Sports in Russia

Millions of people all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport helps people to stay in good shape, keeps them fit and makes them more organized and better disciplined in their daily activities. We have always paid great attention to sport in our schools, colleges and universities. You can hardly find a school without a gym or a sports ground. Every city and town has a few stadiums or swimming pools where local competitions are usually held. It's been a tradition in this country to divide sport into professional and amateur. There are different sporting societies and clubs in Russia. Many of them take part in different international tournaments and are known all over the world. A great number of world records have been set by Russian sportsmen: weightlifters, tennis players, swimmers, figure skaters, high jumpers. Our sportsmen also participate in the Olympic Games and always win a lot of gold, silver and bronze medals. There are also a lot of amateur clubs and keep-fit centres in Russia where people go in for aerobics, yoga, body-building, swimming, skating, jogging. Thousands of people go to the stadiums to support their favorite team and many many thousand more prefer to watch the games on TV. But watching sports events and going in for sports are two different things. My favorite kind of sport is tennis. I've been playing it since I was eleven years old, and the more I play it the more I like it. There is a good tennis court not far from my house and whenever I have a chance I go with a friend of mine.