![Marcelo Rios 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Marcelo_Rios_2004.jpg)
Sports in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
are performed at both amateur and professional levels, practiced both at home and abroad to develop and improve, or simply represent the country.
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
is the most popular sport in Chile, and is played for a range of reasons. However, the country's most successful sport is
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
. In rural areas,
Chilean rodeo
Rodeo is a traditional equestrian sport in Chile, declared the national sport in 1962.
Chilean rodeo is different from the rodeo found in North America. In Chilean rodeo, a team (called a ''collera'') made up of two riders (called ''Huasos'') a ...
is the most practiced sport in Chile, which is the national sport. Chile has achieved great international success in other sports, and there have been important figures, however, such exploits are not known to the general population because they are not sports that have been popular throughout the country.
The country has some experience as host of major global sporting events such as the
1959 Basketball World Cup
The 1959 FIBA World Championship was the 3rd FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Chile from 16 to 31 January 1959. Amaury Pasos, Amaury Antônio Pas ...
.
History
The first played sport in Chile was ''palín'' (similar to
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
), first practiced by the
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...
before the discovery and conquest of the country. The game was later called ''Chueca'' by the Spanish conquerors.
Years later Europeans introduced other sports unknown in this country.
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
is Chile's main port, and due to the emerging nitrate industry in the north, it became a crossroads for ships coming from Europe, bringing equipment and personnel for newspapers, firefighting, railroads, steam engines, and others. Immigrants from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
came to work in the hills mining nitrate. They had traveled to Chile to stay and live, but the immigrants yearned for the customs of the old continent, especially the British. Chilean sport originated in the town of Valparaiso in the second half of the 19th century by the British and their descendants born in Chile, who began to ride horses, and then played
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
. In 1870,
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
and
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts had been built. Then
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
clubs were created with British names that continue to be used, as Wanderers and Everton are still present in the port and its neighboring city,
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
.
Sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
initially served as a demonstration of spirit and promoted the health of its followers, but later became an expression of entertainment that would gain spectators and fans.
The development of sport was unstable, with no planning by government and without large financial contributions, only the will of those interested. Chile participated among the select countries inaugurating the
Modern Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in Athens, Greece, where there was no official representation, but a spontaneous presence of a single athlete,
Luis Subercaseaux, who arrive dressed in the national colors to run the hundred meter dash, and had been training in outdoor running. After a hundred years of modern sport, the history of Chile has not produced many world level sports heroes, but by the end of the 20th century, it became clear that the competition was to win. The triumphs in the meantime have been less than many would like, but objectively, more than many would believe.
Athletics
![Cristian Bustos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Cristian_Bustos.jpg)
The first Olympic medal that went to Chile was in
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
.
Track and field
Manuel Plaza Reyes
Manuel Jesús Plaza Reyes (17 March 1900 – 9 February 1969) was a long-distance runner from Chile. He competed in the marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distanc ...
ran 42.195 kilometers in 2 hours 33 minutes and 23 seconds to win a silver medal in the
1928 Olympic Games 1928 Olympics may refer to:
*The 1928 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland
*The 1928 Summer Olympics, which were held in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most po ...
in Amsterdam.
Marlene Ahrens
Marlene Ahrens Ostertag-Ebensperger (July 27, 1933 – June 17, 2020) was a Chilean athlete. She won the silver medal in Javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a distance of 50.38 metres. She was the mother of jo ...
won a silver medal in the javelin in the
1956 Olympic Games, the first and only woman representing Chile to win an Olympic medal. The athlete with the most recent win is sprinter
Sebastián Keitel
Sebastián Keitel Bianchi (born February 14, 1973, in Santiago) is a Chilean ex- sprinter who competed mostly in the 200 metres. He was coached by renowned Chilean coach Pedro Soto Acuña.
Biography
Sebastián Keitel comes from an athletics fa ...
, who was considered at the time to be the fastest white man in the world in the 200 meter dash.
Triathlon
The prime example of
triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...
was the Chile triathlete
Cristián Bustos
Cristian Bustos Costa (born 29 May 1983) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Having reached the professionals at the age of 24, he amassed Segunda División totals of 226 games and one goal, mainly at the servi ...
, who almost won the
Ironman
Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to:
*Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer
*Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter
*Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician
*Mick Murphy ...
title in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
in 1992. Bustos ran a hard race against the legendary American
Mark Allen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
, and in the running phase, Bustos took the front position, but at 25 kilometers, Allen overtook him and Bustos took a close second place. Currently, the best female Chile participant is
Barbara Riveros
Barbara may refer to:
People
* Barbara (given name)
* Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter
* Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer
* Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously a ...
, who was ranked as the best triathlete in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, and eighth in the world in the 2005 World Triathlon Championship. The best Chile male athlete in triathlon is Felipe Van de Wyngaard, who has made significant achievements nationally and abroad. Chile has Ironman 70.3 Pucón South American triathlon test circuits, Triathlon circuits, and Villarrica Viña del Mar, an international circuit with the most amateur and professional athletes in the world.
Boxing
Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
is popular in Chile.
Luis Vicentini
Luis Vicentini (March 24, 1902 - February 9, 1938) was a Chilean boxer.
In 1922 he starred in Carlos F. Borcosque's debut picture Hombres de esta tierra
''Hombres de esta tierra'' is a 1922 Chilean silent film, the debut film of Carlos F. B ...
and
Estanislao Loayza (El Tani) are notable Chilean boxers from the 1920s. The greatest boxing figure of the 1930s was
Arturo Godoy
Arturo Godoy (October 10, 1912 – 1986) was a Chilean professional boxer, also nicknamed "Arturito".
