A view of Sochi through the Olympic rings
The 2014 Winter Olympics is taking place in Sochi, Russia. It's the most expensive Olympic Games ever.
For world-class athletes it's a chance to perform to the best of their ability and win that gold medal for their country. And many of them are choosing new technology to help them improve their speed. Rob and Finn discuss the role of new technology at the Sochi Olympics and explain some sports-related vocabulary.
This week's question:
One winter sport event in this Olympics is the biathlon. It involves competitors doing two things but what are they? Are they:
a) Cross-country skiing and rifle shooting
b) Downhill skiing and rifle shooting
c) Cross-country skiing and swimming
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Listen
Technology at the Winter Olympics
Vocabulary
- go for gold
to try to get the best result possible
- athletes
people who are good at sport and particularly take part in sporting competitions
- give (someone) a helping hand
- modelling
designing and planning (here, using a computer programme)
- personal best
the best result you have ever achieved
- an advantage
something that makes one person more likely to succeed than another
- durability
staying in good condition for a long time despite constant use
- slalom
a race, in which people move around a series of poles, turning first one way and then the other (usually skiing)
- snow-plough
(here) a type of turn or move done when skiing
- freestyle
using any type of move you want to
- moguls
piles of snow you jump over when skiing
- artificial
made by people and used instead of something natural (for example: fake snow)
- hurtle
move very quickly without much control