into
equal segments numbered 20, 5, 15, 10, 20, the 1950s.[11][13] The first metal barrels were
5, 15, 10, 20, 5, 15, 10 with the doubles and made from brass which was relatively cheap
triples being a quarter of an inch wide. and easy to work.[12] The wooden shafts,
which were now threaded to fit the tapped
There is a speculation that the game barrel, were either fletched as before or
originated among soldiers throwing short designed to take a paper flight. This type of
arrows at the bottom of a cask or at the dart continued to be used into the 1970s.
bottom of trunks of trees. As the wood dried, [12]
When the advantages of using plastic
cracks would develop, creating "sections". were realised, the shaft and flight became
Soon, regional standards emerged and many separate entities, although one piece
woodworkers supplemented bar tabs by moulded plastic shaft and flights were also
fabricating dart boards for the local pubs. available.[14]

It is generally said that the standard Modern darts have four parts: The points, the
numbering plan with a 20 on top was created barrels, the shafts and the flights.[15] The steel
in 1896 by Lancashire carpenter Brian points come in 2 common lengths, 32mm and
Gamlin,[7] though this is disputed.[8] 41mm and are sometimes knurled or coated
[9]
However, a great many other to improve grip. Others are designed to
configurations have been used throughout retract slightly on impact to lessen the chance
the years and in different geographical of bouncing out.[16]
locations. Gamlin's layout was devised to
penalise inaccuracy. Although this applies to The barrels come in a variety of weights and
most of the board, the left-hand side (near are usually constructed from brass, silver-
the 14 section) is preferred by beginners, for nickel, or a tungsten alloy.[17] Brass is cheap
its concentration of larger numbers. but light and therefore brass barrels tend to
Mathematically, removing the rotational be very bulky. Tungsten on the other hand, is
symmetry by placing the "20" at the top, there twice as dense as brass thus a barrel of an
are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible equivalent weight could be thirty percent
dartboards. Many different layouts would smaller in diameter.[18] Tungsten is very brittle
penalise a player more than the current however and so an alloy of between 80 and
setup; however, the current setup actually 95 per cent tungsten is used. The remainder
does the job rather efficiently. There have is usually nickel, iron, or copper.[18] Silver-
been several mathematical papers published nickel darts offer a compromise between
that consider the "optimal" dartboard. [10] density and cost.

Darts[edit] Barrels come in 3 basic shapes: Cylindrical,

torpedo, or ton.[19] Cylindrical barrels are the
Initially the missiles were simply cut down same diameter along their entire length and
arrows or crossbow bolts.[11] The first purpose so tend to be long and thin. Their
made darts were manufactured in one piece slenderness makes them better for grouping
from wood; wrapped with a strip of lead for but because they are long, the centre of
weight and fitted with flights made from split
gravity is further back. Ton shaped barrels The choice of barrel, shaft, and flight will
are thin at either end but bulge in the middle. depend a great deal on the individual player's
This makes them fatter than a cylindrical throwing style. For competitive purposes a
barrel of equivalent weight but the centre of dart cannot weigh more than 50g including
gravity is further forward and so theoretically the shaft and flight and cannot exceed a total
easier to throw. Torpedo shaped barrels are length of 300mm.[11]
widest at the point end and taper towards the
rear. This keeps the weight as far forward as Playing dimensions[edit]
possible but like the ton, gives it a larger
diameter than the cylinder. The WDF uses the following standards for
play:
The shafts are manufactured in various
lengths and some are designed to be cut to Height - The dart board is hung so that the
length. Shafts are generally made from centre of the bulls eye is 5 ft 8in (1.73 m)
plastics, nylon polymers, or metals such as from the floor. This is considered eye-level for
aluminium and titanium; and can be rigid or a six-foot man.
flexible.[20] Longer shafts provide greater
stability and allow a reduction in flight size Distance - The oche should be 7 ft 9in
which in turn can lead to closer grouping; but (2.37 m) from the face of the board. Note that
they also shift the weight towards the rear this is the face of the board, and should not
causing the dart to tilt backwards during include the distance to the wall (if the board
flight,requiring a harder, faster throw. A longer protrudes from the wall)
shaft will however make the dart less
Scoring[edit]
responsive and increase the chance of
"wobbling".

The primary purpose of the flight is to

produce drag and thus prevent the rear of the
dart overtaking the point.[15] It also has an
effect on stability by reducing wobble.
Modern flights are generally made from
plastic, nylon, or foil and are available in a
range of shapes and sizes. The three most
common shapes in order of size are the
standard, the kite, and the smaller pear
shape. The less surface area, the less
stability but larger flights hamper close Scores for each region of a dartboard (not to
grouping. Some manufactures have sought to scale) shaded by value
solve this by making a flight long and thin but
this in turn creates other problems such as The standard dartboard is divided into 20
changing the dart's centre of gravity. numbered sections, scoring from 1 to 20
Generally speaking a heavier dart will require points, by wires running from the small
a larger flight.[15] central circle to the outer circular wire.
Circular wires within the outer wire subdivide
each section into single, double and triple
areas. The dartboard featured on the "Indoor
League" television show of the 1970s did not with the impact of a later throw) also
feature a triple section, and according to host scores nothing; exception should be
Fred Trueman during the first episode, this is noted if play is on any electronic board:
darts falling out are counted.
the traditional Yorkshire board.
A dart only scores if its point is
Various games can be played (and still are
embedded in or is touching the playing
played informally) using the standard surface. A dart that hits the board side on
dartboard. However, in the official game, any or at an angle but does not fall off
dart landing inside the outer wire scores as because it is held in place by two other
follows: darts, for example, will score either equal
to where its point touches or not at all.
Hitting one of the large portions of
each of the numbered sections, The highest score possible with three darts is
traditionally alternately coloured black and 180, commonly known as a "ton 80" (100
white, scores the points value of that points is called a ton), obtained when all
section. three darts land in the triple 20. In
the televised game, the referee frequently
Hitting the thin inner portions of these announces a score of 180 in exuberant style.
sections, roughly halfway between the A "quad" ring appeared briefly between the
outer wire and the central circle coloured
triple ring and the bull in the 1990s, leading to
red or green, scores triple the points
value of that section. a potential 240 maximum (three quad-20s),
a 210 maximum checkout (Q20-Q20-Bull)
Hitting the thin outer portions of these and seven dart finishes from a 501 start (five
sections, again coloured red or green, quad-20s, triple-17, bullseye), but was swiftly
scores double the points value of that dropped from professional tournament play
section. The double-20 is often referred to after only two years.[21] One make of this
as double-top, reflecting the 20's position
board was the Harrows Quadro 240. [22]
on the dartboard.
Skill level and aiming[edit]
The central circle is divided into a
green outer ring worth 25 points (known
as "outer", "outer bull", or "iris") and a red
or black inner circle (usually known as
"bull", "inner bull" or "double bull"), worth
50 points. The term "bullseye" can mean
either the whole central part of the board
or just the inner red/black section. The
term "bull's ring" usually means just the
green outer ring. The inner bull counts as
a double when doubling in or out.

