Описание спорта на английском языке: sports is life with the volume turned up. Топик на английском языке на тему спорт Рассказ по английскому языку на тему спорт

Приведенный топик про спорт на английском языке подойдет для школьников среднего (от 6-7 класса) и старшего (10-11 класссы) звеньев. Будет также полезен всем изучающим английский язык. По ссылке вы найдете и другие полезные английские тексты на тему спорта и здорового образа жизни с переводом на русский.

More and more people become addicted to sport every day. It has become a tendency everyone tries to follow. Sport is what makes people healthier, more fit and beautiful.

I am keen on sport. Several years ago I used to play football. I was a member of a school team. We took part in many competitions and more than once were the champions. We were kings on the pitch. I still love football but as a fan. My favorite football team is Barcelona. I enjoy every game they play.

Although I didn’t become a professional sportsman, sport still plays very important role in my life. I go jogging every morning. It helps me not only to keep fit, but also to start a day in a perfect mood. It takes me half an hour to do my morning sport but the result is worth waking up very early.

I also prefer improving my body health in a gym. I go there three times per week. Some of my friends followed my example and now we do it together. We do some work-outs, do some exercises and relax our minds. The gym helps to throw off some energy after an extremely busy working day.

A great amount of success in sport life depends on the food. There is no need to follow some strict diet programs or suffer from a great lack of calories. What is needed is healthy food. You know, an old proverb says that an apple a day keeps doctors away. So does the healthy food.

In my country sport is becoming part of everyone’s life. Hockey stays as popular as football is. Many people become keen on tennis and lots of little girls dream of becoming figure skaters or become great fans of gymnastics.

I am happy to see more people who go jogging in the mornings. The gyms become more and more overcrowded so lots of new ones open every month. The tendency is good and I hope that one day people will realize that their health depends on them. So do more sport, eat healthily and live long.

Перевод:

Все больше и больше людей каждый день начинают увлекаться спортом. Это уже стало тенденцией, которой все стараются следовать. Спорт делает людей более здоровыми, более стройными и красивым.

Я очень люблю спорт. Несколько лет назад я играл в футбол. Я был членом школьной команды. Мы принимали участие во многих соревнованиях и не раз становились чемпионами. Мы были королями на поле. Я по-прежнему люблю футбол, но как болельщик. Моя любимая футбольная команда «Барселона». Я наслаждаюсь каждой их игрой.

Хотя я не стал профессиональным спортсменом, спорт по-прежнему играет очень важную роль в моей жизни. Я иду на пробежку каждое утро. Это помогает мне не только поддерживать хорошую физическую форму, но и начать день в прекрасном настроении. Занятие утренним спортом занимает всего полчаса, но результат стоит того, чтобы просыпаться очень рано.

Я также предпочитаю улучшать свое здоровье в тренажерном зале. Я хожу туда три раза в неделю. Некоторые мои друзья последовали моему примеру и теперь мы делаем это вместе. Мы делаем определенные упражнения и отдыхаем от мыслей. Тренажерный зал помогает скинуть немного энергии после напряженного рабочего дня.

Огромная доля успеха в спорте зависит от еды. Нет необходимости следовать строгой диете или страдать от нехватки калорий. Все, что нужно - так это есть здоровую пищу. Есть старая поговорка, которая гласит, что одно яблоко в день спасает от походов к врачу. То же самое делает и здоровое питание.

В моей стране спорт становится частью жизни каждого человека. Хоккей остается так же популярен, как и футбол. Многие люди начинают увлекаться теннисом и много маленьких девочек мечтают стать фигуристками или становятся большими поклонницами гимнастики.

Я рад, что больше людей занимаются бегом по утрам. Тренажерные залы становятся все более и более переполненными, и множество новых открывается каждый месяц. Тенденция хорошая, и я надеюсь, что однажды люди поймут, что их здоровье зависит от них. Так что занимайтесь спортом, правильно питайтесь и живите долго.

