Asian games (asiads)

Asian Games (Asiads) are international sport tournaments. They are held everу four years among sportsmen from Asia. Another name for Asian Games are Asiads. The history of the Games goes baсk to India where the first Asiad took plaсe in 1951. There are two types of Asian Games: summer and winter ones. The Summer Asian Games were held 16 times, the Winter Asian Games 6 times before now. The Olympic Council of Asia manages Asian Games. Every Games have their own motto, flag, anthem and emblem. Kazakhstan has been taking part in Asian Games since 1996.

The Republic of Kazakhstan was the organizer of the 7-th Asian Winter Games. Sportsmen from 26 Asian countries took part in the Games (January, 30 – February, 6, 2011). 11 sport events were held in Astana and Almaty. Kazakhstan, the winner of the 7-th Asian Games, has got 70 medals: 32gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze.

We are proud of our country and its sportsmen.

Vocabulary:

are held – проводятся

the history goes bask – история возвращает

the Olympic Council of Asia – Oлимпийский Совет Азии

motto – девиз

the winner – победитель

are proud – гордятся

• Put the correct numbers into the gaps in the sentences:

26 70 1996 1951 11

1. The history of the Games goes baсk to India where the first Asiada took plaсe in ….

2. Kazakhstan has been taking part in Asian Games since ….

3. Sportsmen from … Asian countries took part in the Games

4. Kazakhstan, the winner of the 7-th Asian Games, has got … medals.

• Answer the questions:

1. How often are Asiads held?

2. What do every Games have?

3. Since when has Kazakhstan been taking part in Asian Games?

4. How many medals has Kazakhstan won?

5. We are proud our sportsmen, aren’t we?

• Put the correct preposition from the following list:

in of among since

1. Kazakhstan has been taking part in Asian Games … 1996.

2. 11 sport events were held … Astana and Almaty.

3. We are proud … our country and its sportsmen.

4. They are held everу four years … sportsmen from Asia.

Sports and games in kazakhstan

People all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

Many people in Kazakhstan do sports on their personal initiative. They go in for skiing, skating, boxing, table tennis (Ping-Pong), swimming, volleyball, football, bodybuilding, etc. All necessary facilities are provided for them: stadiums, sport grounds, swimming pools, skating rinks, skiing stations, football fields. Sport is paid much attention to in our educational establishments. Gymnastics is a part of children's daily activity in the kindergartens. Physical culture is a compulsory subject at schools and colleges.

Professional sport is also paid much attention to in our republic. There are different sporting societies clubs and complexes. They are used for international and world competitions. The most popular sport in Kazakhstan is boxing.

Kazakh boxers are generally well known in the world. In last three Olympic Games their performance was assessed as one of the best and they had more medals than any country in the world except Cuba and Russia (in all three games). In 1996 and 2004, two Kazakh boxers (Vasiliy Jirov in 1996 and Bakhtiyar Artayev in 2004) were recognized as the best boxers for their techniques with the Val Barker trophy, awarded to the best boxer of the tournament.

Kazakh boxers performed well in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Two boxers, Bekzat Sattarkhanov and Yermakhan Ibraimov, earned gold medals. Other two boxers, Bulat Jumadilov and Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov, earned silver medals.