Los Juegos Olímpicos
The vocabulary of a sports broadcast: the events, the rounds, and the verbs commentators use. Useful well beyond the Olympics, because the same words carry any competition.
La competencia
los Juegos Olímpicosmnoun
the Olympic Games
Shortened to los Juegos, or las Olimpiadas.
la sedefnoun
the host city
la eliminatoriafnoun
the qualifying round
la semifinalfnoun
the semi-final
la finalfnoun
the final
el podiomnoun
the podium
la medalla de orofnoun
the gold medal
De plata is silver, de bronce is bronze.
el récordmnoun
the record
Batió el récord mundial. · She broke the world record.
la selecciónfnoun
the national team
La selección peruana, or simply la selección.
Los deportes
el atletismomnoun
athletics
la nataciónfnoun
swimming
la gimnasiafnoun
gymnastics
el ciclismomnoun
cycling
el remomnoun
rowing
la esgrimafnoun
fencing
el levantamiento de pesasmnoun
weightlifting
Halterofilia is the official name; nobody says it in conversation.
el salto de longitudmnoun
the long jump
la carrera de relevosfnoun
the relay
el surfmnoun
surfing
Peru has won world titles in this one.
Los verbos del comentarista
clasificarseverb
to qualify
Se clasificó para la final. · She qualified for the final.
competirverb
to compete
batir un récord
to break a record
Batir, not romper, for records.
llevarse el oro
to take gold
Se llevó el oro por dos décimas. · He took gold by two tenths.
quedarverb
to finish, to come
Quedó tercero. · He came third.
Quedar plus a position. Not the same as quedarse, to stay.
empatarverb
to draw
descalificarverb
to disqualify
retirarseverb
to withdraw
Also to retire from the sport altogether.
superarverb
to beat, to get past
Superó su marca personal. · She beat her personal best.
Hablando de resultados
la marca personalfnoun
the personal best
por décimas
by tenths of a second
de manera ajustada
narrowly
con comodidad
comfortably
Ganó con comodidad. · She won comfortably.
el favoritomnoun
the favourite
la sorpresafnoun
the upset
Dar la sorpresa: to pull off the surprise.