Sports in South America
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Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
is the most popular sport in almost all South American countries. There are a wide range of
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
played in the continent of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. Popular sports include
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
,
motorsports 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
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 ...
. South America held its first Olympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
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 ...
in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. Two years prior to this, major cities in
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 ...
hosted the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
.


Association football

South America and Europe share the supremacy over the sport, as all national team winners in
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 ...
history and all winning teams at the
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
have come from these two continents. Brazil holds the world record at 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 ...
with five titles in total.
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 ...
has three titles 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 ...
have two. So far four South American nations have hosted the tournament including its first edition in Uruguay (
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
). The other three were Brazil (
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
,
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
),
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 ...
(
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
), and Argentina (
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
). South America is home to the longest running international football tournament;
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 ...
, which has been regularly contested since
1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...
. Uruguay have won the Copa America a record 15 times, beating hosts Argentina in 2011 to reach 15 titles (they were previously equal on 14 titles each during the 2011 Copa America). About the
FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...
, Brazil is the biggest winner of all time with 4 titles. At the
Olympic Games 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 ...
, Brazil has 2 titles, Argentina 2, and Uruguay 2. In the
FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...
, Argentina has 6 titles and Brazil 5. In the
FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...
, Brazil has 4 titles. The continent has produced many of the most famous and most talented players in history, including
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
,
Garrincha Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a right winger. He is widely regarded as one of ...
,
Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...
,
Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...
,
Romário Romário de Souza Faria Figueiredo (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and a former professional footballer. A prolific striker renowned for his clinical finishing, he scored over 750 goals and was ...
,
Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...
, Zico,
Nílton Santos Nílton dos Santos (; 16 May 1925 – 27 November 2013) was a Brazilian footballer who primarily played as a wingback. At international level, he was a member of the Brazil squads that won the 1958 and 1962 World Cups. Regarded as one of th ...
,
Djalma Santos Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos known simply as Djalma Santos (; also spelled Dejalma Santos), (27 February 192923 July 2013) was a Brazilian footballer who started for the Brazil national team in four World Cups, winning two, in 1958 and 196 ...
, Taffarel, Falcão,
Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a w ...
and
Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Sain ...
(Brazil);
Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
,
Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...
, Di Stéfano, Batistuta, Passarella,
Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...
(Argentina);
Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
,
Enzo Francescoli Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (; born 12 November 1961), nicknamed "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and as one of Uru ...
, Cavani, Forlán,
Obdulio Varela Obdulio Jacinto Muiños Varela (; September 20, 1917 — August 2, 1996) was a Uruguayan football player. He was the captain of the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup after beating Brazil in the decisive final round match popular ...
(Uruguay);
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Alexis Sánchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (; born 19 December 1988), also known mononymously as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Chile national team. He is often lauded as the g ...
(Chile);
Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...
,
Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...
,
James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...
(Colombia);
Carlos Gamarra Carlos Alberto Gamarra Pavón () (born 17 February 1971) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He captained the Paraguay national team at international level and was for a long time the most capped player ...
, Romerito,
Arsenio Erico Arsenio Pastor Erico Martínez (30 March 1915 – 23 July 1977) was a Paraguayan football striker. He is the all-time highest goalscorer in the Argentine first division, with 295 goals according to Argentine Football Association. Previously ...
(Paraguay);
Álex Aguinaga Álex Dario Aguinaga Garzón (, born 9 July 1969) is an Ecuadorian former professional football player and manager. A midfielder during his playing career, he is one of the all-time cap leaders for Ecuador with 109 matches, scoring 23 goals. Ag ...
,
Alberto Spencer Alberto Pedro Spencer Herrera (6 December 1937 – 3 November 2006) was an Ecuadorian footballer who played as a forward, and is widely regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian footballers of all time He is probably best known for his still-standin ...
(Ecuador);
Teófilo Cubillas Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. H ...
,
César Cueto César Augusto Cueto Villa (born 6 June 1952 in Lima) is a Peruvian former attacking midfielder, nicknamed "El Poeta de la zurda" (English: the Left-footed Poet), recognized as one of the most talented players that Peruvian soccer has produced. ...
,
Claudio Pizarro Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (; born 3 October 1978) is a Peruvian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently serving as Club Ambassador for Bayern Munich. He was captain of Peru's national football team, being ...
(Peru).