Фразы и выражения:

to be a member of a team - быть членом команды

to take part in a competition - принимать участие в соревновании

to be the champions - быть чемпионами

on the pitch - на футбольном поле

to go jogging - идти на пробежку

to keep fit - быть в форме

to follow the example - следовать примеру

to do some exercises - делать упражнения

to throw off some energy - сбросить энергию

to follow a strict diet - следовать строгой диете

Привет! Уже давно стало непререкаемой истиной выражение «Спорт — это жизнь». Действительно, люди, которые профессионально или любительски занимаются спортом, живут дольше, интересней и ярче. Так как вы изучаете английский, то вы должны знать, как называются ваши любимые виды спорта на английском языке, чтобы, например, написать сочинение или рассказать о своем увлечении англоязычным друзьям.

Виды спорта бывают разные: зимние, летние, олимпийские, русские, американские, командные и индивидуальны и др. Встречается также необычный спорт, экстремальный и даже опасный. У каждого из нас есть свои любимые спортивные состязания и чемпионы, на которых мы хотим равняться. Даже если мы не занимаемся активно футболом, то у нас все равно есть любимые команды, за которые мы болеем на всех матчах.

Существуют даже компьютерные виды спорта, в которых ежегодно состязаются тысячи геймеров и компьютерных гениев. Некоторые состязания мы любим (хоккей, танцы, фигурное катание, шахматы), другие не понимаем и не принимаем (крикет, керлинг, бейсбол). Но они есть, и мы должны знать их названия по-английски, как и название профессий на английском , чтобы уметь рассказать о себе.

Предлагаю вам изучить таблицу различных видов спорта на английском с переводом и транскрипцией. Посмотрите, а ваш любимый спорт есть здесь?

Сочинение «Любимый вид спорта» на английском

В школе, в институте, на языковых курсах рано или поздно вас попросят на английском написать сочинение на тему «Мой любимый вид спорта». При написании сочинения помните, что с названиями видов спорта артикли не пишутся, а также не забудьте, что названиями на «-ing» пишется «to go », а если спорт с мячом, то — «to play », со всеми другими названиями сочетается «to do »: to go rowing, to play football, to do judo.

Для творческой работы над сочинением используйте такие слова:

• go in for sports — заниматься спортом
• winter/summer sports — зимние/летние в.с.
• championship — чемпионат
• score — счёт очков
• team — команда
• scoreboard — табло
• coach — тренер
• game — игра, матч
• bat — бита
• puck — шайба
• stick — хоккейная клюшка
• stadium — стадион
• field — поле
• goalkeeper — вратарь
• stands — трибуны
• ball — мяч
• spectator — болельщик
• goal — ворота

На эти слова вы сможете опираться при написании эссе.

Топик «Спорт» встречается в школьном курсе ежегодно.

Разница только в объемах изучаемой лексики и сложности грамматических конструкций. Поэтому мы рассмотрим несколько вариантов текста на тему «Спорт», которые подойдут для разных возрастов.

• Текст про спорт на английском для самых маленьких

Эта тема встречается уже во втором классе, и в этом случае используется лексика, изученная в ходе проработки предыдущих тем. Сам текст не должен превышать 3-5 небольших простых предложения. Например:

I like sport. I go in for football with my friends. We run, play and shout there. I go in for football with my father. I like it. I want to be a football player when I grow up. – Я люблю спорт. Я занимаюсь футболом с друзьями. Мы бегаем, играем и кричим. Я хожу на футбол вместе с папой. Мне это нравится. Я хочу стать футболистом, когда вырасту.

• Примерный план текста про спорт для средней школы

Естественно, чем дальше - тем сложнее используемые конструкции и лексический материал. В частности, для учащихся средней школы рекомендованный объем работы - около 15 предложений, включая вводные фразы и конструкции в заключении. Примерный план будет выглядеть так:

Введение (2 предложения)

Мое отношение к спорту в целом (3-4 предложения)

Описание вида спорт, которым я занимаюсь или хотел бы заниматься (3-4 предложения)

Рассказ про талантливого спортсмена, которым я восхищаюсь (3-4 предложения)

Заключение (2 предложения)

• Рассказ на тему “My Favorite Kind of Sport”

Ниже приведем пример текста про спорт, который может быть полезен учащимся средней школы при подготовке к устному опросу или при написании текста на тему спорта. Начнем, пожалуй, с первых двух пунктов приведенного выше плана.

