Portal:Sports

The Sports Portal

Sport in childhood. Association football, shown above, is a team sport which also provides opportunities to nurture physical fitness and social interaction skills.

Sport is a form of physical activity or game. Often competitive and organized, sports use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills. They also provide enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Many sports exist, with different participant numbers, some are done by a single person with others being done by hundreds. Most sports take place either in teams or competing as individuals. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.

Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions admitting only sports meeting this definition. Some organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without any physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee who oversee the Olympic Games recognises both chess and bridge as sports. SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: chess, bridge, draughts, Go and xiangqi. However, they limit the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression. (Full article...)

Selected articles

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  Brodeur with the New Jersey Devils in 2009

  
  Martin Pierre Brodeur (French pronunciation: [maʁtɛ̃ bʁɔdœʁ]; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian–American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom he won three Stanley Cup championships and five Eastern Conference championships in 17 postseason campaigns. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games, as well as several other medals with Team Canada in other international competitions. Brodeur is widely regarded as one of the greatest goaltenders of all time. In 2017, he was named by the league as one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players", and the following year, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
  
  Brodeur holds numerous NHL and franchise records among goaltenders; he ranks as the league's all-time regular season leader in wins (691), losses (397), shutouts (125), and games played (1,266). He won at least 30 games in twelve straight seasons between 1995–96 and 2007–08 and is the only goaltender in NHL history with eight 40-win seasons. He is a four-time Vezina Trophy winner, a five-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner, a ten-time NHL All-Star, and a Calder Memorial Trophy winner. He is one of 14 NHL goaltenders to score a goal in the regular season and the second to do so in the playoffs; his three goals are the most of any NHL goaltender. (Full article...)
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  The Boat Race 2021 was an event comprising two side-by-side rowing races that took place on 4 April 2021. The Boat Race is contested annually between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Usually held on the traditional Championship Course in London, the 2021 race took place on the River Great Ouse near Ely, Cambridgeshire, between Queen Adelaide Bridge (hamlet of Queen Adelaide) and Sandhill Bridge (village of Littleport). This was the 75th women's race and the 166th men's race; the 2020 race was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Before the 2021 races, Cambridge led the longstanding rivalry 84–80 in the men's race and 44–30 in the women's.
  
  The crews were announced on 25 March 2021. It was the first time in the history of the event that both the women's and men's races were officiated by female umpires, Judith Packer and Sarah Winckless respectively. Cambridge's women's crew were considered strong favourites to win their race. Oxford's women's crew took an early lead but Cambridge responded to win. Oxford's men were favourites to defeat Cambridge, but failed to do so: Cambridge won by just under one length. The reserve races took place three weeks later on 25 April 2021: Cambridge completed a clean sweep for a third consecutive year after Goldie won the men's and Blondie won the women's reserves race. (Full article...)
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  The 2010 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May 2010 between Blackpool and Cardiff City. The match was to determine the third and final team to win promotion from the Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League for the 2010–11 season. The culmination of the 2010 Football League Championship play-offs, the match saw Blackpool beat Cardiff City to earn promotion alongside the division champions Newcastle United and runners-up West Bromwich Albion. The match, and subsequent promotion, was estimated to be worth around £90 million to the winning team.
  
  Blackpool entered the play-offs having finished sixth in the 2009–10 Football League Championship, securing the last of the play-off places on the final day of the regular season, while Cardiff finished two places above them in fourth. Blackpool reached the play-off final with a 6–4 aggregate semi-final victory over third-place finishers Nottingham Forest. In their semi-final, Cardiff beat fifth-placed Leicester City by virtue of a penalty shoot-out following a 3–3 aggregate draw over two legs. (Full article...)
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  The 2005 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Big 12 Conference championship and the national championship. The team was coached by Mack Brown, led on offense by quarterback Vince Young, and played its home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
  
  The team's penultimate victory of the season, the Big 12 Championship Game, featured the biggest margin of victory in the history of that contest. They finished the season by winning the 2006 Rose Bowl against the USC Trojans for the national championship. Numerous publications have cited this victory as standing among the greatest performances in college football history, and ESPN awarded the 2006 ESPY Award for the "Best Game" in any sport to the Longhorns and the Trojans. The Longhorns finished as the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I-A football that year, with thirteen wins and zero losses. Owing to its overwhelmingly dominant margins of victory, and its perfect record, this Longhorns team is often considered among the best in college football history. (Full article...)
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  Ninian Park in 2005

  
  Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtures with over 60,000 spectators in attendance. At the time of its closure in 2009, it had a capacity of 21,508.
  