Biography
He was born in Iquique on October 10, 1912. He was South American Heavyweight Champion and had an extensive and successful career in A ...
, who fought twice against
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...
, and was, until his retirement, South American champion in all weights.
Ramón Tapia
Ramón Tapia Zapata (March 17, 1932 in Antofagasta – April 12, 1984) was a Chilean boxer who won the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Tapia died in 1984.
Olympic results
*Defeated Zbigniew Piórkowski ...
,
Claudio Barrientos and
Carlos Lucas
Carlos Lucas Manríquez (4 June 1930 – 19 April 2022) was a Chilean boxer. He won the bronze medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He also claimed the bronze at the 1959 Pan American Games ...
were silver and bronze medalists in the
1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
Godfrey Stevens
Godfrey Cyril Stevens (born 24 June 1986) was a South African cricketer. A left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he played first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of ...
fought in 1970 for the world title against Japanese featherweight
Shozo Saijyo. One of the most memorable fighters were
flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb).
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of bo ...
Martín Vargas, who was South American champion in his specialty and tried four times to get the world boxing title for Chile, losing at every opportunity, but becoming a national idol.
Carlos Cruzat was the world champion in the cross category in the International Boxing Association. In women's boxing,
Patricia Demick was the world champion and became the first Chilean boxer, male or female, to hold a world title.
Equestrian
Equestrian sports
Equestrian sports are sports that use horses as a main part of the sport. This usually takes the form of the rider being on the horse's back, or the horses pulling some sort of horse-drawn vehicle.
General
* 4-H
* Equitation
*Horse show
* Iceland ...
have achieved major successes for Chile. In 1949, Chile Army Captain Alberto Larraguibel Morales with his horse "
Huaso
A huaso () is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, the Mexican charro (and its northern equivalent, the vaquero), the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do Sul, and the Australian stockman. ...
" succeeded in breaking the world record high jump to break a barrier of 2.47 meters.
In the
1952 Olympic Games, Chile's entire equestrian team participated in three disciplines: jumping, dressage, and concourse, receiving silver medals in team and individual show jumping. The pairs medalists were Ricardo Echeverría on "Lindo Peal" (Army), César Mendoza Durán on "Pillán" (
Carabineros de Chile
( en, Carabiniers of Chile) are the Chilean national law enforcement police, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. Th ...
) and Óscar Cristi on "Bambi" (''Carabineros''). The latter won the silver medal in individual competition.
In 1981, the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
in New York awarded General Eduardo Yáñez Zavala distinction as "the best rider of all time" for his significant achievements in the 1930s and 1940s. Called "El maestro", he was the leading Chilean in countless equestrian competitions, president of the Equestrian Federation, and an International Olympic Judge.
Fencing
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
is not well known in Chile. However, Chile has long had a fencing presence in the Olympic Games, the
Pan American Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
, and the
South American Games
The South American Games (also known as ODESUR Games; Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos''), formerly the Southern Cross Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Cruz del Sur'') is a regional multi-sport event held between nati ...
with key competitors such as Paris Inostroza, who participated in three Olympic Games. Another outstanding athlete is
Felipe Alvear
Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal.
Noteworthy p ...
, who has obtained several medals in the Pan American Games in the foil weapon.
Golf
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
is played in each of the major cities of central and southern Chile, and lately the game has spread considerably in popularity. However, this sport is practiced by the upper class and upper middle class due to high costs of participation in the game. The most important tournament played in the country is the Chile Open.
There are two benchmarks for this sport in Chile.
Nicole Perrot
Nicole Perrot (born 26 December 1983) is a Chilean professional golfer. She is the first Chilean-born player to win on the LPGA Tour.
Perrot was born in Viña del Mar, Chile. She won the 2001 U.S. Girls' Junior and was runner-up at the U.S. Wom ...
is the greatest athlete of Chilean women's golf due to her outstanding participation in the
LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
tour, the main world women's golf circuit, winning the Longs Drugs tournament of 2005. The current leading male golfer in Chile is
Felipe Aguilar
Felipe Andrés Aguilar Schuller (born November 7, 1974) is a Chilean professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.
Career
In 2006 he became the second Chilean, after Roy Mackenzie to earn full membership to the European Tour but failed ...
, who participated in the
PGA European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
, and his greatest achievement was winning the Open of Indonesia in February 2008, and he was the first participant in the Chilean circuit of the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
.
Gymnastics
Recently Chile has been very successful in
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
with
Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda, who was crowned world champion in several disciplines. In December 2010, Thomas Gonzalez was awarded the "Condor of Gold" by the Circle of Sports Journalists of Chile as the best Chilean sportsman of the year.
Martial arts
Karate
The most recent triumph for
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
in Chile was by
David Dubó
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, who became the world champion of Karate in Tokyo in 2008. Dubó won the final match in the category of 75 kilos, by a close margin in a fierce struggle against Turk Müslüm Baştürk that was decided by arbitrary decision.
Taekwondo
In 1988, the Chilean Taekwondo Federation became Interstyle Champion in martial arts, an event with over one thousand martial arts participants. Today,
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
in Chile is part of the Sports Federation, affiliated with the
Chile Olympic Committee. Chile has participated in major events, like the ODESUR Games, where Chilean Taekwondo has added to date ten gold medals, earned by athletes Leopoldo Araneda, Fernando Remedy, Esteban Vitagliano and Renzo Zenteno in 1986; Diego Yánez and Humberto Norambuena in 1990; Anyelina Contreras, Sergio Cárdenas and Felipe Soto in 1994; Felipe Soto in 1998, and several silver and bronze medals.