Today I"d like to tell you about my favourite kind of sport and about my attitude to sports in general. They say, a sound mind in a sound body. I agree with this statement and I think it"s absolutely true. You can never be a happy person if your health is poor. Sport is the thing that helps you not only to be strong, but also to remain healthy and happy. It also helps you to feel better and fills your life with positive emotions. – Сегодня я хотел бы рассказать вам о моем любимом виде спорта, о спортсмене, которым я восхищаюсь, да и о моем отношении к спорту в целом. Есть пословица: «В здоровом теле - здоровый дух». Я с ней согласен и думаю, что это абсолютно верно. Вы никогда не сможете быть счастливым человеком, если вы болеете или если у вас проблемы со здоровьем. Спорт - это то, что помогает вам быть не только сильными, но также здоровыми и счастливым. Спорт также улучшает самочувствие и наполняет вашу жизнь положительными эмоциями.

В шести предложениях мы раскрыли два первых пункта плана. Дальше идет описание любимого вида спорта говорящего и любимого спортсмена:

As for me, my favorite kind of sport is bodybuilding. It makes your body strong and healthy. It also makes your heart stronger. So I think it"s the best kind of sport for a man. As for my favourite bodybuilder, I would say it"s Oksana Grishina. She is a talented athlete who, having been a champion in gymnastics, made a decision to change her career in sports and become a bodybuilder. I admire her, she has the nerves of steel and an iron will, and she always wins. – Мой любимый вид спорта - это бодибилдинг. Он делает тело человека сильным и здоровым. Бодибилдинг также тренирует сердце. Поэтому я считаю, что это - самый лучший вид спорта для мужчины. Говоря о моем любимом спортсмене, я бы назвал Оксану Гришину. Она талантливая спортсменка, которая, будучи чемпионкой по гимнастике. Изменила все и стала бодибилдером. Я восхищаюсь ею, у нее действительно железная воля и она всегда побеждает.

В заключение мы можем снова сказать пару слов о спорте в целом:

As I said, I like sports. I think that any person should go in for sport and enjoy it. – Как я уже сказал, я люблю спорт. Я думаю, что спортом заниматься должен каждый, наслаждаясь им и получая удовольствие.

Уровень B. Мой мир.

Sports in my life

For me sport is very important too. Sometimes, after sitting the whole day at the desk at school, I feel that I want to do some activities: to dance, to play basketball, or just to run. That’s why I am always happy when we have PT classes in the swimming pool.

I like swimming very much, and swimming is my hobby. I have been swimming since I was four years old. At first I swam in the lake in our village, but then, when we moved to the city, I started going to the swimming pool. Now I can swim very well. I like to dive and to swim under the water. I try to go to the swimming pool every week because swimming improves my health. And if you have back pains, swimming can help you with it too.

My another hobby is skiing, and it is very interesting for me. I often go skiing in winter. My family and I go skiing to the forest taking some sandwiches and a thermos. After long skiing we make a fire to keep warm, and I feel very happy.

But you can ski not only in the forest or at the stadium. If you like speed and extreme, the mountain skiing is just for you! I love speed, but especially I love mountains. For me, it is so wonderful to see snow-capped mountains, and it is so good to ski and watch this beauty. And when you are in the mountains, you can breathe easily because the mountains air is very fresh and pleasant.

I have told you about sport, which I like. But that is not all. This is just the most important for me. But I also like to play different sports games, especially with my friends.

For many people the world “sport” is associated with heavy training and loads, but it is not true. Yes, to do sports exercises is not easy, but if you really love this kind of sport, then these exercises will be easier for you. And it is very important to have a good company too. Now you can see that sport makes you healthy and unites people.

