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Sports in the United States are an important part of the country's culture. The four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). All four enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world, although only basketball, baseball, and ice hockey have substantial followings in other nations. Three of those leagues have teams that represent Canadian cities, and all four are among the most financially lucrative sports leagues in the world. Professional teams in all major sports in the U.S. operate as franchises within a league, meaning that a team may move to a different city if the owners believe financial benefit, but franchise moves are usually subject to some form of league-level approval. All major sports leagues use a similar type of regular season schedule with a playoff tournament after the regular season ends. In addition to the major league-level organizations, several sports also have professional minor leagues, active in smaller cities across the country. Sports are particularly associated with education in the United States, with most high schools and universities having organized sports. College sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture, and certain college sports — particularly college football and college basketball — are at least as popular as professional sports. The major sanctioning body for college sports is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ==Olympics== (詳細はUnited States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States. American athletes have won a total of 2,570 medals at the Summer Olympic Games and another 253 at the Winter Olympic Games. American athletes have won more medals in athletics (track and field) (738, 29%) and swimming (489, 19%) than any other nations. Thomas Burke was the first athlete to represent the United States at the Olympics. He took first place in both the 100 meters and the 400 meters at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. American swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, with 22 Olympic medals, 18 of them gold. The United States has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games, except the 1980 Summer Olympics hosted by the Soviet Union in Moscow, which it boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. American athletes have won more gold and overall medals than any other country in the Summer Games and overall. The U.S. Olympic teams have also compiled the second-most overall medals total at the Winter Olympics, trailing only Norway. Earlier United States mainly conceded to Soviet Union at summer Games and to Soviet Union, Norway, East Germany at the Winter Olympics only and now strongly contends with China at the Summer Olympics. The United States is the only country whose athletes have won at least one gold medal at every Winter Olympics, and won the total medal count at the 1932 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, New York, and at in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, the United States set a record for most total medals of any country at a single Winter Olympics. The United States hosted both Summer and Winter Games in 1932, and has hosted more Games than any other country - eight times, four times each for the Summer and Winter Games: * the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, 1932 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta; * the 1932 Winter Olympics and 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York; the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California; and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sports in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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