Chinese Vocabulary about Sports

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!