Спорт очень важен для нас в жизни. Когда люди занимаются спортом, они становятся здоровыми и чувствуют себя хорошо. И я думаю, что каждому требуется спорт.

Для меня спорт очень важен тоже. Иногда, после долгого проведения времени за партой в школе, я чувствую, что очень хочу заняться чем- либо активным: станцевать, поиграть в баскетбол ну или просто пробежаться. Поэтому я всегда счастлива, когда уроки физической культуры проходят в бассейне.

Я очень люблю плавать, и это мое хобби. Я плаваю с четырех лет. Сначала я плавала в озере в нашей деревне, но потом, когда мы переехали в город, я стала посещать бассейн. Сейчас я умею плавать очень хорошо. Я люблю нырять и плавать под водой. Я стараюсь посещать бассейн каждую неделю, потому что плавание укрепляет здоровье. И если у вас проблемы со спиной, то плавание может помочь с этим тоже.
Другое мое хобби - это катание на лыжах, и для меня это очень интересно. Я часто катаюсь на лыжах зимой. Мы с семьей идем кататься на лыжах в лес и берем с собой бутерброды и термос. После долгой проездки мы разжигаем костер, чтобы согреться, и я чувствую себя счастливо.

Но на лыжах можно кататься не только в лесу и на стадионе. И если вы любите скорость и экстрим, то катание на горных лыжах для вас! Я люблю скорость, но особенно я люблю горы. По-моему, это так замечательно видеть заснеженные горы, и так хорошо кататься на лыжах, наблюдая за этой красотой. И когда ты находишься в горах, то тебе дышится очень легко, потому что горный воздух очень свеж и приятен.

Вот я и рассказала о спорте, который я люблю. Но это не все. Это лишь самое важное для меня. Но я также люблю играть в разные спортивные игры, особенно с друзьями.

Для многих людей слово «спорт» ассоциируется с тяжелыми тренировками и нагрузками. Но это не так. Да, выполнять спортивные упражнения не просто, но если тебе действительно нравится данный вид спорта, то и эти упражнения будут казаться намного проще. И очень важно иметь хорошую команду тоже. Ну и, наконец, можно заметить, что спорт делает нас здоровыми и объединяет с другими людьми.

Our project on the topic:

“ Sport”

Group 241

Contents:

• Sport is important in our life
• Sport and games
• Sport in Russia
• Sport in Great Britain
• Sport in the USA
• Sport in Australia
• The Olympic games
• Kinds of Sport:

Ice Hockey

Football

Basketball

Tennis

Cycling

Windsurfing

Skiing

Ice Skaying

Extreme Sports

Presentation on the topic “ SPORT”

Tennis

We all need exercise. This is true for young people (in their teens) as well as for adults. Even if you don"t plan make sports your main occupation. This is my opinion and I feel like it is true.

As long as I can remember myself I was always keen on tennis. I love this sportwith its old noble traditions, though myself never dreamed of becoming anything more than an amateur.

I watch closely all tennis competitions and championships. There are a lot of them, but my favourite championship is Wimbledon because old tennis traditions remains there as they are. Some of the most well-known Wimbledon champions are: John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles. My dream is to get a chance to watch at least one of them playing.

And meantime I play tennis with my friends. It is also a great opportunity to socialize with people who have similar interest (as any sport I suppose).

Football

I am going to tell you about the history of football, one the most popular sport games all over the World.

Football is a popular sport played all over the world. It is the national sport of most European and Latin-American countries and of many other nations.

Millions of people in more than 140 countries play football. Football is played in the Olympics. Games similar to football were played in China as early as 400 ВС. Egyptians played a kind of football too. They played games involving the kicking of a ball. In about 200 AD the Romans played a game in which two teams tried to score by advancing a ball across a line on the field. The Romans passed the ball to one another but they never kicked it.

London children in about 1100 played a form of soccer in the streets. During the 1800"s the people of England played a game similar to football. Many rules changed and each person interpreted the rules differently. Now, the sport has grown to a global scale, including men"s and women"s teams and the World Cup and European Championship competitions, which is played every four years. Also there is League of Champions and FIFA Cup competitions which take place every year in Europe.

