Sport is not only for champions. All over the world people of different ages are very fond of sports and games. Sport not only helps people to become strong and to develop physically but also makes them more organized and better disciplined in their daily activities. It makes healthy mind in a healthy body. People who go in for sports are always in good mood. Sports help them to keep in good health.

Sport for different people means different things. Some people go in for sport seriously and achieve high results. They make sport their profession. They are professionals. All the others who go in for sports in their free time are amateurs. Some of them jog in the morning, do morning exercises all the year round. They go in for winter and summer sports. Still others do not go in for sports. They are sport fans. They go to the stadium or sit in their armchairs at home shouting for their favourite teams or athletes.

We all need to exercise. Even if you do not plan to make a career in sport you still have to practice. Regular exercises give you more energy. That is why many people who suffer from general tiredness should take more exercise than more rest. Exercise makes you feel and look better. The best exercises are those which involve you in repeated movements. They are: walking, jogging or swimming. Bending and stretching will add flexibility and feeling of lightness. Skiing is a symphony of snow, sun and movement; the air is champagne to the lungs. No wonder skiing has conquered the world. It recruited millions of followers.

Sport in My Life.

As for me, my life is impossible without sport. I agree that sport helps people to stay in good shape, keeps them fit and healthy. Anyone who knows my family can say that it's strange that I am a table tennis player, because my father plays volleyball. He was the captain of the students' team of Moscow Lomonosov's University. When I was 6 years old, my father began taking me to the gym. While he was playing volleyball, I was running, climbing up the Sweden wall, etc. But all the summer before going to school, I stayed in our yard, playing ping-pong. There were two tables in the yard. I was the youngest, only 7 years old, so the older boys often defeated me and I lost the matches more often then won them. Sometimes I cried. In September my parents suggested me going to the table tennis club. Of course, I agreed. Some boys, whom I played with, also decided to join this club. That is how it began.

I liked training. Some months later I was moved to an older group. That very winter I went to the competition for the first time. Of course, I lost many games, but I liked to compete. I enjoyed the atmosphere. I started training harder. A year later I took the second place in my age group in the Moscow Region. Next years I participated in different competitions in many cities of our country, such as Cheboksary, N.Novgorod, Petrozavodsk, Tula, Ivanovo, Vladimir, etc. It is interesting to have competitions in the place where you have never been yet.

Many times I was the first in the Central zone which includes 17 regions of Russia. Some years ago I took the third place in all-Russian national competitions in my age group in pairs. Though table-tennis is an individual game, there are team competitions too. I like to play team-games. While playing in the team you always feel support of your team-mates.

But you mustn't think that I am only interested in table-tennis. I am also fond of volleyball, basketball, biathlon, but of course, I am fond of football most of these sports. In summer I always play football with my friends in the yard or sports ground. I enjoy shouting for my favourite team “SPARTAK” sitting in front of the TV-set. I don't know why I am a Spartak fan. Maybe, because my father likes this team, maybe, because it is the most popular team in Russia. I always take to heart our national football team's results. It is true, our football is not having its best time now, but I am sure that soon the time will come when we will be proud of our football team as well as our country in the whole.

Sport in Russia.

Russian and especially Soviet sports have many glorious pages. In all times our sportsmen have been the strongest in many kinds of sports. Athletes from Europe and Asia, Africa and America have always been afraid of their Russian opponents. People all over the world know such names as Larisa Latynina, Valery Borzov, Vladislav Tretiak, Irina Rodnina,Vladimir Salnikov and of course Leo Yashin, who was recognized as the best goalkeeper of all times and all nations.

In the Soviet Union junior sport was well-developed. There were many sport clubs, stadiums, grounds and gyms all over the country. Many competitions between schools took place in every town. In our clubs the best coaches worked. Among the sports popular in our country are football, basketball, swimming, volleyball, ice hockey, tennis, gymnastics, and figure skating. A person can choose sports and games for any seasons and for any taste. Unfortunately the situation has changed to the worse in the nineties. If an athlete wants to reach a good result he has to train abroad. Many qualified coaches left Russia, because of the material factor. The number of free sports clubs for children reduced greatly. More children's clubs became paid ones. Many stadiums and gyms were changed into markets and shops. Some talented athletes can't regularly participate in competitions because they must go to other towns and live there at their own expenses, paying for the tickets, hotels and meals with their own money. Sports equipment and sports clothes are rather expensive, too.

But nevertheless Russia has remained the greatest sport power. Our skiers like Larissa Lazutina and Lyubov Egorova, swimmer Alexander Popov, wrestler Alexander Karelin, gymnasts Alexey Nemov and Svetlana Kchorkina, hockey player Pavel Bure and tennis player Eugeny Kafelnikov and others with brilliance defend the honour of our national flag.

Sports in Great Britain.

The British people like every one else like sports and games. They are called sport-lovers in spite of the fact that some of them neither play games nor even watch them. They only like to speak about sports. Sport plays such a large part in British life that many idioms in the English language have come from the world of sport. For example, “to play the game” means “to be fair” and “that's not cricket” means “that's not fair”. Britain invented and developed many of the sports and games, which now are played all over the world. There are different sports societies and clubs in Great Britain. Thousands of people devote their leisure time to outdoor and indoor games, athletics, cycling, mountain climbing, boxing and other sports. Horse-racing, dog-racing and motor-racing are among the most popular sports in Britain. They gather many spectators.

Football is the most popular game in Britain. It is a team game. There are some amateur teams but most of the teams are professional in England. Such teams as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are well-known all over the world. The Cup finals is one of the most important football matches of the year in England; it is always played at the Wembley stadium, near London, which holds 100,000 spectators. The matches between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland also excite great interest.

