Sports Спорт

11 Russian words on the topic of sports — each with a picture, an audio recording and an example sentence. Disciplines from the pool to the court — and two whole chapters of their own to drill into: soccer and the gym.

English	Russian · Ру́сский	Notes
sport	спорт	🔗 Word familyBorrowed from English 'sport'. ⚠️ GenderUsually singular — a particular sport is вид спо́рта ('a kind of sport').
soccerchapter›	футбо́л	🔀 Several meaningsMeans soccer; American football is америка́нский футбо́л. Stress on the last syllable.
basketball	баскетбо́л	🔗 Word familyFrom English, but the stress moves to the end: баскетбо́л. 🔗 Word familyA player is баскетболи́ст.
tennis	те́ннис	те is pronounced hard [te], not [tye]. Note the double н. Table tennis: насто́льный те́ннис.
swimming	пла́вание	🔗 Word familyAction noun from пла́вать (to swim). Nouns in -ние are neuter.
to run	бежа́ть	⚠️ IrregularDirectional pair: бежа́ть (one direction) / бе́гать (in general).
team	кома́нда	🔗 Word familyCognate of 'command'. 🔀 Several meaningsThe same word means both a team and an order/command.
player	игро́к	🔗 Word familyFrom игра́ть (to play). ⚠️ GenderStress stays on the ending — plural игроки́.
coach	тре́нер	🔗 Word familyFrom English 'trainer', but stressed on the first syllable. ⚠️ GenderPlural тре́неры.
to win	вы́играть	Perfective — the prefix вы́- always takes the stress. ⚠️ IrregularImperfective выи́грывать. 🔗 Word familyRoot: игра́ть, 'to play'.
to lose	прои́грывать	⚠️ IrregularImperfective; perfective проигра́ть. 🔗 Word familySame root as вы́играть — winning and losing both come from игра́ть (to play).
championship	чемпиона́т	🔗 Word familySame family: чемпио́н (champion). World championship — чемпиона́т ми́ра.
gym / sports centerchapter›	спорти́вный центр	🌎 RegionA gym in everyday speech is спортза́л or тренажёрный зал ('machine room').