Football originated with kicking games played by people in ancient times. The modern version came from England. Football was not that popular kind of game until the mid-1900s.

It started as a game involving kicking and handing, but late} this branched off into two separate sports: rugby and football, which is what the Americans call soccer. Around the late nineteenth century, English football began spreading over Europe. The United States was one of the last to implement football as a national sport. The Canadian Soccer Association was established in 1912 while the United States Soccer Federation was set up in 1913.

The first World Cup Championship was in Montevideo, Uruguay. Since then it has been played every four years except during World War II. The North American Soccer League (NASL) was formed in 1968. But it didn"t gain popularity until the 1970"s.

The rules of play for soccer are simple. The referee makes most of the decisions and attempts to encourage fair play. The game starts off with a kick off and the teams are allowed to pass, dribble, juggle, head, kick and shoot the ball to place it down the field, and (hopefully or eventually) into their opponent"s goal.

If the ball is kicked off the field over the length of the field, the other team is given a throw-in, where the ball is thrown over the player"s head, and back onto the field. If the ball is kicked over the goal or across the width of the field, either a corner kick results, realizing by the offensive team, where the ball is placed on the corner of the field and kicked into play or the defensive team is awarded a kick, where the ball is placed on the corner of the goal box, and kicked back into play. If a goal is scored, the ball is taken back to the centre of the field and the team, scored against, kicks off and keeps playing.

Sports and Games

People all over the world are very fond of sports and games. That is one thing in which people of every nationality and class are united.

The most popular outdoor winter sports are shooting, hunting, hockey and in the countries where the weather is frosty and there is much snow-skating, skiing and tobogganing. Some people greatly enjoy figure-skating and ski-jumping.

Summer affords excellent opportunities for swimming, boating, yachting, cycling, gliding and many other sports. Among outdoor games football takes the first place in public interest. This game is played in all the countries of the world. The other favourite games in different countries are golf, tennis, cricket, volleyball, basketball and so on. Badminton is also very popular.

All the year round many people indulge in boxing, wrestling, athletics, gymnastics and track and field events. A lot of girls and women go in for callisthenics.

Among indoor games the most popular are billiards, table tennis, draughts and some others, but the great international game is chess of course. The results of chess tournaments are studied and discussed by thousands of enthusiasts in different countries.

So we may say that sport is one of the things that makes all people kin.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is one of the most action-paced of sports, demanding skillful skating, expert stick-handling, and masterly puck control.

The game developed in the frozen expanses of North America, and a hundred years ago became the national winter sport of Canada. It also became very popular in the northern states of the United States, and later spread to Europe, Japan, and even to Australia.

The game probably arose from boys playing on the ice. The kids probably fashioned pucks from frozen «horse apples» and adapted tree branches as hockey sticks, and played on cleared stretches of frozen lakes and rivers, and backyard rinks. Soon it was inevitable that teams began to play against each other and leagues were formed. The earliest mention of the team ice hockey game is a newspaper description of the game played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal in 1875.

Originally the leagues and national competitions in Canada were amateur. In 1917 the first professional league was formed, the National Hockey League (or NHL), with four clubs - Montreal Canadians, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas. Later clubs were formed in American cities, and the NHL spread to the United States. In 1972 a rival professional organisation was formed, the World Hockey Association (or WHA).

In 1893 Lord Stanley, the Governor-General of Canada, presented a silver trophy, the Stanley Cup to the winners and play-offs for the Stanley Cup began, which then became the symbol of professional hockey supremacy.

Canadian-style ice hockey spread rapidly in Europe between the two World Wars. In the northern countries it had to compete against bandy.

Hockey is a team game played on an ice surface, known as a rink. Six players - a goalkeeper, two defence -men, and three forwards - constitute a side.

The game is divided into three periods, each lasting twenty minutes of actual playing time with -10-minute intervals. There are five face-off spots whereby the puck is dropped by the referee between the sticks of two players. After a goal is scored, the puck is brought back to center ice for another face-off.

