Basketball

Basketball: A history

Basketball is usually considered an American sport, but it was actually invented by a Canadian churchman called James Naismith.

He wanted to create a game that could be played indoors during the winter, as a way of keeping his students at the YMCA in shape.

Today, Basketball is played worldwide, with players from more than 30 countries strutting their stuff in the American National Basketball Association (NBA) - the world’s leading professional league.

Basketball at the Games

The US men’s team has dominated Olympic Basketball.

For 36 years after Basketball entered the Games as a full medal sport at Berlin 1936, the question was always who would win silver.

Then, at Munich 1972, the Soviet Union won a tight gold medal match, beginning a rivalry that lasted until Barcelona 1992.

At Barcelona, professional players took part for the first time, and an all-star NBA ‘Dream Team’ won gold.

Women’s Basketball – first held at the Games in Montreal 1976 – has not been so one-sided, although the United States and Russia still dominate.

How to play – and win

At the Olympic Games, Basketball is played on an indoor court by two teams of five players.

The aim is to score points by shooting the ball into your net (or ‘basket’), which sits on a backboard 3.05 metres (10 feet) above floor level.

The players move the ball around the court by bouncing it along the floor and throwing it to one another. Games consist of four 10-minute quarters with teams changing ends at half-time.

Football

Football: A history of the sport

Football is one of the most widely played and oldest games in existence. The ancient Chinese, Greeks and Romans played something very similar to Football long before the English Kings in the 1300s and 1400s tried to outlaw what they described as a violent sport.

In modern terms, Football began when the Football Association of England was founded in 1863. The game was spread throughout the world by English sailors who used to play it wherever they went.

Football at the Games

Men’s Football was a demonstration event at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896.

It became a full medal sport from London 1908. At Barcelona 1992, professional players were allowed to take part in the Games for the first time. The rules were changed to make it an Under-23 event, with three players over this age allowed in every team.

Women’s Football has no age limits and appeared at the Games for the first time in Atlanta 1996.

How to play – and win

Football is played on an outdoor grass pitch by two teams of 11 players.

The aim of the game is to score a goal by putting the ball in the other team’s net. The team that scores the most goals wins.

Only the goalkeepers on each team are allowed to touch the ball with their hands. The other players use their feet, head and body to move it around the pitch.

Matches are played over 90 minutes – two 45-minute halves.