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Phoenix, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Phoenix, city (1990 pop. 983,403), state capital and seat of Maricopa co., S Ariz., on the Salt River; inc. 1881. It is the largest city in Arizona, the hub of the rich agricultural region of the Salt...

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...

Bremerton

(Encyclopedia)Bremerton brĕmˈərtən [key], city (2020 pop. 43,505), Kitsap co., NW Wash., a harbor on an arm ...

swimming

(Encyclopedia)swimming, self-propulsion through water, often as a form of recreation or exercise or as a competitive sport. It is mentioned in many of the classics in connection with heroic acts or religious rites....

Graf, Steffi

(Encyclopedia)Graf, Steffi gräf, grăf [key], 1969–, German tennis player. A powerful baseliner, she drew international attention by winning the 1984 Olympic demonstration event. Graf won her first major title, ...

Thorpe, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Thorpe, Jim (James Francis Thorpe), 1888–1953, American athlete, b. near Prague, Okla. Thorpe was probably the greatest all-round male athlete the United States has ever produced. His mother, a Sac,...

Theagenes of Thasos

(Encyclopedia)Theagenes of Thasos, fl. 5th cent. b.c., ancient Greek athlete. He excelled in boxing and the pankration, which combined wrestling and boxing, and won 10 victories at the Isthmian Games, nine at the N...

Libon

(Encyclopedia)Libon līˈbŏn [key], fl. 5th cent. b.c., Greek architect. Within the sacred precincts of Altis at Olympia where the Greeks celebrated their Olympic games, he built the Doric temple to Zeus (complete...