Delingua’s personnel are enthusiastic spectators regardless of the type of sport. However, last year the couch athlete’s summer was very short as major sporting events were postponed by a year. This summer we have been – and will be – enjoying the sports fever to the fullest. First, we cheered for the Finnish national football team, Huuhkajat, at the group stage of UEFA Euro 2020 and stayed up late at night watching the exciting matches in the later rounds and finals. We also had a playful betting contest on the group stage matches. This time the win might have been based more on luck than expertise. 😉
Now it’s time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which also features football. Even though the Olympic Games are organised without any audience present, the various sports will surely be followed on television all over the world, also on the couches of Delingua’s personnel. So, let’s get into the Olympic spirit!
A wide range of sports
The history of the Olympic Games began in ancient Greece in 776 BCE and the first modern Summer Olympics were held in Athens in 1896. Five sports have been part of the Olympic Games since the first event: fencing, swimming, gymnastics, cycling and athletics. The Olympic sports vary slightly from year to year: this year, the programme includes 46 sports, 12 of which have Finnish participants. In addition, some sports, such as athletics and swimming, encompass a wide range of different sports types and categories, including team and individual competitions. As a result, the total number of sports is huge.
Over the years, some sports, such as polo, tug of war and lacrosse, have dropped out of the Olympics and new sports, such as BMX racing, marathon swimming and trampoline gymnastics, have been introduced. This year, athletes compete for Olympic medals not only in “traditional sports” but also in surfing, softball and baseball, for instance. In the past, the Summer Olympics have even featured sports such as ice hockey and figure skating, nowadays to be seen in the Winter Olympics. You can find all Olympic sports here.
Official languages
The Olympic Games always have at least two official languages: English and French. In addition, the official language of the host country is also an official language of the Olympic Games. If the country has more than one official language, like Finland does, the number of official languages at the Olympics increases accordingly.
So, this year the official languages of the Olympic Games will be English, French and Japanese. This means that all announcements, signs and official documents should be in all of these languages, which in turn means that not only athletes but also many translators and interpreters will participate in the Olympic Games. This goes to show that it is not always easy to realise in how many places language experts are actually needed.
Finnish–English glossary
If you are not familiar with all the sports of the Summer Olympics, you can learn more about this year’s sports in Finnish and English by having a look at our glossary. As an extra challenge you can also learn the names of all the sports in Japanese. You can access the Japanese–English glossary here.
