Exercise 3 World’s Sporting Champions

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For IGCSE ESL Exercise 3 World’s Sporting Champions, you have to read an article and make brief notes under supplied headings.

sports star

This IGCSE ESL Exercise 3 about world’s sporting champion and recent research is in a computer-based version which is different in format from the paper-based version of the IGCSE ESL Examination.

IGCSE ESL Exercise 3 World’s Sporting Champions

Read the article.  Write words under the different headings.

Scientists have identified the clear biological advantages that give the world's sporting champions a head start in life before they have even begun their rigorous training programmes.

Scientists working with official sports organisations have begun to examine hundreds of teenagers to see if they have any genetic   advantages that could be vital in a range of sporting events. Those young people who match up will be fast-tracked into training programmes designed to make them future champions.

The coach for the French Olympic team says: “We measure special attributes between the ages of 16 and 18. But only one in 10, 000 people has the physical aspects needed to compete at the very top level in sporting events. The biological make-up of an individual is now a huge factor in determining our choice of an athlete. We take into account the height, strength and endurance of a person. We also regard mental application as important, how an individual reacts when the competition gets really tough.”

Scientists say that medical evidence is playing an increasingly important role in the selection of athletes. A study of the 40-year dominance of Kenyan runners in long distance athletic events has revealed that 45 per cent of them come from the Nandi tribe. What is remarkable is that this tribe makes up only 3 per cent of the Kenyan population. There must be something in their genes which gives them such endurance. Athletic organisations consider these genetic factors a good indicator when selecting athletes to produce superior running performances.

Scientists say that in order to be dominant in a sport, an athlete now needs to possess at least one unusual physical quality. For example, David Beckham's bandy legs have been partly credited with helping to put a spin on the football when he takes a free kick for England. Other biological characteristics are more measurable. The American tennis player, Andy Roddick, has the fastest serve in the game. He is able to arch his back so much that it increases the rotation of his arm to 130 degrees. This is 44 per cent better than the average professional player and this allows him to drive the ball over the net at 240 kilometres per hour. Michael Phelps, the fourteen-times Olympic swimming champion, has over-size feet which act like flippers to propel him through the water.

These special biological features are not restricted to men. Mia Hamm, probably the best all-round woman footballer in the world, produces less than one litre of sweat an hour when doing vigorous exercise, which is half the human average. When it comes to speed, take the example of woman racing driver, Liz Halliday. A normal person would take 300 milliseconds to make a reactive decision. She can do it in 260 milliseconds. It may not sound much quicker but at top race speeds this makes a difference of three car lengths.

The difference between success and failure is very small and all these biological factors are crucial in finding future champions.

More exercises available:


Exercise 1 (Questions 1 -4) - Short answer exercises

Exercise 2 - (Question 5) Gap-filled exercises


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