  Cardiff City had originally been playing home fixtures at Sophia Gardens but the lack of facilities at the ground had prevented them from joining the Southern Football League. To combat this, club founder Bartley Wilson secured a plot of land from Cardiff Corporation that had previously been used as a rubbish tip and construction of a new ground began in 1909. The stadium was completed a year later and named Ninian Park after Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who had acted as a financial guarantor for the build. A friendly match against Football League First Division champions Aston Villa was organised to open the ground. It was originally constructed with a single wooden stand and three large banks made of ash, but gradual improvements saw stands constructed on all sides of the pitch. The four stands were named the Canton Stand, the Grange End, the Popular Bank and the Grandstand. (Full article...)
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  Fleury with the Calgary Flames in 2009

  
  Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury (born June 29, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, author and motivational speaker. Fleury played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), Tappara of Finland's SM-liiga, and the Belfast Giants of the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League. He was drafted by the Flames in the 8th round, 166th overall, at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, and played over 1,000 games in the NHL between 1989 and 2003.
  
  One of the smallest players of his generation, Fleury played a physical style that often led to altercations. As a junior, he was at the centre of the infamous Punch-up in Piestany, a brawl that resulted in the disqualification of both Canada and the Soviet Union from the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Once considered unlikely to play in the NHL due to his small size, Fleury scored over 1,000 points in his career, placing him 61st in career NHL scoring and won the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Flames. During his career Fleury recorded 90+ points four times, and 100+ points twice. He twice represented Canada at the Winter Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002. Throughout his career, he battled drug and alcohol addictions that ultimately forced him out of the NHL in 2003. He played one season in the British Elite Ice Hockey League in 2005–06, and made two attempts to win the Allan Cup. After an unsuccessful NHL comeback attempt with the Flames, he retired in 2009. (Full article...)
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  The Third Test of the 1948 Ashes series was one of five Tests in the Ashes cricket series between Australia and England. The match was played at Old Trafford in Manchester from 8 to 13 July 1948, with a rest day on 11 July. The match was drawn after the whole of the fourth day and the first half of the fifth day was washed out due to rain; England had the upper hand before the weather intervened. The draw maintained Australia's 2–0 lead in the series, which was established through victories in the first two Tests. As Australia were the holders of The Ashes, the draw meant that England could do no better than level the series 2–2 by winning the last two Tests, and thus Australia retained The Ashes.
  
  The Test started amid controversy following the omission of leading England batsman Len Hutton for performing poorly in the previous match. Having largely failed—apart from brief periods—to challenge Australia in the first two Tests, the hosts had made four changes to their team in an attempt to find a combination that could threaten the visitors' supremacy. Australia made their first change for the series, ending the Test career of veteran batsman Bill Brown after two poor matches. England captain Norman Yardley won the toss and elected to bat. Denis Compton left the field after being bloodied in the head by a Ray Lindwall bouncer. At this stage, the hosts were at 33/2 with an injured player, and they batted defensively for a period to try and regroup. Having received treatment, Compton returned with England in difficulty at 119/5 midway through the day and proceeded to score 145 not out, aided by several dropped catches, helping England to recover to 363 all out on the second afternoon. (Full article...)
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  The role of an England national football team manager was first established in 1946 with the appointment of Walter Winterbottom. Before this, the England national football team was selected by the "International Selection Committee", a process in which the Football Association (FA) would select coaches and trainers from the league to prepare the side for single games, but where all decisions ultimately remained under the control of the committee. A 1–0 defeat by Switzerland prompted FA secretary Stanley Rous to raise Winterbottom from "National Director of coaching" to "Manager".
  
  Nineteen men have occupied the post since its inception, four of those in short-term caretaker manager roles. Winterbottom held the position for the longest to date; a tenure of 16 years, including four appearances in the World Cup and a total of 139 matches. Alf Ramsey is the only manager to have won a major tournament, winning the 1966 World Cup with his "Wingless Wonders". Besides Ramsey, only Gareth Southgate at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 has taken the team to a major tournament final. The other managers to have progressed to the semi-finals of a major competition are Bobby Robson at the 1990 World Cup, Terry Venables at Euro 1996, and Southgate at the 2018 World Cup. (Full article...)
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  The match was played at Wembley Stadium.

