Olympic games

London 2012 World Sport Day is approaching fast so join in the celebrations. Bring the excitement of the London 2012 Games to your school and community. Taking place on Monday 25 June 2012, World Sport Day is your chance to get the whole school involved in celebrating the athletes and cultures of the teams that will be coming to the UK for an amazing summer of Olympic and Paralympic sport

Apparently they’re born from drops of steel from London’s 2012 Olympic stadium, and their names are inspired by Much Wenlock in Shropshire and Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, two towns with Olympic history at their heart – ‘Much Wenlock Games’ predated the modern games, whilst Stoke Mandeville is the birthplace of the Paralympics, for whom ‘Mandeville’ is the new official mascot. Along with his friend ‘Wenlock’, the pair – designed by agency Iris – have already caused much discussion in the design community since they were unveiled on Wednesday evening….. not quite as much, it has to be said, as the infamous Wolff

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Cycling – Mountain BikeCross-country Mountain Bike competitions at the Olympic Games take place over rough and hilly countryside. All riders start together and must complete a set number of laps of the course, with races lasting around one hour and forty-five minutes for both men and women. There are no heats: for both the men’s and women’s events, all competitors start together, and the first rider to cross the finish line wins the gold.Bicycles used in Mountain Bike events are built for speed, durability and comfort, no easy task given the variety of terrain. They need to be quick and light enough to aid climbing through uneven terrain, but sturdy and stable enough to handle descents at extreme speeds.

Judo

Judo contests last five minutes, with scores awarded for different throws and holds. However, a contest ends immediately if a competitor is awarded ‘ippon’ – the maximum score. If the scores are tied after five minutes, the contest enters a golden score period, when the first score of any sort wins.

All of the Judo events at the London 2012 Olympic Games – seven for men, seven for women – will be played in a knockout format. The winners of each contest will qualify for the next round, with the two finalists going head to head in the gold medal contest. The defeated quarter-finalists will compete in two 'repechage' contests, the winners of which will then go up against the two defeated semi-finalists to determine the winners of the two bronze medals in each event.

Handball

Played on a court measuring 40 x 20 metres, the largest court of any indoor ball sport at the Games, Handball features two teams of seven players passing and dribbling a small ball with their hands. The aim is to throw the ball into the opposition’s goal, which happens often: it’s not uncommon to see 50 goals in a single 60-minute match. At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Handball competitions will begin with a preliminary phase: the 12 teams in each event will be divided into two groups of six, and each team will play every other team in their group. The four best teams in each group will qualify for the knockout phase, with the winners of the semi-finals eventually going head-to-head for the gold.

Boxing

The Olympic Boxing competition will feature 10 men’s weight categories, from Light Fly Weight (46-49kg) to Super Heavy Weight (over 91kg). At London 2012, women’s Boxing will feature as a full Olympic medal event for the first time, with medals in three weights: Fly Weight (48-51kg), Light Weight (57-60kg) and Middle Weight (69-75kg). In the Olympic Games, men’s bouts take place over three three-minute rounds, with women’s bouts held over four rounds of two minutes each. Boxers score points for every punch they land successfully on their opponent’s head or upper body.

Basketball

Basketball is played by two teams of five players on an indoor court that is 28 metres long and 15m wide. Points are scored by shooting the ball into your opponents’ net (or 'basket'), which has a diameter of 450-459mm and sits on a backboard 3.05m above the floor.

Two points are awarded for a regular shot from open play, with one point for each successful free throw (following an opposition infringement) and three points for a shot from distance (beyond what’s known as the three-point line, 6.75m from the basket). Games last for 40 minutes, split into four 10-minute quarters

Rowing

The 14 Olympic Rowing events range from the Single Sculls, featuring solo rowers, to the Eights, contested by teams of eight rowers plus a cox. All events are held over a 2,000m course, with the competition taking a total of eight days. All Rowing events at London 2012 will begin with the heats, from which the best boats will qualify for the next round. Boats that do not qualify automatically from the heats get a second chance to qualify through the repechage round. The best boats eventually progress through the various stages and into the finals of each event, which decide the medallists.

Swimming

There are four strokes used in Olympic competition: Freestyle (essentially, front crawl), Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. All four strokes feature in the Individual Medley and Medley Relay events. Olympic races are conducted over a variety of distances, from 50m (one length of the pool) all the way up to 1500m. All the pool events begin with heats, with the best swimmers from the qualifying rounds eventually racing for gold in the final.

