Sports in Australia
Топик "Спорт в Австралии" познакомит вас с отношением австралийцев к спорту. В действительности, австралийцы уделяют ему очень большое внимание: численность населения страны всего 16 миллионов человек, а чемпионов мира во всех видах спорта – большое количество. Популярные виды спорта — серфинг, крикет, теннис, верховая езда, гонки на яхтах и уникальный австралийский футбол. Круглый год в Австралии проводятся спортивные турниры и праздники — регаты, родео, верблюжьи бега и марафоны.
A lot of Australians think one shouldn't worry too much about life.
But some things in life are really important, and to many Australian men, one of these things is sport. It's something they don't joke about. Sport matters. In pubs, clubs and even at work you'll often find men who talk about only one thing — sport.
Australians are lucky. They have a perfect climate, and an endless amount of land. They have wonderful waves f 01 surfers on their beaches. They also have a strong wish to win. Put these together and you get a lot of good sportsmen and women. In fact, Australia has a very high number of world champions in all kinds of sports for a country of only 16 million people.
Around the country you'll find plenty of opportunities to enjoy squash, tennis, trail riding (horse or motorcycle), fishing, and so on. Surfing is almost a religion for many Australians who follow the waves around the country, and there are lots of important surfing contests.
You'll find football of assorted types, including the unique Australian Rules Football. Then, there's motor racing and motorcycle racing, horse racing, yacht racing, cricket matches and lots more.
The best thing, of course, is to play sports yourself. But if you can't, or you don't want to, then you can watch other people doing it. Every year, more than 100,000 people go to the final mathes of Australian Rules Football. Crowds of more than 90,000 watch the big cricket matches against India, Pakistan, New Zealand and England. There are sport events and holidays in Australia year round. Here are some of them.
In February, there's Regatta Day with boat races and other water activities.
In June, the Beer Can Regatta takes place when there are boat races for boats constructed entirely out of beer cans — there are plenty of those in the world's beer drinking capital.
In August, camel racing is on in Alice Springs, and then the Apex Rodeo is held, one of the biggest rodeo in Australia — the town fills up with cowboys.
Meanwhile in Sydney, Australian's biggest race takes place with 25,000 competitors running the 14 km from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach in the city ace. It is a public holiday in Victoria but the whole country shuts down for the three minutes or so which the race takes.
In December, the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race starts on the 26th, it's a fantastic sight as the yachts stream out of the harbour and head south.