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Leonidas of Rhodes

(Encyclopedia)Leonidas of Rhodes rōdz [key], fl. 2d cent. b.c., ancient Greek athlete. He won three different foot races—the stadion, about 200 m, the diaulos, about 400m, and the hoplitodromos, in which athlete...

pentathlon

(Encyclopedia)pentathlon pĕntăthˈlən [key], composite athletic event. In ancient Greece it comprised leaping, foot racing, wrestling, discus throwing, and casting the javelin. The modern pentathlon, an Olympic ...

Wambach, Abby

(Encyclopedia)Wambach, Abby (Mary Abigail Wambach) wämˈbäk [key], 1980–, American soccer player, b. Rochester, N.Y. A forward, she was the all-time leading scorer for the Univ. of Florida Gators (1998–2001)....

ice skating

(Encyclopedia)ice skating, gliding along an ice surface on keellike runners known as ice skates. The earliest skates (c.9th cent.), made of bone, were found in Sweden. Wooden skates with iron facings appeared in ...

Nadal, Rafael

(Encyclopedia)Nadal, Rafael (Rafael Nadal Parera), 1986–, Spanish tennis player, b. Majorca. Widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player ever, “Rafa” turned professional at 15. In 2005 he won his first ...

bobsledding

(Encyclopedia)bobsledding, winter sport in which a bobsled—a partially enclosed vehicle with steerable sledlike runners, accommodating two or four persons—hurtles down a course of iced, steeply banked, twisting...

amateur

(Encyclopedia)amateur, in sports, one who engages in athletic competition without material recompense. Upper-class Englishmen in the 19th cent. used the concept to help define their social status, first applying th...

Maladetta Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Maladetta Mountains mälädĕtˈä [key], Span. Montes Malditos [Span.,=cursed mountains], massif of the central Pyrenees, NE Spain, near the French border. Its highest point, Pico de Aneto (11,168 ft...

Cambrian Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Cambrian Mountains kămˈbrēən [key], rugged upland plateau occupying most of Wales; Aran Fawddwy (2,970 ft/905 m) is the highest point in the mountains. The area has deep lakes and is cut by numero...

Zhiguli Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Zhiguli Mountains zhēgo͞olyēˈ [key], wooded range, E European Russia, in the Samara bend of the Volga River at Samara. They rise to c.2,220 ft (680 m) and are rich in oil, which is piped to Samara...
 

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