sports

Sporting Codes for Countries

These codes are used to identify countries in the Sport section of the Britannica Almanac. Codes of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) AFG Afghanistan CRO Croatia KAZ Kazakhstan AHO Netherlands CUB Cuba KEN Kenya   Antilles CYP Cyprus KGZ Kyrgyzstan ALB Albania CZE Czech Republic KIR Kiribati ALG Algeria DEN Denmark KOR South Korea AND […]

The Olympic Games Part 1 (Sport)

The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition. Before the 1970s the Games were officially limited to amateurs, but since that time many events have been opened to professional athletes. In 1924 the Winter Games were created, and in 1986 the IOC voted to alternate the Winter and Summer […]

The Olympic Games Part 2 (Sport)

Rowing (women)12 SINGLE SCULLS MIN:SEC 1976 Christine Scheiblich (GDR) 4:05.56 1980 Sanda Toma (ROM) 3:40.69 1984 Valeria Racila (ROM) 3:40.68 1988 Jutta Behrendt (GDR) 7:47.19 1992 Elisabeta Lipa (ROM) 7:25.54 1996 Yekaterina Khodotovich (BLR) 7:32.21 2000 Yekaterina Khodotovich Karsten 7:28.14 (BLR) 2004 Katrin Rutschow- 7:18.12 Stomporowski (GER) 2008 Rumyana Neykova (BUL) 7:22.34 DOUBLE SCULLS MIN:SEC […]

Automobile Racing (Sport)

Of the various types of automobile races, the closed-circuit, or speedway, course was developed largely in the United States. The Indianapolis 500—now the premier Indy car event—was first run in 1911. A low-slung, fenderless (open-wheel) car—called an Indy car—is essential for this race; its suspension (i.e., its ability to hold the track) is as important […]

Special Olympics (Sport)

The Special Olympics is an international program to provide individuals who have intellectual disabilities and are eight years of age or older with year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type summer and winter sports. Inaugurated in 1968, the Special Olympics was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 15 Feb […]

Bowling (Sport)

The world governing body for bowling is the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ). Since 1954 it has sponsored world bowling championships. In the United States, men’s bowling is governed by the American Bowling Congress (ABC), which was founded in 1895 but became a constituent of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) in 2004. In 1901 […]

Billiard Games (Sport)

The game of billiards has a surprising number of varieties throughout the world. Factors in that variety include the number and appearance of the billiard balls, the size of the table, the existence of side and corner pockets, and the object of play. The classic form of the game-three-cushion billiards-is played on a pock-etless table […]

Basketball (Sport)

American professional basketball is directed by the National Basketball Association (NBA; formed 1949). The NBA is divided into the Eastern and Western conferences (EC and WC), the top-ranking teams of which compete yearly for the championship. The NBA began the Women’s Professional Basketball Association (WNBA), which is also divided into an Eastern and a Western […]

Baseball (Sport)

The sport of baseball—given its definitive form in the United States in the late 19th century—is popular throughout the world, though until 2006 it was organized internationally only for Little League players (children ages 5-18). Little League Baseball was founded in Pennsylvania in 1939. The first Little League World Series was in 1947, and the […]

Cycling (sport)

By all accounts, the greatest cycling event of all is the annual Tour de France road race (founded 1903). It is raced in several stages over a distance usually exceeding 3,500 km (2,175 mi). From 1911 to 1929 distances exceeded 5,300 km (3,290 mi). A Tour de France for women was first held in 1984, […]

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