English people like to play cricket. To many Englishmen cricket is both a game and a standard of behavior. They think that summer without cricket isn't summer. Cricket is the English national sport in summer. If you want to play cricket you must wear white boots, a white shirt and white long trousers. It is played with balls, bats and wickets. Girls play cricket too.

Golf is a widely spread all over Great Britain game. The Scots are sure the golf is a Scottish game. It is played all the year round.

Many people in Great Britain like to play table tennis. Englishmen heard about table tennis in 1880. Then the International Table Tennis Association was formed and the international rules were worked out.

Wimbledon is the center of lawn tennis. Nowadays every summer in June, the British hold the International Tennis Championship at Wimbledon. It's a great honour for every tennis-player to be the champion of Wimbledon.

Horse-racing is a popular sport in Britain. A lot of people are interested in the races and risk money on the horse which they think will win.

In England great attention is paid to sports in all the schools, colleges and universities. English boys like running, swimming and rowing. Boxing is very popular sport, too, to say nothing of football and cricket. In girls' schools grass hockey is the most popular game.

Olympic Games

The world's greatest international sports games are known as the Olympic Games.

The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world. The Olympic movement proves that real peace can be achieved through sport.

The Olympic Games have a very long history. They began in 777 BC in Greece and took place every four years 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 to compete in the Games. For the period of the Games all the wars stopped. So the Olympic Games became the symbol of peace and friendship.

The Games were for men only. Greek women were forbidden not only to participate but also to watch the Olympics.

In 1896 the first modern Olympic Games took place. Of course, the competitions were held in Greece to symbolize the continuation of the centuries-old tradition. The initiator of these Games was a French Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

In 1896 the International Olympic Committee was set up. It is formed by the representatives of all countries which take part in the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee decides upon the programme of the Games, the number of the participants and the city-host for the Games. Over one hundred and fifty countries are represented in the International Olympic Committee now. Besides, each country has its National Olympic Committee.

Since 1936 the opening ceremony is celebrated by lighting a flame, which is called “The Olympic Flame”. The Olympic emblem is five interlinked rings: blue, yellow, black, green and red. Any national flag contains at least one of these colours.

The ancient Greeks had no winter sports. Only in 1924 the first Winter Olympic Games were held in France. Now they are being held regularly. Summer and Winter Games are held separately. There are always several cities wishing to host the games. The most suitable is selected by the International Committee. After that the city of the Games starts preparations for the competitions, constructs new sports facilities, stadiums, hotels, press centres. Thousands of athletes, journalists and guests come to the Games, and it takes great efforts to arrange everything. There is always an interesting cultural programme of concerts, exhibitions, festivals, etc. for each Games.

Russia joined the Olympic movement in 1952. Since then it has won a lot of gold, silver and bronze medals. In 1980 Moscow hosted the Twenty-Second Olympic Games. The world knows glorious names of our Olympic champions such as Lydia Skoblikova, Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov, Alexey Yagudin.

2004 is an Olympic year. The 28-th Summer Olympiad will take place in Greece in the city of Athens. Russian athletes are getting ready to take part in it. We hope that they will be a success and win many Olympic medals. We are sure that many new names will be added to the list of our Olympic champions.

Sport and Healthy Way of Life.

To be healthy is very important. You can work, learn and have fun only when you are healthy. Health is the man's greatest wealth. Of course, you can inherit some problems from your parents. But you can always keep your health if you want to.

We are healthy when all parts of our bodies and of our minds work together properly. We cannot be happy unless we feel well.

The ancient Greeks knew the value of good health. They even named one goddess Hygenia, which means goddess of health. The Romans spoke of a health in a proverb:” A healthy mind in a healthy body”. The body does a great deal to take care of itself, but it is possible to help the body to work at its best.

The human body is much more complicated than any machine. No machine can do all the things the body can do. No machine will work for 70 years or more, day and night, requiring only air, water, food and a few simple rules.

The first rule of healthy way of life is to have normal weight, not to be overweight. One of the ways to keep normal weight is to regulate your diet. A person needs vitamins and fibre. One must eat fruit and vegetables every day. Too much food makes you fat. Fat and sugar give a lot of energy. If the energy is not used it becomes fat in your body. If you eat sweet, fat food, even from time to time, you have to exercise regularly. Physical exercises help people keep fit, have a good gait and figure. They also help you lose weight and work out energy. It is not good to be as thin as a stick, but extra weight can cause serious problems, such as heart problems and diabetics.

There are a lot of advertisements both on TV and in newspapers of different pills and drops which can help you become slim and slender in two weeks. But all those pills cannot work a miracle.

Bad habits, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and using drugs, can ruin your health. Regular sports help people to avoid these bad habits. What exercises are better? Swimming, jogging, basketball, football, table tennis, skiing or morning exercises? It's upon a person to choose.

As for me. I eat what I want and as much as I want, and I don't care how much to eat, because I go in for sport every day and use a lot of energy training and competing.

Conclusion.

“Sport means life.” These are the words of a well-known French scientist and the sponsor of the first modern Olympic Games Pier de Kuberten. It's difficult to argue with it. Sport has become an essential part of our life. It has great effect on our health and creative work for many long years. Sport is one of means of bringing up a healthy and harmonious person. It is also a means of uniting people in the name of friendship and peace.

Literature.

1. Выборова Г.Е. Пособие к базовому курсу. Москва: Аст-Пресс, 1998.

2. Банкевич Л.В. Спорт. Москва-С-Петербург, 1990.

3. Могильный Н.В. Олимпийский факел. Очерки из истории спорта. Минск: Беларусь, 1999.

4. Ulva French. London. Blue Guide. London: a&c Black, 1991.

5. A Book of Britain. С-Петербург: Просвещение, 2001.

6. Sport. English. No.8 Первое сентября 2.2004.Page 21-26.