  
  The 2016 FA Cup final was an association football match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United on 21 May 2016 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It marked the 135th final of the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition. It was Manchester United's first FA Cup final appearance since 2007, when they lost 1–0 to Chelsea. Crystal Palace were playing their second FA Cup final, the previous occasion being in 1990, when they lost to Manchester United after a replay following a 3–3 draw in the first match.
  
  Mark Clattenburg, from Consett, County Durham, was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 88,619 spectators. The first half was goalless although Clattenburg was the subject of some controversy when he awarded Crystal Palace a free kick instead of playing advantage after Manchester United's Chris Smalling was adjudged to have fouled Connor Wickham. After coming on as a second-half substitute, Jason Puncheon gave Crystal Palace the lead when he scored from close range past David de Gea in the Manchester United goal. The lead lasted three minutes before Juan Mata's deflected volley beat Wayne Hennessey, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper. Regular time ended with a scoreline of 1–1, sending the final into extra time. Just before the interval in the additional period, Smalling was sent off after receiving a second yellow card, becoming the fourth player to be dismissed in an FA Cup final. Jesse Lingard, who had been brought on to replace Mata close to the end of regular time, then shot from distance, sending the ball into the top corner of the Crystal Palace goal to give Manchester United a 2–1 victory, and their twelfth FA Cup. (Full article...)
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  The match took place at Wembley Stadium.

  
  The 2020 FA Cup final, known officially as the Heads Up FA Cup final, was an association football match played behind closed doors between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 1 August 2020; it was originally scheduled for 23 May, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the 139th FA Cup Final.
  
  The match was officially named the "Heads Up FA Cup Final" by the FA as part of a campaign around mental health awareness promoted by the FA president, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and was refereed by Anthony Taylor. Arsenal won the match 2–1 and received the trophy on the pitch, instead of by climbing steps to the Royal Box for the presentation, as in previous seasons. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named man of the match. This was Arsenal's 14th record-extending FA Cup and latest trophy win overall. As winners, Arsenal entered the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and played Liverpool in the FA Community Shield, which they won through a penalty shoot-out. (Full article...)
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  Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout hits a home run on a pitch from New York Mets pitcher Tommy Milone on May 21, 2017.

  
  Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners advancing around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).
  
  The initial objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely; this generally occurs either when the batter hits the ball and reaches first base before an opponent retrieves the ball and touches the base, or when the pitcher persists in throwing the ball out of the batter's reach. Players on the batting team who reach first base without being called "out" can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates' turns batting. The fielding team tries to prevent runs by using the ball to get batters or runners "out", which forces them out of the field of play. The pitcher can get the batter out by throwing three pitches which result in strikes, while fielders can get the batter out by catching a batted ball before it touches the ground, and can get a runner out by tagging them with the ball while the runner is not touching a base. (Full article...)
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  Ice dance in 1976, its first year as an official Olympic sport (Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov)

  
  Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. According to the International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of figure skating, an ice dance team consists of one woman and one man.
  
  Ice dance, like pair skating, has its roots in the "combined skating" developed in the 19th century by skating clubs and organizations and in recreational social skating. Couples and friends would skate waltzes, marches, and other social dances. The first steps in ice dance were similar to those used in ballroom dancing. In the late 1800s, American Jackson Haines, known as "the Father of Figure Skating", brought his style of skating, which included waltz steps and social dances, to Europe. By the end of the 19th century, waltzing competitions on the ice became popular throughout the world. By the early 1900s, ice dance was popular around the world and was primarily a recreational sport, although during the 1920s, local skating clubs in Britain and the U.S. conducted informal dance contests. Recreational skating became more popular during the 1930s in England. (Full article...)
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  York City players after the club's victory at Wembley Stadium in the 2012 FA Trophy final

  
  
  York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in York, North Yorkshire, England. Its history from the 1980–81 to the current season saw fluctuating fortunes in the 1980s and 1990s, and relegations from the Football League.
  