Hitting outside the outer wire scores

nothing. Path of the optimal location to throw a dart
where = 0 is a perfect player and = 100 is
Any dart that does not remain in the a player who throws randomly.
board until it is collected by the player (for
example, a dart that hits a wire and Assuming standard scoring, the optimal area
bounces out of the board or drops out to aim for on the dart board in order to
maximize the player's score varies incline climbs. In the case of freeriding,
significantly based on the players skill. The downhilling, and dirt jumping, aerial
skilled player should aim for the centre of the manoeuvres are performed off both natural
T20 and as the player's skill reduces their features and specially constructed jumps and
aim moves slightly up and to the left of the ramps.
T20. At = 16.4 mm the best place to aim
jumps to the T19. As the player's skill Mountain biking can be performed almost
decreases further, the best place to aim curls anywhere from a back yard to a gravel road,
into the centre of the board, stopping a bit but the majority of mountain bikers ride off-
lower than and to the left of the bullseye at road trails, whether country back roads, fire
= 100.[23] roads, or singletrack (narrow trails that wind
through forests, mountains, deserts, or
Where may refer to the standard fields). There are aspects of mountain biking
deviation for a specific population: List of that are more similar to trail running than
darts players. regular bicycling. Because riders are often far
from civilization, there is a strong ethic of self-
reliance in the sport. Riders learn to repair
their broken bikes or flat tires to avoid being
stranded miles from help. Many riders will
carry a backpack, including a water bladder,
containing all the essential tools and
equipment for trailside repairs, and many
Mountain Biking
riders also carry emergency supplies in the
case of injury miles from outside help. Club
; Mountain biking is the sport of rides and other forms of group rides are
riding bicycles off-road, often over rough common, especially on longer treks. A
terrain, using specially designed mountain combination sport named mountain bike
bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with orienteering adds the skill of map navigation
other bikes, but incorporate features to mountain biking.
designed to enhance durability and
performance in rough terrain.

Mountain biking can generally be broken

down into multiple categories: cross
country, trail riding, all mountain (also
referred to as
"Enduro"), downhill, freeride and dirt jumping.
However, the majority of mountain biking falls Canoeing
into the categories of Trail and Cross Country
riding styles. Canoeing is a sport or recreational activity
which involves paddling a canoe with a
This individual sport requires endurance, core single-bladed paddle. In some parts of
strength and balance, bike handling skills, Europe canoeing refers to both canoeing
and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue and kayaking, with a canoe being called
both steep technical descents and high an Open canoe. some people call them
"Canadian Canoes" but Canada wasn't the floation bags which prevent the boat from
only country to invent "The Canoe" sinking if it flips or takes water accidentally.
They have higher sides, which help prevent
An ancient mode of transportation, modern water from entering into the boat. It is easier
canoeing was established in the late 19th to turn these canoes sharply because of their
century. In 1924, canoeing associations from flat bottom.
Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden
founded the Internationalen Representation Racing canoes: These are strictly for
for Kanusport, forerunner of the International professionals and sporting activities. They
Canoe Federation. Canoeing became part of may be made of Kevlar, fiberglass or
the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936.[1] composite materials, which makes these
[2]
canoes ultra-lightweight and strong. They
have a different design from other canoes,
The main form of competitive sport was sprint with narrower beams and closed decks for
canoe. Others include canoe polo, whitewater better tracking. These are classified into two
canoeing, canoe marathon, ICF canoe groups: flatwater and whitewater racing
marathon, and playboating. canoes.

National canoe associations include

the American, Canadian, British, Scottish, ;
and Welsh.

A recreational form of canoeing is canoe

camping.

Types of canoes[edit]
Ice skating
Ice skating is the act of moving on ice by
Types of canoes include:[3]
using ice skates. It can be done for a variety
of reasons, including exercise, leisure,
Recreational canoes: These are the most traveling, and various sports. Ice skating
widely used canoes because of their light occurs both on specially prepared ice
weight and durability. They are usually made surfaces (arenas, tracks, parks),
of aluminium or plastic. They can be found at both indoors and outdoors, as well as on
most sporting goods store, and are available naturally occurring bodies of frozen water,
to rent at some public lakes and rivers. such as ponds, lakes and rivers.

Intermediate or advanced canoes: These

History[edit]
are improved versions of standard canoes,
offering more comfort and increased speed.
Early history of ice skating[edit]
These are designed for canoeing enthusiasts,
who often use them for fishing or bird-
watching.