The playing area (rink) is 188 to 200 feet long, and about 85 feet wide. The playing area is subdivided into three zones - defensive, neutral and attacking - by two blue lines (called off-side lines) teams defensive zone is that zone where the goal cage, which it is defending, is located. The zone at- the opposite end of the rink is known as the teams attacking zone.

The area between is known as the neutral zone and is divided at the centre by a red line. This line plays an important role in the game’s body checking regulations. Players are subject to a variety of penalties leading to their dismissal from the ice for two minutes or more, thus giving the other team a one-man advantage for the duration of the penalty or until a goal is scored.

Ice Skating

ICE SKATING, a sport brought to North America from Europe in the 1740s, takes three basic forms. Figure skating, solo or in pairs, includes jumps and spins with varying degrees of difficulty, combined with movement and dance. Speed skating (and short-track speed skating) is racing on ice. Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice. In the mid-nineteenth century, skates were made of steel with straps and clamps to fasten them to shoes. Later in the century, the blade with the permanently attached shoe was developed by the American ballet dancer and vanguard figure skater Jackson Haines, who also introduced the elements of dance and music into the previously rigid form of figure skating.

British soldiers stationed in Canada introduced a game called "shinty," which combined field hockey with ice skates. The game was originally played with a ball, but in the 1860s a puck was introduced. Regulations and associations quickly developed to govern the popular and reckless sport, and in 1892 the Canadian governor general, Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston, donated a cup to be given to the top Canadian team after an annual playoff. The Stanley Cup is still the object the National Hockey League (NHL) competes for in its championship games. Professional women"s hockey debuted in the late 1990s.

The first recorded speed-skating race in England was in the Fens during 1814. World championships for speed skating (men only) began in the 1890s. In 1892, the world governing body of both speed and figure skating-The International Skating Union (ISU)-was founded. Six years later, the first ISU-sanctioned event was held. In 1914, pioneer figure skater George H. Browne organized the first International Figure Skating Championships of America under the sponsorship of the ISU of America. In 1921, the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) was formed to govern the sport and promote its national growth.

As an Olympic sport, figure skating (considered an indoor sport) debuted in the 1908 Olympic Summer Games in London, with competitions held for men, women, and pairs. It became a winter sport at the first-ever 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix, France. Originally, figure skating was executed in a stiff, formal style. Compulsory movements consisted of curves and turns, in or against the direction of movement, and executed to form several circle forms in a row. Although music, more fluid movements, pirouettes, spins, and ever-increasing athleticism were continually added to the performance roster, compulsory figures remained a part of Olympic competition until 1991. Ice hockey was included in the summer Olympics in 1920 and in the inaugural winter games of 1924, where men"s speed skating was also an event. Women"s speed-skating championships were first held in 1936 and included in the Olympics in 1960. Ice dancing, a figureskating discipline, became an Olympic event in 1976 and short-track speed skating in 1992.

American skaters have won more Olympic medals to date-forty by 2002-than competitors from any other country. The first American Olympic skating gold medal winner was Charles Jewtraw, who won the 500-meter speed-skating event in 1924. That same year, Beatrix Loughran took the silver medal for women"s figure skating. The winning tradition continued through the turn of the twenty-first century, with Tara Lipinski winning the gold in 1998, and Sarah Hughes winning the gold in 2002. During the last decades of the twentieth centuries, many Olympic medallists such as Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, and Scott Hamilton enjoyed lasting popularity, and figure skating competitions became highly watched events.

SKIING

SKIING. Petroglyphs and archaeological evidence suggest that skiing emerged at least 5,000 years ago in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the northern reaches of Russia and China. The first skis were probably ten feet long and had only loose willow or leather toe straps, which made it nearly impossible for the skier to turn or jump while in motion. Early skiers-hunters, midwives, priests, and others who had to travel across deep winter snow-dragged a single long pole to slow themselves down.

