Grand Slam

The four major tennis tournaments are the Australian Open, the French Open, the US Open, and Wimbledon. Winning all four in a single year is called a Grand Slam (a calendar-year Grand Slam). In golf as well, winning all four majors in a year is called a Grand Slam.

Athens

The birthplace of the ancient Olympics is Athens, Greece. In 1896, the first Games were held as the “Olympia Festival Competitions.” While the ancient Olympics were conducted as a religious event dedicated to the gods, the modern Olympics held today are a festival of sports aimed at world peace.

volleyball

Even if you didn’t know it by name, seeing this character probably made you go “Ah!” The popular volleyball-themed anime Haikyu!! comes from here. The kanji 排 (hai) carries meanings like “to push aside” or “to push out,” which is why this character is used.

traveling

Basketball is enjoying another boom thanks to the massive success of the theatrical film of the anime SLAM DUNK. Many people probably learned the name of this violation in elementary or middle school PE classes. You can walk up to three steps while holding the ball without dribbling; any more than that and it’s a foul.

road cycling

Triathlon, which would likely be the first to come to mind as an extreme sport, is an endurance event consisting of three disciplines. It began in the United States in 1974, and the name of the race changes depending on the total distance of those three disciplines. The total distance for an Olympic-standard triathlon is 51.5 km, and it is called the “short distance” or “Olympic distance.”

figure

In Japan, models and dolls are called “figures,” so it can be a bit confusing, right? The answer is “figure,” named because the traces drawn on the ice after gliding on the rink look like geometric figures. In English, it’s written as “figure.”

400m

In track and field, the use of tracks began in 19th-century Britain, where a standard lap was 440 yards. For the modern Olympics, the French metric system was adopted; since 440 yards is 404 meters, the fraction was rounded down to make it 400 meters.

12 professional baseball teams

There are 12 teams in total: six in the Central League—the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Yomiuri Giants, Yokohama DeNA BayStars, Chunichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers, and Hiroshima Toyo Carp—and six in the Pacific League—the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Saitama Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines, Orix Buffaloes, and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

United Kingdom

Rugby originated from football. Back then, football had no clear rules and was enjoyed under local rules that varied by region and school. It is said that rugby began when a student at Rugby School, a prestigious British institution, picked up the ball and ran with it.