photo credit: Marc van der Chijs

The plans accepted by the IOC for the Olympic torch relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing. The relay, with the theme “Journey of Harmony”, will last 130 days, carrying the torch 137,000 km (85,100 mi.) – the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay (though most of it is by air). The relay will begin on March 25, 2008, in Olympia, Greece. (more…)

Water polo is a team water sport requiring an ability to swim. Field players must swim end to end of a 30-meter pool non-stop many times during a game. The front crawl stroke used in water polo differs from the usual swimming style in that water polo players swim with the head out of water at all times to observe the field. Backstroke is used by defending field players to track advancing attackers and by the goalie to track the ball after passing. Water polo backstroke differs from swimming backstroke; the player sits almost upright in the water, using eggbeater leg motions with short arm strokes to the side instead of long straight arm strokes. This allows the player to see the play and quickly switch positions. (more…)

- Check out what role vision plays in this sport!

Archery was not a sports event in the first ancient Olympic Games in Greece. However, the games were held for over 1,000 years, so it’s entirely possible that at some time archery was an Olympic sport in the past.

Archery for men was an event for the first time in the modern Olympics in 1900. The first archery event for women was in 1904. However, there was no uniformity in the rules in those early Olympics and archery was dropped as an event after 1920. The international governing body for archery, the Federation Internationale de Tira l’Arc (FITA), was founded in 1931. It took many years before all countries accepted the new international rules for competition, but archery was able to return as an Olympic sport to the 1972 Munich Games. In 1988, team competitions were held in addition to the individual events. (more…)