Are you a Sports Junky

The county of Iran is as unique in its choice of sports as it is in its politics and geographical terrain. The hardy Iranians are known for their versatility and hospitality, but on the sports field, they are real hard-hitters. In Iran, the preference is for freestyle wrestling. It is a traditional and the national sport of Iran. The people here harbor a preference for all kinds of combat sports and martial arts.

They are diehard fans of Taekwondo, Greco Roman Wrestling, Kung Fu and Karate. Another very popular sport in Iran is association football. The game plans of volleyball and Futsal are also widely practiced by the young and old alike. The wrestling and weight lifting championships are regular events in Iran. It is interesting to note that men and women take an active part in sports and make a great audience. In Iran, sport is a medium of release of energy and ability. There is great respect attached to the world of sport here.

A number of sports have gone on to being associated closely with certain nations as their national sports. Some of them are listed below:

* In Afghanistan, Buzkashi is a traditional sport and this variation of polo comfortably co-exists with association football, cricket and boxing.

* In Albania, the national sport is association football.

* In the, the national sport is cricket

*Bahrain has association football as its national sport.

* In Bangladesh, the national sport is ‘Kabaddi’, a variation of the tug-of-war and it co-exists with the recent interest developed in cricket and field hockey.

* Barbados has cricket as its national sport.

* In Iceland, the national sport is Glima.

* India celebrates hockey as the national sport, while the cricket fever continues day in and out.

Different countries and people have their individual preferences and certain games stir their sentiments. Sports have played a major role in uniting people all through history

The Olympic Games is an international event. There are many multi sport events that are professionally categorized and subdivided into summer and winter events, held separately. The Olympic Games, both summer and winter, are held every four years and this is referred to as the Olympiad. In fact, until recently, both, the summer and winter games were held in the same year; however, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold the events over a period of consecutive years.

The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894, two years prior to the first of the International Olympic Committee or IOC’s Olympic Games in 1896. The overall participation in the Olympic Games has increased and now includes athletes from all over the world. Every citizen, of every nation worldwide, is now a part of the Olympic Games with the improvement of satellite communication and global telecast. The events at the Olympics are consistently gaining supporters and adding to the existing number of games being played.

Disabled sports, like the term suggests, are sports played by people with some disability or the other. The disabilities are categorized as physical or intellectual. These ports are regular sports reinvented. The existing sports are modified in a way to meet the needs of disabled persons and hence these sports are also sometimes referred to as adapted sports. However, it is important to understand that not all the disabled sports are adapted sports. There are several independent variations of different sports that have been specifically created for such persons with disabilities. The whole idea is to create competition for people who unfortunately have no equivalent in able-bodied sports.

The levels of competition though in the disabled sports are no different from the regular sports. The motto remains: May the best man win! These sports have given the disabled community a rostrum to display their effort towards striving for excellence in spite of their disability.