In the
Pan American Games
The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
, Chilean athlete Diego Yánez won a bronze medal in 1991, and Sergio Cárdenas also won bronze in 1995.
Three Chilean representatives have qualified and participated in the Olympic Games: Diego Yánez and Humberto Norambuena in Barcelona 1992 (when taekwondo was a demonstration sport), and Felipe Soto in Sydney 2000 (as an official sport). Chilean athletes have won a great number of medals in Taekwondo, and in the World Cup, the South American Championships, the Pan American Games and the World Games.
Racing sports
Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
is one of the most practiced recreational sports in Chile, although Chilean cyclists have not had many competitive successes at the international level. The
Vuelta Ciclista de Chile
The Vuelta Ciclista de Chile is an annual Chilean elite men's professional road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility ...
is the principal national competition in which various international teams participate.
Chilean cyclist
Marco Arriagada
Marco Antonio Arriagada Quinchel (born October 30, 1975 in Curicó) is a Chilean professional racing cyclist. He is the brother of cyclist Marcelo Arriagada. He carried the flag for his native country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan Am ...
has participated in three Olympic Games (1996, 2004 and 2008). He was the standard bearer in the Chilean delegation in the
2007 Pan American Games
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...
, where he won Gold in team pursuit and won fourth in scoring. Arriagada also received two gold medals and two silver medals in the
2003 Pan American Games
The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America.
Al ...
; Gold in the
2006 South American Games
The VIII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, ...
; eight gold medals in Pan American Championships; two-time champion of the Tour of Chile; and champion of the 2004 World Cup in Russia. As for women, the most prominent international athlete is
Bernardita Pizarro, who in 2006 was fifth in the
Union Cycliste Internationale
The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland.
The UCI issues racing ...
rankings.
In addition to Marco Arriagada, a number of other cyclists have excelled internationally. Usually the best riders in Chile are from the city of
Curicó
Curicó (), meaning "Black Waters" in Mapudungun (originally meaning "Land of Black Water"), is the capital city of the Curicó Province, part of the Maule Region in Chile's central valley.
The province lies between the provinces of Colcha ...
, which is known as the "capital of cycling".
Horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
in Chile has been well developed since the end of the 19th century. Major racetracks include the Club Hípico de Santiago, the Hipódromo Chile and the Valparaíso Sporting Club. The major races held in Chile are the El Ensayo Classic, the St. Legar Classic and the Chile Derby, which make up the Triple Crown of horse racing in Chile.
Notable riders include Sergio Vásquez, with the most career wins in national horse racing; José Santos León, who rode in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for over 20 years and won more than 4,000 races; Carlos Pezoa, two-time winner in the Carlos Pellegrini International Gran Prix, the ultimate test in South American horse racing;
Ruperto Donoso
Ruperto Donoso (November 10, 1914 - August 16, 2001) was a jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing best known for riding Phalanx to victory in the 1947 Belmont Stakes. He also rode Gilded Knight to a second-place finish in the 1939 Preakne ...
winner of the
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
in 1947; and
Luis Torres.
Several good horses have come out of Chile including "Desert Fight", the mare that won six races, with rider Alberto Solari Manasco, in eight runs in Chile against a score of fillies; and "Cougar II", the horse that in 2006 was elected into the American Horseracing Hall of Fame.
Motorsports
Auto racing
The first and Greatest Chilean driver was
Juan Zanelli
Juan Zanelli (1906–1944) was a Chilean racecar driver. He was born in Iquique, Chile in 1906. He raced in Grand Prix motor racing and hillclimbs from 1929 to 1936. In a Bugatti he won the 1929 and 1930 Bugatti GP at Le Mans, finished 8th i ...
, who competed in the
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...
.
motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
and win 3 Grand Prix, plus champion in the
European Hill Climb Championship.
Eliseo Salazar
Eliseo Salazar Valenzuela (born 14 November 1954) is a Chilean former racing driver. , he is the only Chilean to have participated in a Formula One World Championship. He made his Formula One debut on 15 March 1981, and ultimately contested 37 r ...
, is the only driver in the world to participate in the "magic square" of world motorsport, composed of the four traditional races: the
Grand Prix of Monaco
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...
, the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, the 24 hours of Le Mans, and
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...
.
Pablo Donoso
Pablo Donoso Prado (born December 3, 1984) is a professional racing driver from Santiago de Chile. He began racing at 9 years of age. He is racing in the Firestone Indy Lights Series and passed the Rookie Test for the Indy Racing League IndyCar Ser ...
races in the
Indy Pro Series
Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...
, and is currently the highest performing Chilean driver.
Chile was elected, along with
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, as the seat of the
2009 Dakar Rally
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad (all-terrain vehicle) class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place a ...
due to the suspension of this trial road rally on the continent of Africa. This trial is one of the world's toughest rallies, and competitive drivers like
Eliseo Salazar
Eliseo Salazar Valenzuela (born 14 November 1954) is a Chilean former racing driver. , he is the only Chilean to have participated in a Formula One World Championship. He made his Formula One debut on 15 March 1981, and ultimately contested 37 r ...
and
Carlo de Gavardo
Carlo Alberto de Gavardo Prohens (14 July 1969 – 4 July 2015) was a Chilean motorist and motorcyclist who participated in numerous rallies worldwide, including the Dakar Rally and Rallye des Pharaons. He was the first Chilean motorcyclist to ...
participate in the auto category. Gavardo was world champion in the bike rally and came in third in the
2001 Dakar Rally
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
riding a
KTM
KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...
