Chinese Vocabulary about Sports

Posted by Lilian Li 14656

Learn Chinese sports vocabulary

This article will not only show some sports vocabulary but also tell you how to talk about sports with Chinese people, especially some conversations about summer Olympic Games!

Before we get started, let’s see how to say Olympic Games itself: àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì 奥林匹克运动会, and normally people just call it “ào yùn huì 奥运会” for short.

1. Aquatics

Swimming yóu yǒng 游泳Canoe/ Kayak pí huà tǐng 皮划艇
Diving tiàoshuǐ 跳水Rowing sài tǐng 赛艇
Water Polo shuǐqiú 水球       Sailing fán chuán 帆船

Chinese people are big fan of aquatics! The diving competition is the match you should not miss since the Chinese team has been winning the championship for a long time. Both Chinese women and men are top athletes in this field. The diving champions are very popular among Chinese people too, like Guo Jingjing 郭晶晶, the “diving queen” and ”diving prince” Tian Liang 田亮.

2. Athletics

100m/ 200m/ 400m/ 800m/ 1500m/ 5000m/ 10000m: yì bǎi/ liǎng bǎi/ sì bǎi/ bā bǎi/ yìqiān wǔ bǎi/ wǔ qiān/ yí wàn mǐ pǎo : 200/ 400/ 800/ 1500/ 5000/ 10000米跑
110 m/ 400 m hurdles: yì bǎi yīshí mǐ / sì bǎi kuàlán 110米/ 400米跨栏
20 km/ 50 km walk: èr shí gōnglǐ/ wǔ shí gōnglǐ jìng zǒu 20公里/ 50公里竞走
4 x 100 m/ 4 x 400 m relay: sì chéng yī bǎi mǐ/ sì chéng sì bǎi mǐ jiēlì 4×100米/ 4×400米接力

Marathon  mǎāsōng 马拉松

Hammer liànqiú 链球
High jump tiàogāo 跳高Javelin biāoqiāng 标枪
Pole vault chēnggǎn tiàogāo 撑杆跳       Shot put qiānqiú 铅球
Long jump tiàoyuǎn 跳远       Discus tiěbǐng 铁饼
Triple jump sān jí tiàoyuǎn 三级跳远        Decathlon shí xiàng quánnéng 十项全能

It is known that the Chinese athletes do not usually rank at the top, but Chinese people’s passion for sports is something you cannot deny. We owe it to the 110m hurdles final of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games which drew national attention because of Liu Xiang, known in China as the”Flying Man.”

3. Ball Games

Badminton yǔmáoqiú 羽毛球

Softball lěiqiú 垒球
Baseball bàngqiú 棒球Table Tennis pīngpāng qiú 乒乓球
Basketball lánqiú 篮球        Volleyball páiqiú 排球
Football zúqiú 足球       Tennis wǎngqiú 网球
Handball shǒuqiú 手球        Beach volleyball shātān páiqiú 沙滩排球
Hockey qūgùnqiú 曲棍球         

As a Mandarin teacher, I’ve heard of a lot of jokes about ”do not mention your ping-pong skill in front of Chinese people” from my students all over the world. But the truth is that not everyone in China knows how to play table tennis, let alone to play it very well, including me. The idea that all Chinese are good table tennis players is, of course, a stereotype.

4. Others

Archery shèjiàn 射箭

Fencing jījiàn 击剑
Boxing quánjī 拳击Gymnastics tǐcāo 体操
Equestrian mǎshù 马术       Rhythmic gymnastics yìshù tǐcāo 艺术体操
Judo róudào 柔道       Shooting shèjī 射击
Taekwondo táiquándào 跆拳道        Triathlon tiěrén sānxiàng 铁人三项
Weightlifting jǔzhòng 举重        Wrestling shuāijiāo 摔跤 

This is just a few of the sports vocabulary in Chinese, if you want to learn more, register here and learn with our best Chinese teachers!

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