Whitewater canoes: These are engineered

for whitewater and river paddling. They offer
better safety, allowing the user to tie on
'Skating fun' by 17th century Dutch The Skating Minister by Henry Raeburn,
painter Hendrick Avercamp depicts a member of the Edinburgh Skating
Club in the 1790s.
A study by Federico Formenti of
the University of Oxford suggests that the Ice skating was brought to Britain from the
earliest ice skating happened in Netherlands, where James II was briefly
southern Finland more than 3,000 years ago. exiled in the 17th century. When he returned
[1]
Originally, skates were merely sharpened, to England, this "new" sport was introduced
flattened bone strapped to the bottom of the to the British aristocracy, and was soon
foot. Skaters did not actually skate on the ice, enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
but rather glided on top of it. True skating
emerged when a steel blade with sharpened The first organised skating club was
edges was used. Skates now cut into the ice the Edinburgh Skating Club, formed in the
instead of gliding on top of it. Adding edges 1740s, (some claim the club was established
to ice skates was invented by the Dutch in as early as 1642).[3][4][5]
the 13th or 14th century. These ice skates
were made of steel, with sharpened edges on An early contemporary reference to the club
the bottom to aid movement. The appeared in the second edition (1783) of
construction of modern ice skates has stayed the Encyclopdia Britannica:
largely the same since then. In
the Netherlands, ice skating was considered The metropolis of Scotland has
proper for all classes of people, as shown in produced more instances of elegant
many pictures by the Old Masters. skaters than perhaps any country
whatever: and the institution of a
Ice skating was also practised in China skating club about 40 years ago has
during the Song dynasty, and became contributed not a little to the
popular among the ruling family of the Qing improvement of this elegant
dynasty.[2] amusement.[3]

Rising popularity and first clubs[edit] From this description and others, it is
apparent that the form of skating
practiced by club members was indeed
an early form of figure skating rather
than speed skating. For admission to the
club, candidates had to pass a skating
test where they performed a complete
circle on either foot (e.g., a figure eight),
and then jumped over first one hat, then
two and three, placed over each other on
the ice.[3]

On the Continent, participation in ice

skating was limited to members of the
upper classes. Emperor Rudolf II of
the Holy Roman Empire enjoyed ice
skating so much, he had a large ice
carnival constructed in his court in order Emergence as a sport[edit]
to popularise the sport. King Louis XVI of
France brought ice skating to Paris during
his reign. Madame de
Pompadour, Napoleon I, Napoleon III and
the House of Stuart were, among others,
royal and upper class fans of ice skating.

James Smart rounds the barrel turn

Skating became popular as a recreation,

a means of transport and spectator sport
in The Fens in England for people from all
walks of life. Racing was the preserve of
workers, most of them agricultural
Interior of the Glaciarium in 1876
labourers. It is not known when the first
The next skating club to be established skating matches were held, but by the
was in London and was not founded until early nineteenth century racing was well
1830.[3] By the mid-19th century, ice established and the results of matches
skating was a popular pastime among the were reported in the press.[7] Skating as a
British upper and middle classes, (Queen sport developed on the lakes of Scotland
Victoria got to know her future and the canals of the Netherlands. In the
husband, Prince Albert, through a series 13th and 14th centuries wood was
of ice skating trips.[6]) and early attempts substituted for bone in skate blades, and
at the construction of artificial ice rinks in 1572 the first iron skates were
were made during the 'rink mania' of manufactured.[8] When the waters froze,
1841-44. As the technology for the skating matches were held in towns and
maintenance of natural ice did not exist, villages all over the Fens. In these local
these early rinks used a substitute matches men (or sometimes women or
consisting of a mixture of hog's lard and children) would compete for prizes of
various salts. An item in the 8 May 1844 money, clothing or food.[9]
issue of Littell's Living Age headed the
The winners of local matches were invited
"Glaciarium" reported that "This
to take part in the grand or championship
establishment, which has been removed
matches in which skaters from across the
to Grafton street East' Tottenham Court
Fens would compete for cash prizes in
Road, was opened on Monday afternoon.
front of crowds of thousands. The
The area of artificial ice is extremely
championship matches took the form of a
convenient for such as may be desirous
Welsh main or "last man standing"
of engaging in the graceful and manly
contest. The competitors, 16 or
pastime of skating".
sometimes 32, were paired off in heats
and the winner of each heat went through
to the next round. A course of 660 yards
was measured out on the ice, and a
barrel with a flag on it placed at either and-a-half-mile British professional
end. For a one-and-a-half mile race the championship at Thorney in December
skaters completed two rounds of the 1879.
course, with three barrel turns.[9]
Figure skating[edit]

