Some Olympic Terminology

mikebuss | 28/07/2012 | 0 Comments More

Have you ever wondered when watching some of the Olympic Sports what the commentators mean when they come out with words like 49er, coxswain, decathlon, IOC and Golden Slam?

Well here we go…

Golden Slam: This is when you win four Majors and a Gold Medal in Tennis at the Olympics. The Term Golden Slam has been used since 1988 when Steffi Graf became the only person to achieve this feat in a single calendar year.

Dream Team: The first American Olympic Basketball Team to feature active professional basketball players which won Gold Medal in the 1992 Games. Sometimes called the greatest team assembled in any sport! It defeated on average every opponent by 44points.

49er: A one-design class of small sailing dinghy. It is a double handed twin trapeze boat, which means it is sailed by a helm and a crew.

470: A double handed, single-hulled dinghy named for its length (470cm). It is used in both mens and womens two person dinghy events.

BMX: A bicycle race over rough terrain consisting of jumps & obstacles.

Coxswain: The oarless crew member (often called Cox) who is responsible for steering and stratagy. The Cox either sits in the stern or lies in the bows of the boat.

Decathlon: This is an athletic event that consists of both track and field events, there are 10 of them and they are – 100m, 400m, 1500m, 110m Hurdles, discus, Javelin, shot put, pole vault, high jump and long jump.

Demonstration Sport: This is a sport performed at the Olympics to promote itself, sometimes these end up being so popular that they are added as an official event of the Olympics.

Foil: This is the name given to the sword in Fencing.

Fosbury Flop: This is the modern used method of high jump, where the athlete clears the bar with their head first. It was given its name after Dick Fosbury from the US used this method to win the High Jump Event at the 1968 Olympics. Before this athletes tended to jump over the bar with a scissor leg action.

Heptathlon: This is an athletic event competed by women and consists of seven events of track and field. They are – 200m, 800m, 100m hurdles, shot put, javelin, high jump and long jump.

IOC: This stands for the International Olympic Committee. This is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation and the overal authority of the Olympic Movement. It supervises both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.