Sportmotorcycle.
The main motorsport category in the country is the Chilean Rally Championship (Called Rally Mobil by sponsorship interests). Since 2019, the city of
Concepcion hosts the
Rally Chile, part of the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
calendar.
Since 2018, the
Santiago ePrix
The Santiago ePrix, or, for sponsorship reasons, Antofagasta Minerals Santiago ePrix, is an annual race of the single-seater, electrically powered Formula E championship, held in Santiago, Chile. It was first raced in the 2017–18 season.
...
is part of the
Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
calendar.
Motorcycle racing
The best competitor in
motorcycle racing
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...
in Chile is
Carlo de Gavardo
Carlo Alberto de Gavardo Prohens (14 July 1969 – 4 July 2015) was a Chilean motorist and motorcyclist who participated in numerous rallies worldwide, including the Dakar Rally and Rallye des Pharaons. He was the first Chilean motorcyclist to ...
, who has won international awards participating in enduro as well as
cross-country rally
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...
, including the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
.
Another World Champion is Francisco "Chaleco" López in the 450 cc category, somewhat surprising when taken into account the fact that the team did it with a Honda and not a KTM, the number one motorcycle used in rally.
Rodeo
Chilean rodeo
Rodeo is a traditional equestrian sport in Chile, declared the national sport in 1962.
Chilean rodeo is different from the rodeo found in North America. In Chilean rodeo, a team (called a ''collera'') made up of two riders (called ''Huasos'') a ...
is the national sport in Chile, practiced in the more rural areas of the country, and is the second most popular sport in Chile, after football. Chilean rodeo has been practiced in rural areas in central and southern regions of Chile for more than 400 years, but only in 1962, was it declared the national sport by letter number 269 of the National Sports Council and the Olympic Committee of Chile.
Every year, the National Championship Rodeo is held in
Medialuna Monumental de Rancagua
A medialuna (literally ''half moon'') is crescent-shaped corral used for rodeos, the official sport in Chile. They are generally in diameter. Chilean rodeos are not quite the same sport famous in the American West; they involve two riders on hor ...
. Its greatest participants are
Ramón Cardemil and
Juan Carlos Loaiza, who have achieved the national title seven times. The past champions were
Christopher Cortina and
Victor Vergara, who won the 2010 National Championship Rodeo.
Shooting sports
Practical shooting
The sport of
practical shooting
Practical shooting, also known as dynamic shooting or action shooting, is a set of shooting sports where the competitors try to unite the three principles of precision, power, and speed, by using a firearm of a certain minimum power factor to scor ...
is the most dynamic shooting sport in the world today. The worldwide organization for the sport is the
International Practical Shooting Confederation
The International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) is the world's largest shooting sport association, and the largest and oldest within practical shooting. Founded in 1976, the IPSC nowadays affiliates over 100 regions from Africa, America ...
(IPSC), founded in May 1976 in Columbia, Missouri, USA. Unlike traditional shooting sports in which the shooter is stationary, IPSC sportsmen using small arms try to hit a variety of shooting targets as they maneuver safely through a course that can require them to walk, run, and even jump over obstacles in their path. The game measures the accuracy of the shooter hitting targets as well as the amount of time it takes to complete the course. The athlete who can qualify the maximum number of points in the minimum length of time is declared the winner. IPSC shooting is practiced worldwide and international competitions are held in more than 70 countries. Tournaments vary in physical size from regional competitions to national championships, continental championships, and World Championships, which are held in cycles of three years. More than 700 competitors from about 70 member organizations attend these festivals in five days of competition and international goodwill. In Chile, this sport has been practiced since the early 1990s, when the Chile Federation was recognized and accepted as a member of the IPSC.
Shotgun shooting
Chile got its first world championship in shooting when
Juan Enrique Lira
Juan Enrique Lira (27 October 1927 – 12 March 2007) was a Chilean sports shooter. He competed at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics.
Lira later became a photo editor for the Santiago newspaper ''El Mercurio'' and was working allowe ...
won the trap shooting event at the 1965 World Shotgun Championships. Jorge Jottar won silver in the skeet shooting event that year.
Alfonso de Iruarrizaga is a Chilean sports shooter and Olympic medalist. He received a silver medal in
skeet shooting
Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles.
Skeet is one of the t ...
at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
in Seoul.
["1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea – Shooting"]
databaseOlympics.com. Retrieved September 26, 2008. Iruarrizaga was the only medalist for Chile at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Table tennis
Although Chile has not been featured worldwide in
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
, it has on numerous occasions at the Pan American Games and the South American Games, without the need for nationalization of the sport, as with other countries. Among the leading table tennis players is Sofija Tepes. Felipe Olivares, only 15 years old, is the current teen world champion.
Team sports
Football
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
is the most popular sport in Chile, which in 1962 hosted the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
and won third place. Chile achieved a bronze medal in the
2000 Olympic Games
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
; third in the
2007 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...
; and third place in the 1993 Under 17 Championship in Japan. The
Chile national football team
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
won the
Copa América
The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
title in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and the title in the
Copa America Centenario
Copa or COPA may refer to:
COPA
COPA may refer to:
* Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI
* Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet
* Canadian Owners and Pilots Ass ...
in the US in 2016, and has played in five finals, and is the country in fourth place in the number of times it has attended the FIFA World Cup in South America.