Fen runners

In the Fens skates were called pattens, Jackson Haines

fen runners, or Whittlesey runners. The
Main article: Figure skating
footstock was made of beechwood. A
screw at the back was screwed into the The first instructional book concerning ice
heel of the boot, and three small spikes at skating was published in London in 1772.
the front kept the skate steady. There The book, written by a British artillery
were holes in the footstock for leather lieutenant, Robert Jones, describes
straps to fasten it to the foot. The metal basic figure skating forms such as circles
blades were slightly higher at the back and figure eights. The book was written
than the front. In the 1890s fen skaters solely for men, as women did not
started to race in Norwegian style skates. normally ice skate in the late 18th century.
It was with the publication of this manual
On Saturday 1 February 1879 a number
that ice skating split into its two main
of professional ice skaters
disciplines, speed skating and figure
from Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshir
skating.
e met in the Guildhall, Cambridge, to set
up the National Skating Association, the The founder of modern figure skating as it
first national ice skating body in the world. is known today was Jackson Haines, an
[10]
The founding committee consisted of American. He was the first skater to
several landowners, a vicar, a fellow incorporate ballet and dance movements
of Trinity College, a magistrate, two into his skating, as opposed to focusing
Members of Parliament, the mayor on tracing patterns on the ice. Haines
of Cambridge, the Lord Lieutenant of also invented the sit spin and developed a
Cambridge, journalist James Drake shorter, curved blade for figure skating
Digby, the president of Cambridge that allowed for easier turns. He was also
University Skating Club, and Neville the first to wear blades that were
Goodman, a fellow of Peterhouse permanently attached to the boot.
College (and son of Potto Browns milling
partner, Joseph Goodman).[11] The newly
formed Association held their first one-
 The International Skating Union was
founded in 1892 as the first international
ice skating organization in Scheveningen,
in the Netherlands. The Union created the
first codified set of figure skating rules
and governed international competition in
speed and figure skating. The first
Championship, known as the
Central Park, New York City, Winter: The Championship of the Internationale
Skating Pond, 1862 by Currier and Ives. Eislauf-Vereingung, was held in Saint
Petersburg in 1896. The event had four
For a time, the stiff and rigid British figure competitors and was won by Gilbert
skating forms dominated in America, Fuchs.[12]
trumping Haines's more artistic way of
skating. Haines instead attempted to Physical mechanics of skating[edit]
spread his innovations in ice skating style
in Europe, gaining success in such
countries as Sweden and Austria. His
style was still opposed by both his
American colleagues as well as skaters
from Victorian England, who continued to
advocate a stiffer and more restrained
style of skating. Haines continued to add
new dance elements to his routines, and
astounded a crowd in Vienna in the winter
of 1868. Many in the audience expressed
wonder at how a normal man could move Skating in Central Park (1900), one
over the ice in such a manner.[citation minute silent film by Frank S.
needed]
Haines's performance led to the Armitage. EYE Film Institute Netherlands.
establishment of the Vienna School,
which continued to develop Haines's
artistic style.

Documentary on the World Championship

Skating for Women at Helsinki in 1971.

A skate can slide over ice because the ice

molecules at the surface cannot properly
bond with the molecules of the mass of occur due
ice beneath and thus are free to move like to shock, hypothermia or drowning. It is
molecules of liquid water. These often difficult or impossible for skaters to
molecules remain in a semiliquid state, climb out of the water back onto the ice
providing lubrication.[13][14][15][16][17] due to the ice repeatedly breaking, the
skater being weighed down by skates and
It had long been believed that ice is thick winter clothing, or the skater
slippery because the pressure of an becoming disoriented under water. The
object in contact with it causes a thin skater may even not be able to find the
layer to melt. The hypothesis was that the hole through which they fell. This may
blade of an ice skate, exerting pressure result in drowning or hypothermia, but the
on the ice, melts a thin layer, providing rapid cooling can also create a state in
lubrication between the ice and the blade. which someone can be revived up to
This explanation, called "pressure hours after having fallen in the water. For
melting", originated in the 19th century. safety, it is recommended that skaters
This, however, did not account for skating should never skate alone or in darkness
on ice temperatures lower than 3.5 C, and that they should bring nails or ice-
whereas skaters often skate on lower- claws when they are skating on a lake or
temperature ice. In the 20th century, an river to allow them to get a grip on the ice
alternative explanation, called "friction and pull themselves out of the water if
heating", was proposed, whereby friction they fall through the ice.
of the material was causing the ice layer
melting. However, this theory also failed Communal games on ice[edit]
to explain skating at low temperature. In
fact, neither explanation explained why A number of recreational skating games
ice is slippery when standing still even at can be played on ice.
below-zero temperatures.[18]
Ice hockey
Safety[edit]
Curling
Skating depends on the roughness of the
ice, the design of the ice skate, and the Speed skating
skill and experience of the skater. While
serious injury is rare, a number of short Figure skating
track skaters have been paralysed after a
Bandy
fall when they hit the boarding. Falling
can be fatal if a helmet is not worn to
Rink bandy
protect against serious head trauma.
Accidents are rare but most common with Ringette
collisions, hockey games, or pair skating.
Tour skating
The second, and more serious, danger is
falling through the ice into the freezing Ice cross downhill
water underneath when skating outdoors
on a frozen body of water. Death can Barrel jumping[19]


Bandy

Tour skating

Figure skating Motocross

; Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle
racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The
sport evolved from motorcycle
trials competitions held in the United
Kingdom.

Ice hockey
Fencing

Fencing, also called Olympic fencing, is a

sport in which two competitors fight using
'rapier-style' swords, winning points by
making contact with their opponent. Based on
the traditional skills of swordsmanship, the
modern sport arose at the end of the 19th
Ringette century, with the Italian school having
modified the historical European martial
art of classical fencing, and
the French school having later refined the

Italian system. There are three forms of
modern fencing, each using a different style
of weapon and different rules, and as such
the sport is divided into three competitive
Short track scenes: foil, pe, and sabre. Most
competitive fencers choose to specialise in
only one weapon.

Competitive fencing is one of five activities

which have been featured in every one of the
modern Olympic Games, the other four
being athletics, cycling, swimming,
and gymnastics.

