Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The ISU, the governing body of both ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. Sometimes the runners are referred to as harriers. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass, and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter, and can include weather conditions of rain, sleet, snow or hail, and a wide range of temperatures.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is the oldest and most prestigious golf club in the world. It is based in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is regarded as the worldwide "Home of Golf". Formerly, it was also one of the governing authorities of the game, but in 2004 this role was handed over to a newly formed group of companies, collectively known as The R&A.
Swim Ireland is the national governing body of swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming and synchronised swimming in the island of Ireland. Competitors from Northern Ireland can opt to compete for British Swimming in international competitions, with the exception of the Commonwealth Games where they can compete for Northern Ireland.
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the inter-county teams in All Ireland.
2006 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Sport in Ireland plays an important role in Irish society. The many sports played and followed in Ireland include association football, Gaelic games, horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, boxing, tennis, hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, and rugby union.
British Swimming is the national governing body of swimming, water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and open water in Great Britain. British Swimming is a federation of the national governing bodies of England, Scotland, and Wales. These three are collectively known as the Home Country National Governing Bodies.
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. The title sponsor is currently Dubai Duty Free.
The Kentucky Three Day Event, currently the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event due to sponsorship, is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Rolex Kentucky is a CCI***** eventing competition. Five stars is the highest level of competition in the sport, the same level of competition as Eventing at the Olympics and the World Equestrian Games. The event is sponsored by Land Rover. Prize money of $400,000 is distributed among the top placings with $110,000 as well as a Rolex watch awarded to the first place horse and rider.
A Feis or Fèis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are feiseanna and fèisean. The term "feis" is commonly used referring to Irish dance competitions and, in Scotland, to immersive teaching courses, specialising in traditional music and culture. In Scottish Gaelic, the accent is important because there is a difference of meaning and pronunciation between 'feis' and 'fèis' - the word 'feis' means sexual intercourse,.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations, and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The current EHF President is Michael Wiederer, who was elected on 17 November 2016 and will serve until 2020. The federation celebrated its 20th anniversary on 17 November 2011 at a gala event under the slogan 'HeartBeat Handball'.
The All-Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. Poc Fada is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by Martin Donnelly.
Oussama "Ous" Mellouli is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Trojans team based at the University of Southern California, where he studied as a computer science undergraduate and swam collegiately.
In golf, par is the predetermined number of strokes that a scratch golfer should require to complete a hole, a round, or a tournament. Pars are the central component of stroke play, the most common kind of play in professional golf tournaments. The term is also used in golf-like sports such as disc golf, with the same meaning.
Swimming is pretty popular in Sweden. The Swedish Swimming Federation has about 300 member clubs and about 12,000 licensed swimmers.
The French Swimming Federation (FFN) is a French law association of 1901, founded in February 1919, grouping the sports swimming clubs, open water swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and French water polo, which organizes the national competitions and the selection of French teams. In 2017 the Federation has 316 905 members. The FFN is a member of the European Swimming League (LEN) and the International Swimming Federation (Fina). Since April 2017, the FFN is chaired by Gilles Sezionale.
Golf in Russia is not yet widespread, not only because of adverse natural conditions, but also because the construction of golf courses requires large capital investments. The first 18-hole golf course was built in the suburban area of Nakhabino in 1994, and remained the only one in the country for many years.
The Debrecen Swimming Pool Complex is an aquatics venue in Debrecen, Hungary. The facility features a competitive long course pool, a warm up pool, a training pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and an outdoor thermal bath with a water temperature of 34–36 °C. The 50 metres long course pool can be reduced to 33 metres or 25 metres by a mobile wall, making it available for short course events.