Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. Long popular as a competitive sport ...

(Encyclopedia) bicycle racing or cycling, an internationally popular sport conducted on closed courses or the open road. Track racing takes place at a velodrome, usually a banked 1,093.6 ft (.333 km) oval. Olympic m...

(Encyclopedia) Corinth, Isthmus of, c.20 mi (32 km) long and 4–8 mi (6.4–12.9 km) wide, connecting central Greece (Attica and Boeotia) with the Peloponnesus, between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf. It ...

(Encyclopedia) Veneti, people of ancient Italy. They occupied the shore of the Adriatic from Trieste to the mouth of the Po River and spoke an Illyrian language. Friendly toward Rome, they came under Roman rule in t...

(Encyclopedia) Mílos mēˈlō, mīˈ– [key], mountainous island (1991 pop. 4,390), 58 sq mi (150 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea; one of the Cyclades. The main town is Mílos, formerly known as Plaka. The is...

(Encyclopedia) decathlon dĭkăthˈlŏn [key], in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. It consists of the long jump; the high jump; the discus throw; ...

(Encyclopedia) Kaválla or Cavala both: käväˈlä [key], city (1991 pop. 58,025), capital of Kaválla prefecture, NE Greece, in Macedonia; a port on the Gulf of Kaválla, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. Surrounded by ...

(Encyclopedia) Límnos lĕmˈnŏs [key], island (1991 pop. 17,645), 186 sq mi (482 sq km), NE Greece, in the Aegean Sea near Turkey. It is largely mountainous, with areas of fertile lava soil. Fruits, wine, silk, an...

(Encyclopedia) Kadesh kāˈdĕsh [key], ancient city of Syria, on the Orontes River. There Ramses II fought (c.1300 b.c.) the Hittites in a great battle that ended in a truce. ...

(Encyclopedia) Ali, Muhammad məhămˈəd älēˈ [key], 1942–2016, American boxer, b. Louisville, Ky. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, he was a 1960 Olympic gold medalist. Shortly after upsetting Sonny Liston in 1964...