What five interlocking colored rings make up the Olympic symbol, and what do they represent?

Five rings for the five inhabited continents.

Sports & Play

Sports Word Search

This sports word search hides words like golf, soccer, tennis to find. Play it free online or print the PDF with the answer key, a handy sports vocabulary activity.

10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included · Free printable PDF

Sports & Play

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Tap the first and last letter of a word — or use arrow keys and Enter. Dragging works too.

BASKETBALL
WRESTLING
SWIMMING
MARATHON
BASEBALL
CYCLING
ARCHERY
SOCCER
TENNIS
GOLF

🎉 Solved — all 10 words found!

True stories

Never too old to swim

Key West, Florida

In September 2013, after wading ashore at Key West, Florida, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba without a shark cage. She was 64 years old. The crossing covered about 110 miles of open water full of jellyfish and currents, and took close to 53 hours of nonstop swimming. It was her fifth attempt over 35 years; four earlier tries had ended in failure, including one that nearly killed her. Helpers shielded her from box jellyfish stings with a special mask and suit. Exhausted and slurring on the sand, she told the crowd a simple message: you are never too old to chase your dream.

The water carrier who won

Athens, Greece

On April 10, 1896, in Athens, Greece, a quiet water carrier named Spyridon Louis won the first modern Olympic marathon. He had no real training and worked hauling water by cart between his village and the city. Running the route from Marathon, he took the lead late and entered the Panathenaic Stadium to a roar from tens of thousands of Greeks, some of whom rose and wept. Two royal princes ran the final stretch beside him. When the king offered him a reward, Louis asked only for a horse and cart to help carry his water more easily. He never raced competitively again, content as a local hero.

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Did you know?

golf: Astronaut Alan Shepard smuggled a club head aboard Apollo 14 and hit two golf balls on the Moon in 1971.
soccer: The word soccer is actually British, a clipped form of association football, coined at Oxford alongside the slang rugger.
tennis: The scoring word love likely comes from playing for nothing, the way someone does a thing purely for the love of it.
swimming: Humans are born with a diving reflex: a baby placed in water will hold its breath and paddle for a short while.
marathon: The race honors a Greek messenger said to have run from Marathon to Athens with news of victory, then collapsed.
cycling: The first bicycle had no pedals: riders pushed it along with their feet, and it was nicknamed the running machine.
archery: A skilled archer can loose an arrow that leaves the bow at over 150 miles per hour, faster than a highway car.
baseball: Baseball has no game clock, so in theory a tied game could continue forever until someone finally scores the winning run.
wrestling: Wrestling is one of the oldest sports, shown in ancient cave paintings and included in the very first Greek Olympic Games.
basketball: Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891, using a soccer ball and two peach baskets nailed to a gym wall.
volleyball: Volleyball was invented in 1895 as a gentler indoor alternative to basketball, and was first called mintonette by its creator.
badminton: The shuttlecock can rocket off a racket faster than any other sports projectile, thanks to its light feathered crown.
gymnastics: The word gymnastics comes from a Greek term meaning to exercise naked, which is how ancient athletes trained and competed.
skateboarding: Skateboarding grew from California surfers who wanted something to ride on the streets when the ocean waves went flat.
snowboarding: Snowboarding began with the Snurfer, a board steered by a hand rope, and became an official Olympic sport in 1998.

Trivia

How long is a modern marathon, set at the 1908 London Olympics to finish before the royal box?
26.2 miles (about 42.195 km).
In tennis scoring, what number does the word deuce signal that both players have reached?
Forty (40-40).
Which sport was the first played on the Moon, when an astronaut hit two balls in 1971?
Golf.
What five interlocking colored rings make up the Olympic symbol, and what do they represent?
Five rings for the five inhabited continents.
In which country did judo and karate both develop into the forms practiced today?
Japan.

Trivia · 1 / 5

How long is a modern marathon, set at the 1908 London Olympics to finish before the royal box?

26.2 miles (about 42.195 km).

In their words

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky

We should never, ever give up. You are never too old to chase your dream.
Diana Nyad

Is this sports word search free to print?

This sports word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like BASKETBALL, WRESTLING, SWIMMING hidden across, down, and diagonally. You can play it right here in your browser — tap the first and last letter of a word — or download it as a printable PDF with the full answer key on page two. It's free for personal and classroom use, so teachers can print copies for a whole class with no sign-up and no account. Word searches like this one are a proven way to build vocabulary, spelling, and word-shape recognition, which is why they're a favourite with ESL learners, elementary classrooms, and anyone who likes a quiet puzzle with their coffee.

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