  York made their seventh re-election bid after 1980–81, before the club won its first and only league title after finishing first in the Fourth Division in 1983–84 with 101 points. They were the first team to score this many points in a Football League season. After four seasons in the Third Division, York were relegated in 1987–88, statistically the club's worst Football League season. They beat Crewe Alexandra on penalties at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final in 1992–93, winning promotion back to the third tier of English football, now renamed as the Second Division. The following season, York competed in the play-off semi-final, when they were beaten by Stockport County. Later in the 1990s, they knocked Premier League teams Manchester United and Everton out of the League Cup in successive seasons. After six seasons, York were relegated to the Third Division in 1998–99. In the following years, the club experienced financial troubles; chairman Douglas Craig offered the club and its ground for sale in December 2001. (Full article...)
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  Aerial view of Portman Road, 2015

  
  Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003. It staged several other sporting events, including athletics meetings and international hockey matches, musical concerts and Christian events.
  
  Ipswich Town moved to the ground in 1884 and continue to play their home matches there. The stadium recorded its highest attendance in March 1975, when 38,010 fans attended a match against Leeds United. Its four stands were converted to all-seater in the early 1990s following the recommendations of the Taylor Report. The stadium underwent significant redevelopments in the early 2000s, which increased the capacity from 22,600 to 30,311, making it the largest-capacity football ground in East Anglia. Once the Gamechanger 20 Ltd takeover in 2021 was completed, the club invested heavily in the stadium to bring it more up to date after years of neglect from the previous ownership. This included new dugouts, undersoil heating and a new hybrid pitch which slightly reduced the overall attendance to 29,673. After the club's promotion back to the Premier League in 2024, the club had to invest heavily again into the stadium to bring it up to the Premier League’s standards. This included over 100 projects ranging from new press and camera areas to increasing the away supporter allocation. Once these upgrades were completed, this increased the overall attendance to the current figure of 30,017. (Full article...)
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  The statue of Edwards in the centre of his home town of Dudley

  
  Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played as a left-half for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid-1950s, playing 177 matches for the club. He was noted for his physical strength, toughness, and level of authority on the pitch, and has been ranked amongst the toughest players of all time. One of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster, he survived initially but succumbed to his injuries in hospital two weeks later. Many of his contemporaries have described him as one of the best, if not the best, players with whom they had played.
  
  Born in Woodside, Dudley, Edwards signed for Manchester United as a teenager and went on to become the youngest player to play in the Football League First Division and at the time the youngest England player since the Second World War, going on to play 18 times for his country at top level. In a professional career of less than five years he helped United to win two Football League championships and two FA Charity Shields, and reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

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  Grand Prix motorcycle racing

  Credit: Richard Mushet

  Grand Prix motorcycle racing 125 cc champion Gábor Talmácsi in a road race during the 2007 season.
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  Stade Français

  Photograph: Georges Scott; Restoration: Adam Cuerden

  An illustration showing the Stade Français rugby union team, wearing dark blue jerseys, playing against Racing Club (now known as Racing 92) in 1906. On 20 March 1892, the two teams played in the first ever French rugby championship in a one-off game.
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  Maddison Elliott

  Photograph: John Sherwell, Australian Paralympic Committee

  Maddison Elliott (b. 1998) is an Australian swimmer. She is S8 classified, having right side cerebral palsy as a result of a neonatal stroke. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she became the youngest Australian Paralympic medallist by winning bronze medals in the women's 400 m and 100 m freestyle S8 events. She then became the youngest Australian gold medallist when she was a member of the women's 4×100 m freestyle relay 34 points team.
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  Waterskiing

  Photo: Fir0002

  A man engaged in waterskiing, a sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface. Waterskiing is a relatively young sport, having been invented in the early 20th century. The skis this person is wearing are specialized for ski jumping.
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  Scrum (rugby)

  Credit: PierreSelim

  A rugby football scrum.
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  Horse racing

  Credit: Fir0002

  Horses race on grass at the 2006 Tambo Valley Races in Swifts Creek, Victoria, Australia. Horseracing is the third most popular spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost 2 million admissions to the 379 racecourses throughout Australia in 2002–03.
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  Léon Georget

  Photo: Bain News Service; Restoration: Jujutacular

  Léon Georget (1879–1949) was a racing cyclist from Preuilly-sur-Claise, Indre-et-Loire, France. He was known as The Father of the Bol d'Or, having won the race nine times between 1903 and 1919 in Paris.
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  Handball-Bundesliga (women)

  Credit: Kuebi

  Mara Friton in a handball match in the German Handball-Bundesliga.
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  Personal foul