Gymnastics – Rhythmic

One of just two women-only disciplines in the Olympic Games (the other is Synchronised Swimming), Rhythmic Gymnastics is a combination of gymnastics and dance. Competitors perform short routines to music using hand apparatus – a ball, clubs, a hoop and a ribbon – on a floor area measuring 13m by 13m. Scores are awarded in three categories: difficulty, artistry and execution.

Pentathlon Modern Pentathlon

Modern Pentathlon competitions are conducted over a single day. The first element is fencing, for which athletes are required to fence against every other athlete. The fencing is then followed by swimming (200m freestyle) and riding (jumping over a 12-jump course). Athletes are given a score for each element of the competition. After the first three elements, the athletes’ total scores are converted into a time handicap. The handicap determines the starting times for the combined run/shoot element, for which athletes are required to shoot at sets of five targets after running several stretches of 1,000m. The winner of the competition is the athlete who crosses the finish line first.

Football

The aim of Football, to score more goals than the opposition, is both simple and universally known. Teams of 11 players compete across two 45-minutes halves, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide drawn matches during the knockout stages of the competition.Due to the intense schedule, the Football competition actually kicks off two days before the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony with the first group matches. At London 2012, the men’s competition will be an under-23s event, although each country will be allowed to include three older players in their team. There are no age restrictions for the women’s competition.

Shooting

Olympic Shooting events fall broadly into three types: Pistol, Rifle and Shotgun events. In Pistol and Rifle events, competitors aim at a 10-ringed target from a set distance (10m, 25m or 50m). Depending on the event, athletes are required to shoot from standing, kneeling or prone positions. In Shotgun events, meanwhile, competitors shoot at moving clay targets launched above and in front of them.

Table Tennis

Table Tennis is based on the same basic principles as Tennis, but it has a very different scoring system. Singles matches are played over the best of seven games, with the first player to 11 points (by a margin of two clear points) winning each game. Team matches, meanwhile, consist of four singles matches and one doubles match, each played over the best of five games. Both the Singles and Team events at London 2012 will be run in a knockout format. Players and teams will progress through the draw until the finals, which will decide the winners of the gold medals.

Wrestling

Wrestling is a body-to-body combat sport, with key variations between the styles.

The aim is to force the back of the opponent’s shoulders on to the ground. Bouts take place on a mat, and can last for a maximum of three periods of two minutes, with a 30-second break in between. A contest can finish early if a wrestler wins the first two periods or pins his opponent.

There are two disciplines of Wrestling at London 2012: Greco-Roman and Freestyle.

Water Polo

Played by teams of seven in a pool with a goal at each end (the goals are 3m wide and 90cm high), Water Polo is a thrilling spectacle. Matches are divided into four periods of eight minutes, and each team has only 30 seconds to attempt to score before the ball is returned to the opposition. Players aren’t allowed to touch the sides or the bottom of the pool during play, and may swim as much as three miles during a match.

Volleyball is played by two teams of six on an 18m x 9m indoor court divided by a net (2.43m high for men, 2.24m for women). The object of the game is to land the ball in the opposition’s half of the court. Each team is allowed three touches of the ball before it must cross over the net. The key attacking move is the set and spike, in which a player feeds the ball (the set) for a teammate to power it into the opposition’s court (the spike). Volleyball requires amazing power and astonishing reactions: in the men’s game, the ball can reach speeds in excess of 130km/h.

Volleyball

Athletics

There are four main strands to the Athletics competition: track events, such as the 100m; field events, which include the High Jump and the Shot Put; combined events such as the Decathlon, a mix of track and field elements; and road events, among them the Marathon.Staged in the brand new Olympic Stadium, the 24 track events (12 for men, 12 for women) will be held over distances ranging from 100m to 10,000m. Some events will also feature obstacles to negotiate, as in the 400m Hurdles and the 3000m Steeplechase. The majority of track events begin with one or more rounds of heats, with the best athletes eventually qualifying for the final.

Trabalho realizado por:-Beatriz Saraiva, Nº 1Cássia Rocha, Nº3Vadilson Pereira, Nº19Vanessa Alves, Nº20Turma: 7ºB