Fencing School at Leiden University,

; Competitive fencing[edit] Netherlands 1610
Further information: History of fencing
Governing body[edit]
Further information: Fdration Internationale Fencing traces its roots to the development
d'Escrime of swordsmanship for duels and self defense.
The ancestor of modern fencing originated in
Fencing is governed by Fdration
Spain, where several books on fencing were
Internationale d'Escrime (FIE). Today, its
written. Treatise on Arms was written by
head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The
Diego de Valera between 1458 and 1471 and
FIE is composed of 145 national federations,
is one of the oldest surviving manuals on
each of which is recognised by its
western fencing[3]shortly before dueling came
country's Olympic Committee as the sole
under official ban by the Catholic Monarchs.
representative of Olympic-style fencing in that
In conquest, the Spanish forces carried
country.[1]
fencing around the world, particularly
southern Italy, one of the major areas of strife
Rules[edit]
between both nations.[4][5] Fencing was
Main article: Fencing practice and techniques
mentioned in the play The Merry Wives of
The FIE maintains the current rules[2] used for Windsor written sometime prior to 1602.[6][7]
FIE sanctioned international events, including
The mechanics of modern fencing originated
world cups, world championships and the
in the 18th century in an Italian school of
Olympic Games. The FIE handles proposals
fencing of the Renaissance, and under their
to change the rules the first year after an
influence, were improved by the French
Olympic year in the annual congress. The US
school of fencing.[8][9] The Spanish school of
Fencing Association has slightly different
fencing stagnated and was replaced by the
rules, but usually adhere to FIE standards.
Italian and French schools.
History[edit]
Development into a sport[edit]

The shift towards fencing as a sport rather

than as military training happened from the
mid-18th century, and was led by Domenico
Angelo, who established a fencing academy,
Angelo's School of Arms, in Carlisle
House, Soho, London in 1763.[10] There, he
taught the aristocracy the fashionable art Association drew up an official set of fencing
of swordsmanship. His school was run by regulations in 1896.
three generations of his family and dominated
the art of European fencing for almost a Fencing was part of the Olympics Games in
century. [11] the summer of 1896. Sabre events have
been held at every Summer Olympics; foil
events have been held at every Summer
Olympics except 1908; pe events have
been held at every Summer Olympics except
in the summer of 1896 because of unknown
reasons.

Starting with pe in 1933, side judges were

replaced by the Laurent-Pagan electrical
scoring apparatus,[13] with an audible tone
and a red or green light indicating when a
touch landed. Foil was automated in
1956, sabre in 1988. The scoring box
1763 fencing print from Domenico Angelo's reduced the bias in judging, and permitted
instruction book. Angelo was instrumental in more accurate scoring of faster actions,
lighter touches, and more touches to the back
turning fencing into an athletic sport.
and flank than before.[citation needed]
He established the essential rules
of posture and footwork that still govern Equipment[edit]
modern sport fencing, although his attacking
and parrying methods were still much Weapons[edit]
different from current practice. Although he
There are three weapons in modern fencing:
intended to prepare his students for real
foil, pe, and sabre. Each weapon has its
combat, he was the first fencing master to
own rules and strategies.
emphasize the health and sporting benefits of
fencing more than its use as a killing art,
Foil[edit]
particularly in his influential book Lcole des
armes (The School of Fencing), published in
1763.[11]

The first regularized fencing competition was

held at the inaugural Grand Military
Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880,
held at the Royal Agricultural Hall,
in Islington in June. The Tournament featured Valid foil targets
a series of competitions
Main article: Foil (fencing)
between army officers and soldiers. Each
bout was fought for five hits and the foils The foil is a light thrusting weapon with a
were pointed with black to aid the judges. maximum weight of 500 grams. The foil may
[12]
The Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing target the torso (including the back), neck,
and groin, but not the arms or legs. The foil halt the action). As the entire body is legal
has a small circular hand guard that serves to target, there is no concept of an off-target
protect the hand from direct stabs. As the touch, except if the fencer accidentally strikes
hand is not a valid target in foil, this is the floor, setting off the light and tone on the
primarily for safety. Touches are scored only scoring apparatus. Unlike foil and sabre,
with the tip; hits with the side of the blade do pe does not use "right of way", and awards
not register on the electronic scoring simultaneous touches to both fencers.
apparatus (and do not halt the action). However, if the score is tied in a match at the
Touches that land outside of the target area last point and a double touch is scored, the
(called an off-target touch and signaled by a point is null and void.
distinct color on the scoring apparatus) stop
the action, but are not scored. Only a single Sabre
touch can be award to either fencer at the
end of a phrase. If both fencers land touches
within a close enough interval of milliseconds
to register two lights on the machine,
the referee uses the rules of "right of way" to
determine which fencer is awarded the touch,
or if an off-target hit has priority over a valid
hit, in which case not touch is awarded. If the Valid sabre targets
referee is unable to determine which fencer
has right of way, no touch is awarded. Main article: Sabre (fencing)