  Photograph: Carlos Delgado

  Zoran Dragić (right) committing a personal foul on Carl English during a 2013 basketball game between Game Estudiantes and Unicaja Málaga. Personal fouls, defined as illegal personal contact with an opponent which affects gameplay, are the most common type of foul in basketball, but are not always considered unsportsmanlike.
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  Boxing

  Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo/Wayne Short; editing by Shawnc

  Boxing is a sport where two participants of similar weight attack each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called "rounds". Modern boxing began in 1867 with the Marquess of Queensberry rules. Currently, there are two distinct branches of boxing: Professional and Olympic, which have different rules, but are similar in execution.
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  Ksenia Semenova

  Photo: Bolshoi Sport

  Ksenia Semenova (b. 1992) is a Russian artistic gymnast. She was the 2007 World Champion on the uneven bars. At the 2008 European Championships, she was a member of the silver-medal-winning Russian team, as well as champion on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She followed this up by winning the all-around championship at the 2009 European Championships and was part of the gold-medal Russian team at the 2010 European and 2010 World Championships. Injuries have prevented her from competing since then.
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  Laura Dekker

  Photograph credit: Savyasachi, retouched by ukexpat

  Laura Dekker (born 1995) is a New Zealand–born Dutch sailor who completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a 12.4-metre (41-foot) two-masted ketch from 2010 to 2012. Dekker was fourteen years old when she set off from Gibraltar rather than the Netherlands, because the Dutch shipping regulations did not permit anyone under the age of sixteen to skipper a boat of that size in Dutch waters. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, she started her record-breaking attempt from Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, passing through the Panama Canal and traversing the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans before completing her circumnavigation back at Sint Maarten. This picture shows Dekker attending the 2011 Hiswa Boat Show in Amsterdam.
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  Balance beam

  Credit: Fernando Frazão

  The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the event performed using the apparatus. Pictured is Daniele Hypólito in the final of the women's artistic gymnastics competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where Brazil finished in 8th place.
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  Motocross

  Credit: Fir0002

  Motocross is form of motorcycle or ATV racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The tracks are often quite large, natural, terrains with very few man made jumps, unlike Supercross, a sport that was originally derived from Motocross and is executed on a smaller track with many more extreme man made obstacles.
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  Ty Cobb

  Photo: National Photo Company; restoration: Lise Broer; crop: jjron

  Ty Cobb (1886–1961), shown here sliding into third base on August 16, 1924, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He spent twenty-two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, including six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. During this time Cobb set ninety MLB records, though his abilities were sometimes overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive playing style. In 1936 Cobb was made an inaugural member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1999 editors at the Sporting News ranked him third on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".
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  Cross-country skiing

  Credit: Che

  Priit Narusk in the qualification for the Tour de Ski cross-country skiing competition in Prague.
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  Pacu jawi

  Photograph credit: Rodney Ee

  The pacu jawi is a traditional bull race in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia. In the race, a jockey stands holding on to a pair of loosely tied bulls while the bulls run across a muddy track in a rice field. Recently, it has become a tourist attraction supported by the government, and the subject of multiple award-winning photographs. Dramatic high-speed action, mud splashing, and the jockeys' distinctive facial expressions add to its aesthetic value.
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  Goalkeeper (football)

  Photo credit: Nick Wiebe

  Congo national football team goalkeeper Destin Onka (right) prevents Austrian forward Rubin Okotie (left) from scoring a goal at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In association football, the goalkeeper is the only player who is permitted to touch the ball with his hands or arms in open play.
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  Tony Estanguet

  Photo: Pavel.rycl

  Tony Estanguet (b. 1978) is a French slalom canoeist who has competed since the mid-1990s. Before announcing his retirement, he competed in four Olympic Games and, with his win at the 2012 London Games, became the first French Olympian to win three gold medals in the same Olympic discipline.
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  Balzhinima Tsyrempilov

  Photograph: Аркадий Зарубин

  Balzhinima Tsyrempilov is a World Cup-winning and former world number-one archer from Russia. He has competed in both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, though he has not medalled.
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  Line-out

  Photograph: Pierre Selim

  A line-out at a rugby union match between Stade Toulousain and Lyon OU. When a player puts the ball out of the field of play, the opposing team is awarded a line-out; in the case of a penalty kick, the team that was awarded the penalty throws into the resulting line-out. A line-out is also awarded if a player in possession of the ball crosses or touches the touch-line while still in possession of the ball.
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  Curling

  Credit: Ralf Roletschek

  Martin Sesaker representing Norway in curling at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
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  Quarterback

