1 Stepan Shevyakov
2 It's very important for people to have some regular exercises. In Russia a lot of people go in for sports. We can say that Russia is a nation of sports-lovers.
3 Many sports are popular in our country: footballbasketball volleyball
4 hockeyfigure skating skiing
5 tennis wrestling shooting
6 All water sports are widely spread in our country : swimming diving sailing water skiing
7 Some people are fond of extreme sports such as rock climbing, potholing or white-water rafting. rock climbing potholing white-water rafting
8 Russia's ethnic minorities also have their own traditional forms of exercise. The Yakuts of central Siberia are skilled reindeer-sled racers. Archery is popular with the Buryats of eastern Siberia. On the Amur River in southeastern Russia canoeing is also a popular sport.
9 Sports in Russia have traditionally been divided into amateur and professional. That's why there are different sports clubs in the country. A lot of sportsmen take part in international competitions and win medals. A great number of sportsmen take part in the Olympic Games and show excellent results. Hundreds of athletes have become Olympic medalists and record-setters. The names of Russian sportsmen are famous all over the world.
10 Yevgeniy Plyushchenko Irina Slutskaya Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov Irina Rodnina and Aleksander Zaytsev
11 Nikolay Valuyev Konstantin Tszu Maksim Chudov Ivan Cherezov
12 Lyaisan Utyasheva Alina Kabayeva Aleksey Nemov Yelena Isimbayeva
13 Yevgeniy Kafelnikov Marat Safin Dinara Safina Yelena Dementyeva Maria Sharapova
14 Igor Akinfeyev Andrey Arshavin Roman Pavlyuchenko
15 Vladislav Tretyak and Vyacheslav Fetisov Aleksander Ovechkin
16 During the last years there was a great increase in keeping fit and staying healthy in Russia. A lot of people started jogging and going to fitness clubs in their spare time. Aerobics classes and fitness clubs were opened in every town, and the number of recreation centres greatly increased.
17 Doing sports prevents us from getting too fat and helps to stay healthy. But despite the increase in the number of people participating in sports, the majority of them still prefer to be spectators. Thousands of people go to the stadiums to support their favourite teams and sportsmen. Most of the important competitions are televised and people enjoy watching sports programmes on TV.
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