pe[edit] The sabre is a light cutting and thrusting

weapon that targets the entire body above
the waist, except the weapon hand. Like the
foil, the maximum legal weight of a sabre is
500 grams. The hand guard on the sabre
extends from pommel to the point at which
the blade connects to the hilt. This guard is
generally turned outwards during sport to
protect the sword arm from touches. Hits with
Valid pe targets the entire blade or point are valid. As in foil,
Main article: pe touches that land outside of the target area
are not scored. However, unlike foil,
The pe is a thrusting weapon like the foil, these off-target touches do not stop the
but heavier, with a maximum total weight of action, and the fencing continues. In the case
775 grams. In pe, the entire body is valid of both fencers landing a scoring touch, the
target. The hand guard on the pe is a large referee determines which fencer receives the
circle that extends towards the pommel, point for the action, again through the use of
effectively covering the hand, which is a valid "right of way".
target in pe. Like foil, all hits must be with
the tip and not the sides of the blade. Hits Protective clothing[edit]
with the side of the blade do not register on
the electronic scoring apparatus (and do not Most personal protective equipment for
fencing is made of
tough cotton or nylon. Kevlar was added to causing injury. The glove also
top level uniform pieces (jacket, breeches, improves grip.
underarm protector, lam, and the bib of the Breeches
mask) following the death of Vladimir Breeches or knickers are short
Smirnov at the 1982 World Championships trousers that end just below the knee.
in Rome. However, Kevlar breaks down The breeches are required to have
into chlorine in UV light, complicating the 10 cm of overlap with the jacket. Most
cleaning process. are equipped with suspenders
(braces).
Other ballistic fabrics, such as Dyneema, Socks
have been developed that resist puncture,
Fencing socks are long enough to
and which do not degrade the way that
cover the knee; some cover most of
Kevlar does. FIE rules state that tournament
the thigh.
wear must be made of fabric that resists a
Shoes
force of 800 newtons (180 lbf), and that the
Fencing shoes have flat soles, and are
mask bib must resist twice that amount.
reinforced on the inside for the back
The complete fencing kit includes: foot, and in the heel for the front foot.
The reinforcement prevents wear from
Jacket lunging.
The jacket is form-fitting, and has a Mask
strap (croissard) that passes between The fencing mask has a bib that
the legs. In sabre fencing, jackets are protects the neck. The mask should
cut along the waist.[clarification needed] A support 12 kilograms (26 lb) on the
small gorget of folded fabric is sewn in metal mesh and 350 newtons (79 lbf)
around the collar to prevent an of penetration resistance on the bib.
opponent's blade from slipping under FIE regulations dictate that masks
the mask and along the jacket must withstand 25 kilograms (55 lb) on
upwards towards the neck. Fencing the mesh and 1,600 newtons (360 lbf)
instructors may wear a heavier jacket, on the bib. Some modern masks have
such as one reinforced by plastic a see-through visor in the front of the
foam, to deflect the frequent hits an mask. These have been used at high
instructor endures. level competitions (World
Plastron Championships etc.), however, they
A plastron is an underarm protector are currently banned in foil and pe
worn underneath the jacket. It provides by the FIE, following a 2009 incident in
double protection on the side of the which a visor was pierced during the
sword arm and upper arm. There is no European Junior Championship
seam under the arm, which would line competition. There are foil, sabre, and
up with the jacket seam and provide a three-weapon masks.
weak spot. Chest protector
Glove A chest protector, made of plastic, is
The sword hand is protected by worn by female fencers and,
a glove with a gauntlet that prevents sometimes, by boys. Fencing
blades from going up the sleeve and instructors also wear them, as they are
 hit far more often during training than as those from boat wakes and the waves
their students. In foil fencing, the hard created in artificial wave pools.
surface of a chest protector decreases
the likelihood that a hit registers.
Lam
A lam is a layer of electrically
conductive material worn over the
fencing jacket in foil and sabre fencing.
The lam covers the entire target area,
and makes it easier to determine
whether a hit fell within the target area.
(In pe fencing the lam is
unnecessary, since the target area
spans the competitor's entire body.) In
sabre fencing, the lam's sleeves end
in a straight line across the waist; in Synchronised surfing, Manly Beach, New
foil fencing, the lam is sleeveless. South Wales, 193846
A body cord is necessary to register
The term surfing refers to the act of riding a
scoring. It attaches to the weapon and
wave, regardless of whether the wave is
runs inside the jacket sleeve, then ridden with a board or without a board, and
down the back and out to the scoring regardless of the stance used. The native
box. In sabre and foil fencing, the body peoples of the Pacific, for instance, surfed
cord connects to the lam in order to waves on alaia, paipo, and other such craft,
create a circuit to the scoring box. and did so on their belly and knees. The
modern-day definition of surfing, however,
Sleeve
most often refers to a surfer riding a wave
An instructor or master may wear a standing up on a surfboard; this is also
protective sleeve or a leg leather to referred to as stand-up surfing.
protect their fencing arm or leg,
Another prominent form of surfing is body
respectively. boarding, when a surfer rides a wave on a
bodyboard, either lying on their belly, drop
knee, or sometimes even standing up on a
body board. Other types of surfing include
knee boarding, surf matting (riding inflatable
mats), and using foils. Body surfing, where
the wave is surfed without a board, using the
Surfing surfer's own body to catch and ride the wave,
; is very common and is considered by some
to be the purest form of surfing.
Surfing is a surface water sport in which the
wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on Three major subdivisions within standing-up
the forward or deep face of a moving wave, surfing are long boarding and short
which is usually carrying the surfer towards boarding and these two have several major
the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are differences, including the board design and
primarily found in the ocean, but can also be length, the riding style, and the kind of wave
found in lakes or in rivers in the form of that is ridden.
a standing wave or tidal bore. However, In tow-in surfing (most often, but not
surfers can also utilize artificial waves such exclusively, associated with big wave
surfing), a motorized water vehicle, such as While mountaineering began as attempts to
a personal watercraft, tows the surfer into the reach the highest point of unclimbed big
wave front, helping the surfer match a large mountains it has branched into
wave's speed, which is generally a higher
specializations that address different aspects
speed than a self-propelled surfer can
produce. Surfing-related sports such of the mountain and consists of three (3)
as paddle boarding and sea kayaking do not areas: rock-craft, snow-craft, and skiing,
require waves, and other derivative sports depending on whether the route chosen is
such as kite surfing and windsurfing rely over rock, snow or ice. All require experience,
primarily on wind for power, yet all of these athletic ability, and technical knowledge to
platforms may also be used to ride waves. maintain safety.[3]
Recently with the use of V-
drive boats, Wakesurfing, in which one surfs
Mountaineering is often called Alpinism,
on the wake of a boat, has emerged.
The Guinness Book of World especially in European languages, which
Records recognized a 78 feet (23.8 m) wave implies climbing with difficulty such high, and
ride by Garrett often snow and ice-covered mountains as
McNamara at Nazar, Portugal as the largest the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill
wave ever surfed,[1] although this remains an is called an Alpinist. The word alpinism was
issue of much contention amongst many born in the 19th century to refer to climbing
surfers, given the difficulty of measuring a
for the purpose of enjoying climbing itself as
constantly changing mound of water.
a sport or recreation, distinct from merely
climbing while hunting or as a religious
;
pilgrimage that had been done generally at
that time.[4][5]

The UIAA or Union Internationale des

Associations d'Alpinisme is the world
governing body in mountaineering and
Mountaineering climbing, addressing issues like access,
medical, mountain protection, safety, youth
; The term mountaineering describes and ice climbing.
the sport of mountain climbing, including ski
mountaineering.[2] Hiking in the mountains History
can also be a simple form of mountaineering
when it involves scrambling, or short
stretches of the more basic grades of rock
climbing, as well as crossing glaciers.