The Norwegians developed modern skiing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. By adding heel straps to skis, they were able to gain more control on descents and make quicker, tighter turns. These first rough bindings allowed skiers to use shorter skis and two poles instead of one. Around 1820, Norwegians began racing each other and staged the first ski-jumping competitions.

When Norwegians emigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s, they brought skiing with them. Many flocked to lumber and mining camps, where their ability to move quickly through the mountains in mid-winter proved to be an invaluable asset. In 1856, a Norwegian farmer named John "Snowshoe" Thompson responded to a plea from the U.S. postal service for someone to carry mail across California"s Sierra Nevada range in mid-winter, a route that lay under as much as twenty feet of snow. Thompson made the ninety-mile trip across 10,000-foot passes in three days. He continued to deliver mail this way until the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.

Thompson"s legendary treks inspired many miners to take up ski racing as a diversion during long snowbound winters. They experimented with "dope"-early ski wax concocted from cedar oil , tar, beeswax, sperm, and other ingredients-to coax more speed out of their skis. In 1867, the town of La Porte, California, formed the nation"s first ski club . Norwegian immigrants also introduced ski jumping to the United States in the 1880s, and in 1888, Ishpeming, Michigan, hosted the first formal skijumping tournament held in America. In 1904, jumpers and cross-country skiers founded the National Ski Association, which now encompasses all aspects of the sport.

The "Nordic" events of ski jumping and cross- country skiing dominated U.S. slopes until the 1920s. In that decade, "Alpine" or downhill skiing began to make inroads, fanned in part by skiing enthusiasm among Ivy League college students. Wealthy Americans often sent their sons to Europe between high school and college, and some returned with an interest in the downhill. Dartmouth College, where the first outings club was founded in 1909, hired a series of Bavarian ski coaches who encouraged this trend. In 1927, Dartmouth racers staged the first modern American downhill race on a carriage road on Mt. Moosilauke, New Hampshire.

Downhill skiing and technological change fed each other. The invention of the steel edge in 1928 made it easier to ski on hard snow, leading to better control and faster speeds. The development of the ski lift helped popularize "downhill-only" skiing, which broadened the sport"s appeal. (The rope tow, introduced to the United States in Woodstock, Vermont, in 1934, was simple, quick, and cheap.) Since Alpine skiers no longer had to walk uphill, they could use stiffer boots and bindings that attached firmly to the heel. These, in turn, allowed for unprecedented control and made possible the parallel turn.

By the late 1920s, skiing"s commercial possibilities were becoming apparent. The first ski shop opened in Boston in 1926, and an inn in Franconia, New Hampshire, organized the first ski school three years later. Railroads began to sponsor ski trains and used their vast publicity networks to promote the sport. In the 1930s, skiing spread swiftly across New England and upstate New York, and in 1932 Lake Placid, New York, hosted the Third Winter Olympics. In 1936, a new resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, introduced chair lifts, swimming pools, private cottages, and other glamorous touches. The brainchild of W. Averell Harriman, president of the Union Pacific Rail-road, Sun Valley foreshadowed the development of ski resorts across the country.

World War II further accelerated the popularization of Alpine skiing in the United States. The Tenth Mountain Division drafted many of the nation"s best skiers and trained others for ski mountaineering in Europe. After the war, veterans of the unit joined the National Ski Patrol and established the nation"s first major Alpine ski areas. Meanwhile, the division"s surplus equipment was sold to the general public, giving newcomers an affordable way to take up the sport.

The surge in skiers on postwar slopes led inevitably to changes in technique. As large numbers of skiers began turning in the same spots, fields of "moguls" or snow bumps appeared, requiring tighter turns. The new skiers also demanded more amenities, and resort developers responded by installing high-capacity, high-speed lifts and mechanically grooming slopes. Some tried to lure intermediate skiers by cutting wide, gentle swaths through the trees from the top of the mountain to the bottom.