As for clubs, the most important international achievement by a Chilean team was the tournament won by
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...
in the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
in 1991. Also, Colo-Colo won the
Copa Interamericana
The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...
in 1991 and the
1992 Recopa Sudamericana
The 1992 Recopa Sudamericana was the fourth Recopa Sudamericana, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's Copa Libertadores and Supercopa Sudamericana competitions.
The match was contested by Colo-Colo, winners of ...
. The
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile. Founded in 1937 they play in the Primera División, the top flight of Chilean football. The team has played its home games at Estadio San Carlos d ...
won the
Copa Interamericana
The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...
in 1994, in 2011 the
Club Universidad de Chile
Club Universidad de Chile () is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile, that plays in the Primera División.
Founded on 24 May 1927, Universidad de Chile is one of the most successful and popular football clubs in Chile, havin ...
won the
Copa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...
.
Some of the best football players in Chile have been
Sergio Livingstone
Serjio Robert Livingstone Pohlhammer (26 March 1920 – 11 September 2012), later simply known as Sergio Livingstone, was a Chilean goalkeeper, who later became a well-regarded journalist. He was nicknamed "El Sapo" ("the toad") for his typica ...
,
Enrique Hormazábal
Daniel Enrique "Cua cuá" Hormazábal Silva (January 6, 1931 – April 18, 1999) was a Chilean footballer, born in Santiago, who played as a right winger for Colo-Colo and the Chile national football team.
Playing career
He played a signif ...
,
Leonel Sánchez
Leonel Guillermo Sánchez Lineros (25 April 1936 – 2 April 2022) was a Chilean professional footballer who played as a striker on the left wing.
He is recognized as one of the Best South American Footballers of the 20th Century and one of ...
,
Elías Figueroa
Elías Ricardo Figueroa Brander (born 25 October 1946) is a Chilean former footballer who played for several clubs during his long career, notably his hometown club Santiago Wanderers, Brazilian club Internacional and Uruguayan club Peñarol. H ...
,
Carlos Caszely
Carlos Humberto Caszely Garrido (born 5 July 1950 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean former footballer, nicknamed "Rey del metro cuadrado" ( en, King of the square meter, pt, O Rei do Metro Quadrado), who played as a forward.
Regarded as one o ...
,
Roberto Rojas,
Iván Zamorano
Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (; born 18 January 1967) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers, along with Marcelo Salas, Leonel Sánchez and Elias Figueroa ...
,
Humberto Suazo
Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo (; born 10 May 1981), nicknamed ''Chupete'' (in English, ''Lollipop''), is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Deportes La Serena. In 2006, he was awarded the IFFHS World's Top Goal Sc ...
,
Alexis Alexis may refer to:
People Mononym
* Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet
* Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC
* Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer
* Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...
,
Arturo Vidal
Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (; born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and the Chile national team. His displays during his time at Juventus led him to be n ...
and
Marcelo Salas
José Marcelo Salas Melinao (; born 24 December 1974), nicknamed ''Matador'' (due to his goalscoring celebrations), ''El Fenómeno'' and ''Shileno'', is a Chilean former footballer who played as a striker. Salas is considered the best strik ...
.
Baseball
The majority of activity in the sport of
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
takes place in the northern part of Chile, where it was introduced from abroad in the early 20th century. It was first played by Americans in northern Chile, and later played by the Japanese Sakurada in
Iquique
Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191,468 ...
, the city that would become the national champion in various events.
Tocopilla
Tocopilla is a city and commune in the Antofagasta Region, in the north of Chile. It is the capital of the province that bears the same name.
Every year Tocopilla celebrates its anniversary on 29 September with a big show the day before, which ...
is another major city that has won the national title over 18 consecutive times. Chile has participated in eight South American championships and was among the Top Ten in the 1989 Junior World Championship in Japan.
Baseball is played mainly in the cities of Iquique, Tocopilla,
Antofagasta
Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669.
After the Spanish American wars ...
and
Arica
Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...
, as well as some other cities such as Santiago, San Antonio, Melipilla and Concepción.
Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
is a popular sport in Chile. The country earned a bronze medal in the first men's
FIBA World Championship
The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...
held in 1950, and won a second bronze medal when Chile hosted the
1959 FIBA World Championship
The 1959 FIBA World Championship was the 3rd FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Chile from 16 to 31 January 1959. Amaury Antônio Pasos was named the MVP.
The hosting citie ...
. Chile hosted the first
FIBA World Championship for Women
The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, also known as the Basketball World Cup for Women or simply the FIBA Women's World Cup, is an international basketball tournament for women's national teams held quadrennially. It was created by the Internati ...
in 1953, finishing the tournament with the silver medal.
In the last few years, basketball has regained the popularity it had in Chile in the 1950s and 1960s. The Basketball Senior Division of Chile (DIMAYOR) is the professional league which involves twelve teams, and the current champion is ''Club Liceo Mixto de Los Andes''. Basketball is played mainly in the south part of the country, generally at the university level. Unlike football, basketball has South American men's titles at various levels, and a world women's basketball sub-championship.
Chile was third in world men's basketball in 1950 and 1954.
At the club level,
Thomas Bata was the champion of ''Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes Campeones'' in basketball in 1967 — the only South American Pacific Coast club with this achievement.
Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
has been played in Chile since 1829, and the first club, the
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
Cricket Club was formed in 1860. Chile's first international fixture was played in 1893 against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Interest in the game had waned after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
did not become a member of the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
until 2002. Although, the sport regained some popularity due to the national team's participation at the
World Cricket League
The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of t ...
, and the
Chile women's national cricket team
The Chile women's national cricket team, nicknamed Las Loicas, represents the country of Chile in women's cricket matches.
In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all ...
at the Women's version of the
ICC Americas Championship
The ICC Americas Championship is a one-day cricket tournament organised by ICC Americas for non-Test national cricket teams in the Americas affiliated with the International Cricket Council. As well as providing the opportunity for national teams ...
. The
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...
's first international engagement as an ICC affiliate member was the Division 3 tournament of the
ICC Americas Championship
The ICC Americas Championship is a one-day cricket tournament organised by ICC Americas for non-Test national cricket teams in the Americas affiliated with the International Cricket Council. As well as providing the opportunity for national teams ...
, played in
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
in February 2006. The Chileans finished in third place, their only win coming against
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
The February 2008 edition of the Division 3 tournament was held in Argentina. Chile defeated
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
,
Turks & Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...
, and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
only to lose to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Chile finished the tournament second due to the net run rate.
Currently, Chile is a member of the ICC and actively develops programs for children. Although the sport in Chile is poorly understood and has very few athletes who practice it.
Beach cricket
Backyard cricket, Bat ball, street cricket, beach cricket, corridor cricket, garden cricket, box cricket (if the ground is short) referred to as gully cricket in the Indian subcontinent, is an informal ''ad hoc'' variant of the game of cricket, ...
has become very popular on the beaches of the Central Coast in the summer months. The second International Beach Cricket Tournament was held in February 2009 on the beach of Las Salinas
Viña del Mar
Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...
, in which more than eighty players, domestic and foreign, divided into ten teams.
Handball
Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
is little known in Chile, but the
Chile women's national handball team qualified for the 2009 Women's World Handball Championship.
The sport is governed by the ''Federación Chilena de Handball'', in turn affiliated with the ''Confederación Sudamericana de Balonmano'', the Pan American Handball Federation and the
International Handball Federation
The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...
.
Roller hockey
Until the 1930s,
roller hockey was played in Chile for recreation in Santa Licía Hill and in the Salón Merced. In 1938, the Santiago Association was formed and played in the Plaza de la Libertad in front of the Palacio de La Moneda. Then followed the founding of the Valparaíso Association, the Viña del Mar Association and the Andes Association. Three times Chile has won fourth place in the Men's World Roller Hockey Championship. Chile has hosted the Men's World Roller Hockey Championship twice, once in 1962, where every game was played in the National Gymnasium, and again in 1980 held in the port city of
Talcahuano
Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile.
Geo ...
.
Chile hosted the 2006 Women's World Roller Hockey Championship and won the championship by defeating Spain in the final. And won the Roller Hockey America's Cup in 2007 and the Pan American Ice Hockey Championship in 2011.
Polo
![Bachelet y campeones de polo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Bachelet_y_campeones_de_polo.jpg)
Chile is the current world
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
champion, achieved in May 2008, after beating Brazil 11–9 in the final game of the 2008 Polo World Cup in Mexico City.
The late
Gabriel Donoso was the greatest polo player in Chile, having the highest handicap of 9 goals, and is remembered for having led the Chile national team to win the prestigious Coronation Cup, awarded by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
of the United Kingdom in 2004, and a second title in 2007. Chile hosted the World Polo Championship in 1992, where it won second place, and received third place in the 2004 World Cup held in France.
Rugby league
Chile made its debut in
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
in 2015. Although there have been no games on home soil; all players meet eligibility guidelines.
Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
has been played in Chile since at least the 1880s, introduced by the British. The Chile Rugby Union was formed in 1935 and was renamed the Rugby Federation of Chile in 1948. At present, rugby union is one of the fastest-growing sports in Chile, especially in the universities. The
Chile national rugby union team
The Chilean national rugby union team (Spanish: ''Selección de rugby de Chile'') represents Chile in men's international rugby union; it is organised by the Chilean Rugby Federation ( es, Federación Chilena de Rugby). Nicknamed Los Cóndores ( ...
(''"The Condors"'') qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2023. Chile is ranked 21st in the
World Rugby
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
rankings, making Chile the third-best team in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, after
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
Currently, there are 14 rugby associations distributed throughout the country (between Arica and Magallanes), plus a referees association. The most recognized Rugby teams in Chile are Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, Old Boys and Stade Francaise, in Santiago; Old Mackayans and Sporting, in Viña del Mar; and Los Troncos and Old John's, in Concepción.
Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
has been played regularly in Chile since the 1920s, with the first tournament in 1932. In 1942, the National Volleyball Association, the predecessor of the current Federation, was formed and organized the first national league.
Chile has received notoriety in the sport of volleyball only sporadically in South America, dominated by such powerhouses as Brazil and Argentina. Chile's greatest achievements in volleyball are second place in the 1961 South American Men's Volleyball Championship, and sixth place in the 1971 Pan American Tournament. Chile hosted the South American Championship in 1962 (male and female), 1981 (male), and 2007 (male and female).
Chile has qualified just once each in male and female for the World Volleyball Championships, both in 1982 — the 1982 World Women's Volleyball Championship in Peru and the 1982 Men's Volleyball Championship in Argentina.
In September 2020, Chile's beach volleyball women Francisca Rivas and Chris Vorpahl, finished third at an event of the
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the ' ( FIVB), the ...
in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, Lithuania, to secure bronze and put a Chilean female team on the podium at an international event for the first time.
Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
is Chile's most successful sport. Its
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...
won the
World Team Cup
The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...
clay tournament two times (2003 & 2004), and played the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
final against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in 1976. At the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, the country captured gold and bronze in men's singles and gold in men's doubles.
Marcelo Ríos
Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. Nicknamed ''"El Chino"'' ("The Chinese") and ''"El zurdo de Vitacura"'' ("The Lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American play ...
became the first Latin American man to reach the number 1 spot in the
ATP singles rankings in 1998.
Anita Lizana
Anita Lizana de Ellis (19 November 1915 – 21 August 1994) was a world No. 1 tennis player from Chile. She was the first Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 tennis player. Also, Lizana was the first Latin Am ...
won the
US Open in 1937, becoming the first woman from Latin America to win a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
tournament.
Luis Ayala was twice a runner-up at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, and both Ríos and
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...
reached the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
men's singles finals.
Chilean players held in the highest regard are retired
Marcelo Ríos
Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. Nicknamed ''"El Chino"'' ("The Chinese") and ''"El zurdo de Vitacura"'' ("The Lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American play ...
, who was Number 1 in the World in the ranking of the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, an ...
in 1998; and Luis Ayala, winner of two D Slams in doubles (with Roland Garros, 1958 and 1960) and two finals in singles, also ranked number five in the world. Prominent Chilean tennis player
Anita Lizana
Anita Lizana de Ellis (19 November 1915 – 21 August 1994) was a world No. 1 tennis player from Chile. She was the first Latin American, and first Hispanic person, to be ranked World Number 1 tennis player. Also, Lizana was the first Latin Am ...
was the first Latin American to win the
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
(Forest Hills predecessor of the current US Open), and
Hans Gildemeister
Hans Gildemeister Bohner (born Juan Pedro Gildemeister Bohner on 9 February 1956), is a Chilean former tennis player of German ancestry
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
...
was fifth in doubles in 1987 (with
Andrés Gómez
Andrés Gómez Santos (; born 27 February 1960) is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the French Open in 1990.
His son, Emilio Gómez, is a professional tennis player. His nephew Nicolás Lapent ...
). Olympic medalists in tennis are
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...
and
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...
.
Chile was the champion of the Tennis World Cup for teams in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
(2003 and 2004) and was finalist in the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
in 1976.
In 2004, tennis players Fernando González and
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...
won the first Olympic gold medals in the Athens Games, after strenuous games receiving the gold medal in doubles (Massú-González), bronze (González) and gold in singles (Massú). In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...
won the silver medal in singles.
With regard to the number 1 obtained by
Marcelo Ríos
Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. Nicknamed ''"El Chino"'' ("The Chinese") and ''"El zurdo de Vitacura"'' ("The Lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American play ...
, the gold medals in the Olympics, the bichampionship in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
and the end of the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
, note that
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
was the first South American country to achieve these accomplishments.
Chile was a finalist in the Davis Cup in 1976, but was defeated by 4–1 by Italy at the National Stadium in Santiago.
In 1973, playing in the Davis Cup against the United States,
Patricio Cornejo
Patricio Cornejo Seckel (; born 6 June 1944) is a retired Chilean professional tennis player of the 1970s. He competed at the 1975 Davis Cup with Jaime Fillol and played the longest Davis Cup rubber in terms of games, eventually losing to Stan ...
and
Jaime Fillol
Jaime José Fillol Durán (born 3 June 1946), known professionally as Jaime Fillol Sr., is a retired professional tennis player from Chile, who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Fillol was ranked as high as world No. 14 in singles on the ...
won the longest set in the history of the Cup: 39–37 against the team of Stan Smith and Erik van Dillen.
Weightlifting
Chile has gained various medals in
weightlifting
Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...
in Pan American and Ibero American Games. The greatest Chilean participant in weightlifting is Cristián Escalante Carroza, the Pan American champion in the field of more than 105 kilos. The last medal achieved by Chile was in the 2007 Pan American Games. The federation that governs the sport in Chile is FECHIPE.
Water sports
Fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
began in Chile with the introduction of
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
species into the country at the end of the 19th Century — with great success since the salmon didn't encounter any large enemies or predators in Chile's cold and temperate waters. Subsequently, the state, first as a social policy and then to promote aquaculture, played an active role in creating fish farms that released into rivers various species like rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout; and anadromous species such as silver salmon, king salmon, and Atlantic salmon. As a result, a number of species have adapted well to the new environment.
There are no reliable statistics of the pastimes of Chileans, but it is believed that fishing is the third or fourth most popular hobby. Simple and low-cost fishing gear is the most popular. The most popular bait used includes earthworms, fresh-water crab, shrimp, snails, small fish, and white beans. The more complex fishing gear has gained in popularity with imported rods and reels running less than 5,000 Chilean pesos, and fly fishing gear selling for less than 50,000 Chilean pesos.
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...
is the fastest growing sector in sport fishing in Chile. Tourists have come to know Chile as the destination for salmon fishing. The increase in tour guides for tourist fishing has been explosive — from only a few fishing lodges in the 1990s, to over a dozen new lodges in the new century. Lawmakers and participants in sport fishing are working together to make new laws to help regulate the fishing tourism industry and ensure its longevity.
Freshwater sport fishing mainly occurs from Region V of Valparaíso to the south of Chile, being particularly successful and rich in freshwater species from Region IX of Araucanía to Region XII of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena, and tourism development is mainly concentrated in the Araucanía.