Picture of a mountaineer by Josef Feid

Anastasius Grn
Historically, many cultures have 1871 climbing expedition, including members
harbored superstitions about mountains, of the Walker family, Melchior
which they often regarded as sacred due to Anderegg and Adolphus Warburton Moore.
their proximity with heaven, such as Mount
Olympus for the Ancient Greeks. The beginning of mountaineering as a sport
in the UK is generally dated to the ascent of
In 1492, Antoine de Ville, lord the Wetterhorn in 1854 by Sir Alfred
of Domjulien and Beaupr, was the first to Wills who made mountaineering fashionable
ascend the Mont Aiguille, in France, with a in Britain. This inaugurated what became
little team, using ladders and ropes. It known as the Golden age of alpinism, with
appears to be the first recorded climb of any the first mountaineering club - the Alpine
technical difficulty, and has been said to mark Club - being founded in 1857.[7][8][9]
the beginning of mountaineering.
Prominent figures of the period include Lord
In 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Francis Douglas, Florence Crauford
Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the Grove, Charles Hudson, E. S.
highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. Kennedy, William Mathews, A. W.
During the Enlightenment, as a product of the Moore, Leslie Stephen, Francis Fox
new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, Tuckett, John Tyndall, Horace
many mountain summits were surmounted Walker and Edward Whymper. Well-known
for the first time. Richard guides of the era include Christian Almer,
Pococke and William Windham made a Jakob Anderegg, Melchior Anderegg, J. J.
historic visit to Chamonix in 1741. In 1760, Bennen, Michel Croz, Johannes
the Swiss scientist, Horace-Bndict de Zumtaugwald.
Saussure, offered a reward for the first
person to ascend Mont Blanc in France, In the early years of the "golden age",
which was claimed in 1786. scientific pursuits were intermixed with the
sport, such as by the physicist John Tyndall.
By the early 19th century many of the alpine In the later years of the "golden age", it
peaks were reached; the Grossglockner in shifted to a more competitive orientation as
1800, the Ortler in 1804, the Jungfrau in pure sportsmen came to dominate the
1811, the Finsteraarhorn in 1812, and London-based Alpine Club and alpine
the Breithorn in 1813. mountaineering overall.[10]

Emergence as a sport One of the most dramatic events was the

spectacular first ascent of the Matterhorn in
1865, by a party led by the English
illustrator, Edward Whymper - four of the
party members fell to their deaths. This
ascent is generally regarded as marking the
end of the mountaineering golden age. By
this point the sport of mountaineering had
largely reached its modern form, with a body
of professional guides, equipment and fixed
guidelines.
Expansion around the world (6,268 m)) and explored the mountains of
Ecuador. The Cordillera between Chile and
Focus shifted toward the exploration of Argentina was visited by Paul Gssfeldt in
other ranges such as the Pyrenees and 1883, who ascended the
the Caucasus Mountains; the latter owed volcano Maipo (17,270 ft (5,260 m)) and
much to the initiative of D. W. Freshfield who attempted to climb the tallest mountain in the
was the first man to conquer the summit Americas, Aconcagua (22,837 ft (6,961 m))
of Mount Kazbek. Most of its great peaks that same year but was unsuccessful. The
were successfully conquered by the late summit of Aconcagua was finally reached in
1880s. 1897 by Matthias Zurbriggen during an
expedition led by Edward FitzGerald that
lasted several months.
The Andes of Bolivia were first explored by
Mountaineering in the Americas became Sir William Martin Conway in 1898, who later
popular in the 1800s. In North America, Pikes visited the mountains of Tierra del Fuego on
Peak (14,410 ft (4,390 m)) in the the southern tip of South America.
Colorado Rockies, was first climbed by Edwin
James and two others in 1820. Though lower New Zealand's Southern Alps were first
than Pikes Peak, the heavily visited in 1882 by the Reverend Green and in
glaciated Fremont Peak (13,745 ft (4,189 m)) 1894 Tom Fyfe and party climbed Aoraki /
in Wyoming was thought to be the tallest Mount Cook. By the turn of the century,
mountain in the Rockies when it was first mountaineering had acquired a more
climbed by John C. Frmont and two others international flavour;[11] Mount
in 1842. Pico de Orizaba (18,491 ft Kilimanjaro in Africa was climbed in 1889
(5,636 m)), the tallest peak in Mexico and by Ludwig Purtscheller and Hans Meyer, Mt.
third tallest in North America, was first Kenya in 1899 by Halford Mackinder,[12] and a
summited by U.S. military personnel which peak of Ruwenzori by H. J. Moore in 1900.
included William F. Raynolds and a half
dozen other climbers in 1848. Heavily The last frontier: The Himalayas
glaciated and more technical climbs in North
American were not achieved until the late The last and greatest mountain range was
19th and early 20th centuries. In 1897, Mount the Himalayas in Central Asia. They had
Saint Elias (18,008 ft (5,489 m)) on initially been surveyed by the British
the Alaska-Yukon border was summited by Empire for military and strategic reasons. In
the Duke of the Abruzzi and party. But it was 1892 Sir William Martin Conway explored
not until 1913 that Mount Mckinley (20,237 ft the Karakoram Himalayas, and climbed a
(6,168 m)), the tallest peak in North America, peak of 23,000 ft (7,000 m) In 1895 Albert F.
was successfully climbed. Mount Mummery died while attempting Nanga
Logan (19,551 ft (5,959 m)), the tallest peak Parbat, while in 1899 D. W. Freshfield took
in Canada, was first summitted by a half an expedition to the snowy regions of Sikkim.
dozen climbers in 1925 in an expedition that In 1899, 1903, 1906 and 1908 Mrs Fannie
took more than two months. Bullock Workman made ascents in the
Himalayas, including one of the Nun
The exploration of the highest Andes in South Kun peaks (23,300 ft). A number
America begun in 1879-1880, when of Gurkha sepoys were trained as expert
Whymper climbed Chimborazo (20,564 ft
mountaineers by Charles Granville Bruce, attempts in the 1920s; the 1922
and a good deal of exploration was expedition reached 8,320 metres (27,300 ft)
accomplished by them. before being aborted on the third summit
attempt after an avalanche killed seven
porters. The 1924 expedition saw another
height record achieved but still failed to reach
the summit with confirmation when George
Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared on
the final attempt. The summit was finally
reached on May 29, 1953 by Sir Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay from the south
side in Nepal.

