Sport

Sports

Sport is any form of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aims to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. There are hundreds of sports – for individuals and for teams. Sport is a good way to socialize with people and also a good way to keep healthy.

We divide sports into indoor and outdoor sports. Indoor sports include table tennis, gymnastics and chess. Outdoor sports are golf, skiing, marathon-running. There are of course sports that can be played both indoors and outdoors, for example ball games, athletics (sprint, high jump, long jump, etc.) or tennis. Another division is to winter sports and summer sports. The most obvious examples would be skiing and swimming.

There are artefacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 2000 BC. Sports were also a big part of Greek culture, to the point where they created the Olympic Games. It is usually said that it was in the year 776. According to legends, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years. They were played in a small village called Olympia. During the Olympic Games, the conflicts between the city-states were postponed until the games were finished. At first, there was only one discipline –the stadion race, which was a sprint for about 180-240m, but they quickly added more disciplines, for example the hoplite race, boxing, wrestling, chariot racing, long jump and the discus throw. They were banned by the roman emperor in the year 364 AD.

The modern Olympic Games started in 1894, when the baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee. They also take place every four years, but are now divided into summer and winter games, which alternate every 2 years. The games were cancelled during the first and second world war.

Nowadays the most important sport events are quite commercialized, there are advertisements everywhere and usually only professional players participate. This is quite a shift from the ancient ideal, where every man could try his best to compete against others and the viewers would be inspired by their acts. Now it‘s just some fat men sitting in the pub, drinking beer and screaming at the television. They then feel proud if the team won.

Of course, with the rise of pharmaceutical technology, there is an increased problem with performance enhancing drugs and steroids. Cheaters use anabolic steroids to grow muscles faster, but there is a risk of liver cancer and infertility later on. There are also stimulants that make us feel stronger and full of energy, but they put a huge strain on our body and we can end up with a heart attack. The development of these drugs is very fast and the detection methods can barely keep up.

I personally didn’t do much sport when I was little, because I had severe asthma. The doctors said I had the lungs of a chain smoker. Usually asthmatics start with light exercises to build up endurance, but because I am allergic to chlorine, I couldn’t swim in the school swimming pool. I always got sick afterwards. I played a little tennis, but that was certainly not enough. It was a cursed circle. Two years ago I started running, I could only run for a minute at first without throwing up, but I gradually improved and ran the 10km race in Prague last September. I am now planning to run the half marathon next year and perhaps a full marathon in the near future. I would also like to try archery.