The Olympic torch will soon arrive in Paris, where it will burn brightly for the thirty-third Olympiad. For a fun way to practice your Spanish this summer, try watching—and discussing!— the Olympics en español.

Here's the vocabulary you'll need to enjoy the Summer Games!

Spanish names for Olympic sports

There are over 30 sports being contested in this summer’s Olympic Games, or Juegos Olímpicos (abbreviated JJOO). Many of them are classics that have been part of the Olympics for decades or longer, such as el voleibol (volleyball) and el tenis (tennis). 

When discussing these sports in Spanish, unlike in English, it’s important to use the article as in, el fútbol (soccer). Not all sports have the same grammatical gender, though, so how do you know which sports use the feminine (la) or masculine (el) article? 

Similar to many nouns in Spanish, sports ending in -o take a masculine article, and those with names ending in -a take a feminine article: for example, el ciclismo (cycling) and la esgrima (fencing). 

But what about sports that do not end in either -o or -a in Spanish? The vast majority of these are masculine: el bádminton (badminton), el golf (golf), el rugby (rugby), and el triatlón (triathlon). It is a common practice in Spanish for loanwords to take masculine gender unless there is a particular reason not to.

The one exception among the summer Olympic sports is la natación (swimming). This word ends in -ción, like la inspiración and la distinción, indicating a Latin origin. This group of words took on the feminine grammatical gender when they entered into Spanish long ago. 

This year, there are four optional sports at the Olympics, one of which is completely new: el breaking (breakdancing)! The other three are el surf (also el surfing, for surfing), el skateboarding (you guessed it—skateboarding), and la escalada deportiva (sport climbing). As you can see, the borrowings from English again get the masculine gender. However, with la escalada deportiva, there was already a Spanish name for it, and it follows the usual Spanish patterns of grammatical gender, so escalada uses the feminine article. 

Spanish vocabulary for track and field

Now let’s take a look at some helpful vocabulary for three of the most popular sports!

First, one of the oldest and most popular is el atletismo (track and field). The events in el atletismo include: 

Spanish English
la pista track (the oval and the sport)
la carrera de velocidad sprint race
la carrera de (medio) fondo (middle) distant races
las vallas hurdles
la marcha atlética race walking
el salto de longitud long jump
el salto de altura high jump
el triple salto triple jump
el salto de pértiga pole vault
el lanzamiento de jabalina javelin throw
el lanzamiento de peso shot put
el lanzamiento de disco discus throw
el lanzamiento de martillo hammer throw
el heptatlón heptathlon
el decatlón decathlon

Spanish vocabulary for gymnastics

Another very popular sport is la gimnasia (gymnastics). Although there are three disciplines—la gimnasia artística, la gimnasia rítmica, and la gimnasia en trampolín—the one most people watch is la gimnasia artística. Here are some helpful terms for discussing la gimnasia artística:

Spanish English
la rutina routine
el ejercicio de suelo floor exercise
el salto de potro vault
las barras paralelas parallel bars
las barras asimétricas uneven bars
la barra horizontal high bar
el salto de altura beams
las anillas rings
el caballo con arcos pommel horse

Spanish vocabulary for swimming

The third most popular summer Olympic sport is la natación (swimming), Most of us only need to know the phrase nadar perrito (doggy paddle) for our regular lives, but here's the vocabulary and variations you can expect to hear for la natación at the Olympics:

Spanish English
la piscina / alberca pool
la natación en aguas abiertas open water (marathon) swimming
la carrera de relevo relay race
la brazada stroke
las barras asimétricas uneven bars
la patada kick
el estilo espalda / dorso backstroke
el estilo mariposa butterfly stroke
el estilo braza / pecho breaststroke
el estilo libre / crol freestyle / crawl
combinado IM (individual medley)

¡Vamos!

Now that you know a little bit about how to discuss the Olympics in Spanish, go cheer on your favorite Spanish-speaking athletes! Look out to see if anyone might batir un récord (break a record) and whether your favorite athletes will ganar una medalla de oro, plata o bronce (win a gold, silver, or bronze medal). ¡Anda! ¡Dale!