Just a few months later, Hermann Buhl made

the first ascent of Nanga Parbat (8,125 m), a
siege-style expedition culminating in a last
Oscar Eckenstein, a pioneer of modern 1,300 meters walking alone, being under the
climbing techniques and mountaineering influence of drugs: pervitin (based on the
equipment. stimulant methamphetamine used by soldiers
during World War II), padutin and tea
In 1902, the Eckenstein-Crowley Expedition, from coca leaves. K2 (8,611 m), the second-
led by English mountaineer Oscar highest peak in the world, was first scaled in
Eckenstein and author and occultist Aleister 1954 by Lino Lacedelli and Achille
Crowley, was the first to attempt to scale Compagnoni. In 1964, the final eight-
Chogo Ri (now known as K2 in the west). thousander to be climbed
They reached 22,000 feet (6,700 m) before was Shishapangma (8,013 m), the lowest of
turning back due to weather and other all the 8,000 metre peaks.
mishaps. Undaunted, in 1905 Crowley led the
first expedition to Kangchenjunga, the third
highest mountain in the world. Four members
of the party were killed in an avalanche and
they failed to reach the summit.

Eckenstein was also a pioneer in developing

new equipment and climbing methods. He
started using shorter ice axes which could be
used single-handed,[13] designed the
modern crampons and improved on the nail
patterns used for the climbing boots.

By the 1950s, all the eight-thousanders but

two had been climbed starting
with Annapurna in 1950 by Maurice Chess
Herzog and Louis Lachenal. The last great
peak was the highest of them all, Mount
Everest. The British had made several
Chess is a two-player strategy board Olympiad, a popular competition among
game played on a chessboard, a checkered teams from different nations. There is also
gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an a Correspondence Chess World
eight-by-eight grid.[1]Chess is played by Championship and a World Computer Chess
millions of people worldwide, both amateurs Championship. Online chess has opened
and professionals. amateur and professional competition to a
wide and varied group of players. There are
Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: also many chess variants, with different rules,
one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, different pieces, and different boards.
two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six
piece types moves differently, with the most FIDE awards titles to skilled players, the
powerful being the queen and the least highest of which is grandmaster. Many
powerful the pawn. The objective is to national chess organizations also have a title
'checkmate'[2] the opponent's king by placing system. However, these are not recognised
it under an inescapable threat of capture. To by FIDE. The term "master" may refer to a
this end, a player's pieces are used to attack formal title or may be used more loosely for
and capture the opponent's pieces, while any skilled player.
supporting their own. In addition to
checkmate, the game can be won Until recently, chess was a recognized
by voluntary resignation by the opponent, sport of the International Olympic Committee;
[3]
which typically occurs when too some national sporting bodies such as the
much material is lost, or if checkmate Spanish Consejo Superior de Deportes also
appears unavoidable. A game may also result recognize chess as a sport.[4] Chess was
in a draw in several ways. included in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games.

Chess is believed to have originated in India, Since the second half of the 20th
some time before the 7th century, being century, computers have been programmed
derived from the Indian game of chaturanga. to play chess with increasing success, to the
Chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the point where the strongest home computers
Eastern strategy play chess at a higher level than the best
games xiangqi, janggi and shogi. The pieces human players. Since the 1990s, computer
took on their current powers in Spain in the analysis has contributed significantly to chess
late 15th century; the rules were finally theory, particularly in the endgame. The
standardized in the 19th century. The first computer IBM Deep Blue was the first
generally recognized World Chess machine to overcome a reigning World Chess
Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title Champion in a match when it defeated Garry
in 1886. Since 1948, the World Kasparov in 1997. The rise of strong
Championship has been controlled by FIDE, computer programs (known as "engines")
the game's international governing body; the that can be run on hand-held devices has led
current World Champion is the to increasing concerns about cheating during
Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. FIDE also tournaments.
organizes the Women's World Championship,
the World Junior Championship, the World
Senior Championship, the Blitz and Rapid
World Championships and the Chess
 in rows or downwards in columns. The words
must be defined in a standard dictionary, or
present in specified reference works (e.g.,
the Official Tournament and Club Word List,
the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary),
which provide a list of officially permissible
words.

The name Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro,

Inc. in the United States and Canada and has
been sold by Hasbro's Parker
Brothers division since 1999. Prior to 1999, it
was sold as a Milton Bradley game. Outside
the United States and Canada, Scrabble is a
Scrabble trademark of Mattel. The game is sold in 121
countries and is available in 29 languages;
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four approximately 150 million sets have been
players score points by placing tiles, each sold worldwide and roughly one-third of
bearing a single letter, onto American and half of British homes have a
a gameboard which is divided into a 1515 Scrabble set.[1][2][3][4] There are around 4,000
grid of squares. The tiles must form words Scrabble clubs around the world.
which, in crossword fashion, flow left to right