In the 1970s, such practices increasingly brought resort developers into head-on conflict with environmentalists. The environmental movement and the decade"s fitness boom also led to the rediscovery of cross-country skiing. New equipment, which combined attributes of Alpine and Nordic gear, opened the new field of "telemark" or cross-country downhill skiing. Some skiers began hiring helicopters to drop them on otherwise inaccessible mountaintops.

In the postwar years, Americans began to challenge Europeans in international competitions. In 1948, Gretchen Fraser became the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in skiing, and in 1984, the United States collected an unprecedented three gold medals. When Squaw Valley, California, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1960, ski racing was televised live for the first time in the United States and it soon emerged as a popular spectator sport. Its popularity was propelled by gutsy and likeable stars such as Picabo Street, the freckle-faced racer who recovered from a crash and concussion in 1998 to win a gold medal in the downhill Super G.

Although Alpine and Nordic skiing remained popular in the 1980s and 1990s, they increasingly competed for space on the slopes with new variations like snow-boarding, mogul skiing, tree skiing, aerial freestyle, slope-style (riding over jumps, rails, and picnic tables), and half-pipe (in which skiers or snowboarders perform aerial acrobatics in a carved-out tube of snow and ice). U.S. skiers generally did well in these "extreme" events as they began to be added to the Olympics in the 1990s. In 1998, Jonny Moseley took gold in the freestyle mogul event, while Eric Bergoust flipped and twisted his way to a gold medal in the aerial freestyle. In 2002, the U.S. team captured silver in the men"s and women"s moguls and in the men"s aerial freestyle.

Extreme sports

Extreme sports (also called action sports , aggro sports , and adventure sports ) are a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger.These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion, and highly specialized gear.

The definition of an extreme sport is not exact and the origin of the term is unclear, but it gained popularity in the 1990s when it was picked up by marketing companies to promote the X Games .

While use of the term "extreme sport" has spread far and wide to describe a multitude of different activities, exactly which sports are considered "extreme" is debatable. There are however several characteristics common to most extreme sports. While not the exclusive domain of youth, extreme sports tend to have a younger-than-average target demographic. Extreme sports are rarely sanctioned by schools. Extreme sports tend to be more solitary than traditional sports (Rafting and paintballing are notable exception, as they are done in teams.) In addition, beginning extreme athletes tend to work on their craft without the guidance of a coach (though some may hire a coach later).

Activities categorized by media as extreme sports differ from traditional sports due to the higher number of inherently uncontrollable variables. These environmental variables are frequently weather and terrain related, including wind, snow, water and mountains. Because these natural phenomena cannot be controlled, they inevitably affect the outcome of the given activity or event.

In a traditional sporting event, athletes compete against each other under controlled circumstances. While it is possible to create a controlled sporting event such as X Games, there are environmental variables that cannot be held constant for all athletes. Examples include changing snow conditions for snowboarders , rock and ice quality for climbers , and wave height and shape for surfers .

Whilst traditional sporting judgment criteria may be adopted when assessing performance (distance, time, score, etc.), extreme sports performers are often evaluated on more subjective and aesthetic criteria. This results in a tendency to reject unified judging methods, with different sports employing their own ideals and indeed having the ability to evolve their assessment standards with new trends or developments in the sports.

Classification

While the exact definition and what is included as extreme sport is debatable, some attempted to make classification for extreme sports. In 2004, author Joe Tomlinson classified extreme sports into those that take place in air, land, and water .

Marketing

Some contend that the distinction between an extreme sport and a conventional one has as much to do with marketing as with the level of danger involved or the adrenaline generated. For example, rugby union is both dangerous and adrenaline-inducing but is not considered an extreme sport due to its traditional image, and because it does not involve high speed or an intention to perform stunts (the aesthetic criteria mentioned above) and also it does not have changing environmental variables for the athletes. Demolition derby racing, predominantly an adult sport, is not thought of as "extreme" while BMX racing, a youth sport, is.

One common aspect of an extreme sport is a counter-cultural aura - a rejection of authority and of the status quo by disaffected youth. Some youth of Generation Y have seized upon activities which they can claim as their own, and have begun rejecting more traditional sports in increasing numbers.

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