  Photo credit: Mike Kaplan, USAF

  In gridiron football, the quarterback is the leader of the offensive team. At most levels, but especially at the college and professional level, the quarterback is one of the most visible and important roles on the team, being responsible both for calling plays and making decisions during the play. Shown here is Shea Smith of the Air Force Falcons during the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl.
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  Mountain bike trials

  Photo: Steve Bennett

  Joe Oakley (right), being penalised by the official (centre) for "dabbing" his foot on the ground during a mountain bike trials competition. Trials riding is a mountain biking discipline in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Originating in Catalonia, it is popular within Europe and has a small following worldwide.

Did you know...

• ...that English lower-league football team Bristol Rovers once beat the Netherlands national football team 3-2?
• ...that 2012 Australian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Jannik Blair (pictured) has a partial wheelchair basketball scholarship from the University of Missouri?
• ...that Kanken Toyama, who developed the Shūdōkan school of karate, was originally an elementary school teacher?
• ...that the breeding rights for the Thoroughbred racehorse Graustark sold for a record US$2,400,000?
• ...that the 1989 Glasnost Bowl was an attempt to schedule an American college football game in the Soviet Union?

Selected quote

Selected athlete

Nurmi at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Paavo Johannes Nurmi (13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle and long distance runner. He was nicknamed as the "Flying Finn" as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1,500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won a total of nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m.

In the 1920 Summer Olympics Nurmi took the silver medal in the 5,000 m and the gold in the 10,000 m and the cross country events. In 1923, Nurmi became the first, and so far only, runner to hold the mile, the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m world records at the same time. He went on to set new world records for the 1,500 m and the 5,000 m with just an hour between the races, and take gold medals in the distances in less than two hours at the 1924 Olympics. Nurmi won all his races and returned home with five gold medals, but embittered, as Finnish officials had refused to enter him for the 10,000 m.

At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nurmi recaptured the 10,000 m title but was beaten to the gold in the 5,000 m and the 3,000 m steeplechase. He then turned his attention to longer distances, breaking the world records for events such as the one hour run and the 25-mile marathon. Nurmi intended to end his career on a marathon gold medal.

In a controversial case that strained Finland–Sweden relations and sparked an inter-IAAF battle, Nurmi was suspended before the 1932 Games by an IAAF council that questioned his amateur status. Although he was never declared a professional, Nurmi's suspension became definite in 1934 and he retired from running.

Nurmi, who rarely ran without a stopwatch in his hand, has been credited for introducing the "even pace" strategy and analytic approach to running, and for making running a major international sport. (Full article...)

More selected biographies

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Members of the Calgary Flames celebrating in a 1978 game

The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the Calgary Tigers (1921–27) and Calgary Cowboys (1975–77). The Flames are one of two NHL franchises in Alberta, the other being the Edmonton Oilers. The cities' proximity has led to a famous rivalry known as the Battle of Alberta. Games between the teams are often heated events.

The team was founded in 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Flames until relocating to Calgary in 1980. The Flames played their first three seasons in Calgary at the Stampede Corral before moving into their current home arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome (originally known as the Olympic Saddledome), in 1983. In 1985–86, the Flames became the first Calgary team since the 1923–24 Tigers to compete for the Stanley Cup. In 1988–89, the Flames won their first and only championship. The Flames' unexpected run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals gave rise to the Red Mile, and in 2011 the team hosted and won the second Heritage Classic outdoor game.

The Flames have won two Presidents' Trophies as the league's top regular season team, and have claimed five division championships. Individually, Jarome Iginla is the franchise leader in games played, goals, and points, and is a two-time winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's leading goal scorer. Miikka Kiprusoff has the most wins by a goaltender in a Calgary Flames uniform. Nine people associated with the Flames have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. (Full article...)

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In this month

• December 7–8, 1963 – The inaugural World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships is held in Budapest, Hungary
• December 12, 1959 – The first Southeast Asian Games (2011 opening ceremony pictured), a biennial multi-sport event for the countries in Southeast Asia, opens in Bangkok, Thailand
• December 12, 2010 – The inaugural Asian Para Games, the successor to the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, opens in Guangzhou, China
• December 13, 1993 – Major League Soccer, the highest level association football league in the United States and Canada, is founded
• December 21, 1904 – The governing body of motorcycle racing, Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, is founded in Paris, France

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