Sport in Our Life.

People all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

Many people do sports on their personal initiative. They go in for skiing, skating, table tennis, swimming, volleyball, football, bodybuilding, etc. All necessary facilities are provided for them: stadiums, sport grounds, swimming pools, skating rinks, skiing stations, football fields. Sport is paid much attention to in our educational establishments. Gymnastics is a part of children's daily activity in the kindergartens. Physical culture is a compulsory subject at schools and colleges.

Professional sport is also paid much attention to in our republic. There are different sporting societies clubs and complexes. The most famous of them are the Olympic complexes "Luzhniki", "Dynamo" stadium, etc. They are used for international and world competitions.

Practically all kinds of sports are popular in our republic but football; gymnastics and tennis enjoy the greatest popularity.

As for me, I go in for swimming. It needs mobility, liveliness and much energy. It keeps a person in a good form. I have been swimming for a 5 years. I get a real joy taking part in competitions or a simply swimming with my friends. Certainly, it`s a great distance between my manner of swimming and such favorites as Popov, but I do my training with great pleasure and hope to swim well as our best swimmers do.

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games have a very long history. They began in 777 ВС in Greece and took place every four years for nearly twelve centuries at Olympia. They included many different kinds of sports: running, boxing, wrestling, etc. All the cities in Greece sent their best athletes to Olympia tocompete in the Games.

For the period of the Games all the wars stopped. So the Olympic Games became the symbol ofpeace and friendship. In 394 AD the Games were abolished and were not renewed until manycenturies later.

In 1894 French Baron Pierre de Coubertin, addressed all the sports governing bodies and pointedout the significance of sport and its educational value.

Two years later the first modern Olympic Games took place. Of course, the competitions were held in Greece to symbolize the continuation of the centuries-old tradition. In 1896 the International Olympic Committee was set up. It is the central policy-making body of theOlympic movement. It is formed by the representatives of all countries, which take part in theOlympic Games.

Summer and Winter Games are held separately.