Rowing
Chile made history in the sport of
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
, when Christian Yantani and Miguel Ángel Cerda won the 2002 Rowing World Cup in Seville.
In 2005, Cerda and Felipe Leal won second place in the lightweight coxless trial in the World Rowing Championship in the Japanese city of Gifu. The following year, Chile won the team event in the South American Youth Rowing Championship in Paraguay. In the 2007 Pan American Games in Río de Janeiro, the pair of Sorayua Jadue and María José Orellana won the gold medal; and Miguel Cerda and Felipe Leal won the bronze in the lightweight pairs event.
Rowing is practiced in different cities, the primary being Valdivia, Concepción and Valparaíso due to the abundant rivers and numerous rowing clubs. Currently, the city of Santiago is developing a strong rowing program, specifically in Carén Lake (located close to Pudahuel with direct access to public transportation) and in Lake Acuelo.
Sailing
Chile is currently one of the top countries in the world in the sport of
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
because of Alberto "Tito" González who has won five championships. In 2005, González was given the Best Athlete Award by the ''Circulo de Periodistas Deportivos'' (Sports Writers Circle) and in 2006 received the Chilean Presidents Award for best sportsman. Most recently, Gonzalaz won the gold medal in the Pan American Games in Río. Gonzalaz has been asked to be the Chile flag bearer in the opening ceremony of the Pan American Games in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He also has titles in
J/24
The J/24 is an international One-Design and Midget Ocean Racing Club trailerable keelboat class built by J/Boats and defined by World Sailing. The J/24 was created to fulfill the diverse needs of recreational sailors such as cruising, one d ...
and other categories as well as several American titles.
The sport does not have a large number of participants, however another notable Chilean sport sailor is found in Matías de Solar — ranked third in International
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
Class — who has qualified in the Olympic Games.
Swimming
Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
has enjoyed a long history in Chile. Historically the best Chilean swimmer was the well-known Víctor "Tiburón" Contreras, famous for his times over long distances, who set the world record for crossing the Straight of Gibraltar.
Currently the best male swimmers are Maximiliano Schnettler and Giancarlo Zolezzi who are among the top 25 swimmers in the world. Female swimmer
Kristel Köbrich
Kristel Arianne Köbrich Schimpl (born August 9, 1985 in Santiago, Chile) is an Olympic long-distance freestyle swimmer from Chile. She was the country's flag bearer at the 2004 Olympics, and also swam at the 2008 Games, 2012 Games and 2016 ...
has the best Chile national and South American records in the 800 meter and 1500 meter freestyle events. She was among the top 15 swimmers in the world in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and in 2007, she won 7th place in the World Swimming Championship in the 1500 meters race.
Surfing
Winter sports
In the winter months, many Chileans participate in
winter sports
Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...
, especially
skiing
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...
and
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...
. Less than 35 kilometers from
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, ski resorts are located in El Colorado,
Farellones
Farellones is a village and ski resort located 36 km from Santiago, Chile. It was founded during the 1930s, nestled in a small valley in the Andes mountains close to other ski areas such as Valle Nevado, La Parva, and El Colorado.
Location
Lo ...
,
La Parva
La Parva is a town and ski resort located about northeast of the Chilean capital of Santiago. It is in the middle ridge of the "3 Valleys" resorts that also includes El Colorado and Valle Nevado
Valle Nevado (''Snowy Valley'' in the Spanish ...
and
Valle Nevado
Valle Nevado (''Snowy Valley'' in the Spanish language) is a ski resort located on the El Plomo foothills in the Andes Mountains, at 46 km to the east of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Founded in 1988 by French entrepreneurs, it includes ...
. Located in the
Valparaíso Region
The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...
is the resort of Portillo, which claims to be the oldest in South America and which hosted the 1966 World Alpine Ski Championships.
Historia de Portillo
skiportllo.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014. Other major ski centers include Termas de Chillán Termas de Chillán is a town located 82 km east of the Chilean city of Chillán. It has a ski center and three hotels.
Ski center
The ski resort is located 1,650 meters above sea level and has 11 lifts serving 28 marked trails, and a tota ...
, Antuco, Volcán Villarrica, and Antillanca
Antillanca is a ski resort in the Puyehue National Park in southern Chile. It is on the slope of the Casablanca Volcano. The nearest city is Osorno, 98 kilometers away.
Image:DonPedro Antillanca.jpg, View from Antillanca ski resort, Puntiagudo ...
. In addition, Chilean mountain climbers have reached major summits, such as Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
.
While the country has excellent conditions for winter sports, Chile has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
.
In the 2014 Winter Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
, in Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...
, Russia, Chile was represented by Noelle Barahona, Eugenio Claro, and Henrick Von Appen in alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
; Dominique Ohaco (slopestyle) in freestyle skiing
Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, Mogul Skiing, moguls, Ski Cross, cross, Half-pipe skiing, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics. It can consist of a ...
; and Yonathan Fernández in cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
.
See also
* Chile at the Olympics
Chile at the Olympic Games lays claim to being one of 14 nations to participate at the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and made its debut appearance at the 1948 Winter Olympics. the latter its eleventh edition. The national teams sent by Chile to e ...
* Chile national football team
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
* Chilean Football Federation
The Football Federation of Chile ( es, Federación de Fútbol de Chile or ) is the governing body of association football, football in Chile. It was founded 19 June 1895, making it the second oldest South American association football federation, ...
* Sport in South America
References
{{Americas topic, Sport in