Competitions in various sports have been popular since ancient times. There were always spectators for each of the sports types of competitions, stadiums gathered thousands of spectators, a bit later fan clubs began to be organized.
Sports life is in full swing, despite the times and world events, many can not imagine their life without sports and competitions, for many sports is the only profession and the work of a lifetime.
Over time, the leading sports that boasted millions and even billions of fans, huge fees, spectacular competitions and the fact that they are rightfully included in the Olympic program stood out from all the diversity.
So, let's take a closer look at the most popular sports in the world.
List
- 10. Volleyball, 300 million fans
- 9. Hockey, 500 million fans
- 8. Boxing, 550 million fans
- 7. Formula 1, 600 million fans
- 6. Figure skating, 700 million fans
- 5. Skiing, 750 million fans
- 4. Athletics, 900 million fans
- 3. Tennis, 1 billion fans
- 2. Basketball, 1.4 billion fans
- 1. Football, 4 billion fans
10. Volleyball, 300 million fans
The game appeared in the USA at the end of the 19th century and became a kind of mix of basketball, handball, baseball and tennis already known at that time. The new team sport has become very popular among people of different ages thanks to its simple rules and affordable equipment.
The rules of the game are quite simple: two teams enter the field that hit the ball through the net with the help of special tricks, the goal of the game is to score the ball on the court by the opponents before touching the floor, or until the opponent team makes a mistake.
Most popular volleyball acquired in Turkey, Poland, China, Brazil. And in 1964 he entered the program of the Olympic Games.
9. Hockey, 500 million fans
History hockey not unambiguous. The birthplace of this type of game is Canada, but historians have found a 16-century Dutch image of a game very similar to hockey.
This sport is popular in Sweden, the USA, and Canada, but very quickly gained fame in Europe, especially in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Finland.
Professional sports require a complex and fairly long preparation. The team game is held on ice and its essence is to score the puck into the opponent’s goal.
8. Boxing, 550 million fans
Boxing - An ancient sport, it is mentioned even in Egyptian and Sumerian relief drawings. Games like boxing were held in ancient Greece. Pugilism even before our era was included in the ancient Olympic Games.
A modern sport called “boxing” appeared in the early 18th century in England. This sport is a pair contact. The bottom line is to strike the opponent with hands wearing special gloves. There is a list of prohibited hits for which athletes may be disqualified.
Athletes perform in a certain weight category, today they are allocated 17. The winner is a boxer who was able to strike, knocking down the opponent, and he could not rise within 10 seconds.
7. Formula 1, 600 million fans
Formula 1 - This is an open wheel race car. Cars participating in such races must comply with a set of specific conditions and rules. All race cars pass impact tests.
Fireballs (as cars participating in races are called) are designed and assembled by the team itself, therefore discoveries and technological progress are constantly present in this sport. Further, to win, it is necessary to put the fastest and most experienced rider in the race car and assemble a well-coordinated team that will quickly serve the car on the track.
World Championships in this sport began in 1950. Since then, the Formula 1 championship has been held annually and consists of several stages. Races are held with a team of pilots or with a single pilot in a car. Moreover, each team, according to the rules, puts up two cars.
6. Figure skating, 700 million fans
Figure skating appeared as a separate type of speed skating in the 60s of the 19th century. But its beginning was laid back in ancient times long before our era, as evidenced by archaeological finds in Europe in the form of bone skates from the phalanges of large animals.
Performance on ice consists in performing a number of elements: jumping, rotation, steps, changing the direction of sliding and their derivatives. This sport was the first to enter the mandatory program of the Winter Olympic Games. In figure skating, there are two directions: single and pair skating.
Skating takes place with musical accompaniment, and the program of athletes must include mandatory curly elements. The performance for the complexity of the performed combinations, plasticity, artistry and musicality is evaluated. In pairing skating, the interaction with a partner in the dance is necessarily evaluated.
5. Skiing, 750 million fans
The history of the appearance of the skis themselves dates back to about 4000 years ago, then this device appeared among the northern inhabitants to facilitate movement in the snow on hunting and in everyday life.
Therefore, it is no coincidence that skiing was especially popular in the northern countries, where snow was a natural phenomenon. This sport began its history many years ago in the 18th century in Norway. Since 1924 skiing included in winter Olympic sports.
This type has about twenty disciplines, including racing, downhill, slalom, ski jumping, biathlon, etc. The main species are, of course, racing (pursuit, relay race, team sprint), but the most spectacular was biathlon, which combined the speed of movement skiing and accuracy of target shooting.
4. Athletics, 900 million fans
This sport began its history back in Ancient Greece at the first Olympic Games, then athletes competed in running.
Athletics part of the program and the modern Olympic Games, is a massive sport. This species includes walking, running (short and long distances), long and high jumps, all-around and throwing heavy objects. Competitions themselves can be held in open stadiums (as a rule, many of them are combined with football ones) or in closed halls (arenas).
The winner of any track and field competition is the athlete who has shown the best results among all participants. The program for men includes 24 sports, the program for women - 23. Therefore, athletics is the sport that brings the largest set of Olympic medals.
3. Tennis, 1 billion fans
This sport has a large number of fans, millions of fees, and thanks to him, world stars appeared. Tennis - A game for hardy and physically prepared athletes, but in addition to physical data, reaction and the ability to analyze the situation in short time frames are important here.
Tennis is held on the courts (courts) with different surfaces, it can be soil, grass, carpet, etc. Two players or four in a doubles game participate in the game. Tennis tournaments are included in the Olympic Games, separate competitions are also held, the Wimbledon tournament became the most popular in this sport.
In the 16th century, this sport was very popular with the French kings. But tennis was held indoors, and only at the end of the 19th century was it transferred to the open air and was named lawn tennis (translated from French, this means tennis on the lawn). Indoor play is now called real tennis.
2. Basketball, 1.4 billion fans
Homeland basketball is the USA where this game appeared in 1891. But later it very quickly became a popular sport all over the world. So in Lithuania, basketball is recognized as a national sport. Since 1936, he entered the list of the Summer Olympic Games. In addition, games are constantly held within individual basketball leagues.
The first champion of the Olympic Games in basketball was a team from the USA, later this country held leading positions until 1972, when it first lost to the USSR team. Today, representatives from all continents participate in basketball competitions.
Two teams play basketball. The goal is to score the ball in the opponent’s basket. The winner is the team with the most points, that is, having made more hits in the basket.
1. Football, 4 billion fans
Football - A world famous sport. This is the most spectacular view, gathering thousands of stadiums and numbering about 4 billion fans around the world. This sport is included in the Olympic program, but in addition, many other tournaments are held at various levels.
Both male and female teams are organized. The goal of the game is to score the ball into the opponent’s goal, and the winner is the one who does this more times.
England is considered the birthplace of football, where in the mid-19th century football teams began to gather and organize tournaments. The most popular football was in Europe.
Today, this sport is leading the world. Each football team’s fan clubs are gathering for matches, and famous football players earn millions of dollars, which puts them in the rank of the highest paid athletes.