Cross country running, the sport no one talks about

Roy Griak Invitational Boy's High School race,...
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Football and soccer are the sports of kings!
In the United States, football takes center stage as ESPN talks without limits about the latest NFL and college football sports headlines. Across the Globe, soccer garners the attention as sports lovers follow their favorite teams.
Cross country running is a sport that no one talks about. While many follow their favorite runners during the Summer Olympics, few recognize the accomplishments of those off-road running enthusiasts that participate in sports like cross-country.
Cross-country running for high school athletes takes place in the fall. High school runners typically run on golf courses or other outdoor, grassy sights and over a distance of 5000 meters or 3.1 miles. A good high school runner will put in about 40 or 50 miles of training during the week in preparation for an upcoming race.
At the collegiate level, cross country runners run on the same types of courses, with distances that are slightly longer. A typical collegiate course is between 8000 and 10000 meters long, or five to six miles.
Even your elite long-distance runners that most sports fans see every four years participate in cross country races. A World Championship of cross country is held every year, covering 6.2 miles on course that are often muddy and filled with jumps and other hazards.
One of the great things that non cross-country sports enthusiasts never see is the pageantry and vibrancy of the sport. With high school races taking place on golf courses in the fall, the changing leaves provide a unique background that corresponds nicely with the vibrancy of multi-colored uniforms.
Unlike a track that has flat surfaces, cross-country running courses are often decorated with energy-sapping hills, tight corners and long stretches of flat surfaces where runners gain maximum speed.
Cross country running is unique and under-appreciated in the sports world. If you have never attended a cross-country sports event, contact your local high school and get outside and see what you are missing.

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Competitive Swimming

Competitive swimming is one of the most watched events in the Summer Olympic Games. The competition consists of 36 events, including 18 for males and 18 for females, though the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 34 events (17 for males, 17 for females).

Swim meets at the Olympic Games are held in regulation 50 meter swimming pools that are divided into lanes for each swimmer. Distances typically swam include 50, 100 and 200 meters or yards and the strokes that are used in competition include the following: the breaststroke, the butterfly stroke, the backstroke and the freestyle stroke.

The breaststroke involves kicking your legs, making sure knees stay as close together as possible, scooping water towards your chest, and then thrusting your arms forward, extending them as far as they will go just before the kicking is repeated. Breaths are taken as the arms are coming down from being extended.

The butterfly stroke, known as the fastest modality in swimming, borrows a few key movements from the breaststroke; however, the butterfly, or “fly” as it’s known to most swimmers, is slightly more complicated and involves synchronizing arm and leg movements in order to maintain movement and speed. The proper technique involves extending your arms beyond your head, palms facing slightly down, and using your arms to push through the water in a sort of semicircle movement that ends with releasing your arms at the waist. While the arms are extended, you’re periodically coming up for air, then pulling your arms down. Meanwhile you are synchronizing your legs with your arm movements, kicking with both feet together in sequence with two kicks per stroke.

The backstroke style involves floating on your back while using one arm at a time to glide through the water, all while kicking both of your feet simultaneously.

The freestyle stroke is based on whatever stroke you choose, though the most popular stroke is the front crawl. This involves breathing to the side with one ear in the water, and alternating leg and arm movements. The swimming distances vary during freestyle competitions and can go up to 1,500 meters.

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