Unusual stories of world sports. The word “marathon” comes from the name of an ancient Greek city. After the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon, a messenger was sent to Athens to deliver the good news. He ran 42 kilometers to Athens, shouted the word “victory” and fell lifeless. This is how the sports competition – running-was born for the marathon distance.
Golfers are now prohibited from kissing the ball before starting the game. Many doctors believe that this ritual is unsafe, because Golf is played on carefully manicured lawns treated with herbicides.
The Rugby ball has an oval shape. This tradition has been preserved since the time when balls were made from a pig’s bladder covered with leather. When Rugby became a sporting game, the oval ball came in handy.
Dawn Fraser, the Australian swimming champion, was responsible for several scandals during the 1964 Olympic games. At the opening ceremony of the games, she marched through the stadium not in the official costume of the Australian team, but in a swimsuit. After winning her sport, the athlete was caught stealing: she tried to steal the Olympic flag in the garden of the Emperor of Japan! This act cost her dearly. Fraser was disqualified for ten years, and that was the end of her sports career.
At the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm, one of the participants in the marathon, a Japanese athlete, after running 30 kilometers, decided that he deserved a little rest, sat down on a chaise longue and fell asleep. After the marathon ended, the police went to search for the missing runner and found him … asleep. The Japanese was very confused and promised to finish his race at all costs. In 1967, he came to Stockholm for a Congress and ran the rest of the race. Thus, the total result of his marathon race was: 54 years 8 months 6 days 3 hours 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
How nice it is to go skiing on a clear, Sunny day in winter! But fans of this sport often become victims of accidents. The only bones in the human body that have never been broken during unsuccessful falls while skiing are the so – called auditory bones located near the eardrum. Maybe it’s better to go to the mountains to walk there, rather than run around the slopes on skis?
During a soccer match in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all 11 players on one team were killed by a lightning strike, leaving the other team without a rival. The surviving team was accused of witchcraft.
During the first two Olympics of Modern Times, held in 1896 and 1900, the winners who took first place. They received silver medals, and those who were second – bronze. In those days, gold was valued lower than silver. Athletes who were in third place did not receive any medals at all.
During one hockey game, a young player was the victim of a rare piece of bad luck: he set himself on fire. The puck he hit somehow ended up in his pocket, where the box of matches was. Apparently, from a strong shake, the matches flared up.
In Hollywood, more films were made about Boxing than about all other sports in the world. Fortunately, they did not last much longer than the record time it took one of the boxers to knock out his opponent. In fact, there were even four such defeated fighters, all of them were knocked out in the first 11 seconds. First round!
American astronauts left on the moon not only the us flag and its name, but also three Golf balls. So if you decide to go to the moon one day, don’t forget to stop by the Golf club and pick up a few players who will make up your party.
You can go down a steep slope at high speed on a toboggan. Some young Americans accelerate during such descents to a speed of 125 kilometers per hour. However, you need to make sure that the shoes have very thick soles: you have to brake with your feet.
In some countries of the East-Thailand, Japan, India-there is a type of wrestling that is held in the open air and the participant of which is … a paper kite! This sport appeared when a king convinced his subjects that it is better to measure not physical strength, but the dexterity of controlling a kite. These competitions involve two teams, each consisting of more than 20 people, managing one snake. And there are two types of kites – “Men” and”women”.
For the 1980 summer Olympics, the organizers did not find any women’s ice hockey teams. In the end, they asked Zimbabwe to create such a team. There have never been any hockey players in this African country, but the team was created from the best athletes in the country. Guess who won the gold medal in this sport? Zimbabwe!
In 1936, track and field athlete Jesse Owens won the 100-meter race, beating… a racehorse, and the horse even gave a small head start. In 2002, a long-distance runner ran 80 kilometers faster in the desert than a thoroughbred Arabian horse. At the same time, the horse had the opportunity to rest twice for 40 minutes, as provided for by the law on animal protection. The athlete, apparently, such breaks were not necessary.
Bowling has been banned in the United States for some time. The fact is that in this game – with nine pins – a lot of money was at stake. To circumvent this ban, another pin was added, and 10 pins were placed in the form of an equilateral triangle. So there was a new game-bowling.
Most drinks created specifically for athletes strongly resemble human sweat, which is added sugar. The fact is that the salt concentration in these drinks is really close to the salt concentration in sweat, but lower than in human blood. These drinks allow you to compensate for the loss of both liquid and salt.
In 1948, the German company Adidas first launched its sports shoes on the market. For its production, they used rubber and thick cotton fabric, which was obtained from the reserves of the Second world war.
The inventor of sports shoes “Nike” came up with a way to lighten the soles of sneakers: he made them corrugated. The company’s logo is a wing that resembles the wings of the Greek goddess of victory Niki.
The program of the Olympic games of 19000, held in Paris, included competitions that, fortunately, were later canceled-shooting live pigeons. To do without these bloody trophies, it was decided to replace live pigeons with clay ones.
When the English football team “Aston Villa” was created (this happened in 1874), it did not have an opponent with whom it could play the first match of the very first season. As a way out, we decided to hold a competition with the local Rugby team. To be fair, the first half was played according to the rules of Rugby, the second – according to the rules of football.
Playing sports is very good for your health, as long as you don’t hit the ball too hard with your head. The fact is that these blows can cause brain damage and lead to a weakening of mental abilities. But if your school diary does not look exemplary, you can always justify it with intensive training.
At the 2002 winter Olympics, African athlete Isaac Menoli competed in the long-distance ski race. It was immediately noticeable against the background of white snow. But from other athletes Magnoli. It was immediately noticeable against the background of white snow. But the great thing about Menyoli’s other athletes is that he was tinted not on snow, but on sand in the desert, because no one has ever seen snow in his homeland (in Cameroon). The main goal of the athlete was not to be noticed and draw attention to the need for a more active fight against AIDS.