Football variations: futsal, beach soccer, footvolley

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 ...
invented some variations of football, such as
beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...
and
footvolley Footvolley ( pt, Futevôlei in Brazil, ''Futevólei'' in Portugal) is a sport which combines aspects of beach volleyball and association football. Footvolley was created by Octavio de Moraes in 1965 in Brazil. Footvolley combines field rules tha ...
.
Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
, having been invented in
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 ...
, neighboring Brazil, is also widely practiced in the country, mainly in the state of
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...
, neighboring Uruguay. In
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
,
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 ...
,
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
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
are among the greatest world powers. Before the Fifa Era, there were three World Cups, organized by the former International Federation of Indoor Soccer (Fifusa), where Brazil was world champion twice, and Paraguay once. Brazil is the biggest champion of the
FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherlan ...
, with 5 titles, with Argentina having a title in 2021. Falcão is the most renowned male Brazilian player. In
beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
are among the world's greatest powers, with Brazil being the biggest champion of the
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the ''Beach Soccer World Champions ...
, with 5 titles. In addition, it has nine world titles from the former competition organized by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the
Beach Soccer World Championships The Beach Soccer World Championships was the premier international beach soccer competition contested by men's national teams between 1995 and 2004. It was replaced by the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. The tournament took place annually in Braz ...
.
Footvolley Footvolley ( pt, Futevôlei in Brazil, ''Futevólei'' in Portugal) is a sport which combines aspects of beach volleyball and association football. Footvolley was created by Octavio de Moraes in 1965 in Brazil. Footvolley combines field rules tha ...
is a recreational sport widely practiced on Brazilian beaches, mainly in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, where it was invented.


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 particularly popular in South America. One of the most important achievements was the
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 ...
gold medal in Men's Basketball 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), ...
. Argentina won the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
. In Brazil, basketball became popular with the
Brazilian national basketball team The Brazil national basketball team is governed by the Brazilian Basketball Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Basketball), abbreviated as CBB. They have been a member of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), since 19 ...
winning the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
two times (
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
) and the Olympic bronze 3 times.
Oscar Schmidt Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt (born February 16, 1958) is a retired Brazilian professional basketball player. He is also commonly known as Oscar Schmidt in Spain, where he played for Fórum Valladolid for the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, ...
is the most renowned male Brazilian player. The Brazil women's basketball team is also one of the best teams in the world having won the
1994 FIBA World Championship for Women The 1994 FIBA Women's World Championship was the 12th edition of the FIBA Women's World Championship, an quadrennial international tournament played by women's basketball teams in FIBA. It was hosted in Australia from 2 to 12 June 1994 at fiv ...
, obtained the Olympic runner-up in 1996, and with three players in the Hall of Fame:
Hortência Marcari Hortência Maria de Fátima Marcari (born September 23, 1959) is a former basketball player who is often considered to be one of the greatest female basketball players in Brazil, along with Paula, and regarded by specialists as one of the world's ...
,
Maria Paula Silva Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva (born March 11, 1962 in Osvaldo Cruz, São Paulo), nicknamed "Magic Paula", is a retired Brazilian women's basketball player. She is considered one of the greatest players in her country, along with Hortência Marc ...
and
Janeth Arcain Janeth dos Santos Arcain (, born April 11, 1969 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a retired Brazilian professional women's basketball player. She played in the United States for the Houston Comets in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) fr ...
. Also, in Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay, basketball is widely played & very popular. The FIBA World Cup took place in South America seven times: Argentina (
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
,
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
), Brazil (
1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
,
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
), Chile (
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
), Uruguay (
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
) and Colombia (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
).


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 ...
is the second most popular sport in
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 Brazilian men's team has 6 Olympic medals (3 gold, 3 silver), 7 World Championship medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) and has won nine World Leagues, while Brazil's women's team has won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Olympic Games, in addition to four runners-up and a third place at World Championships. In the 1980s,
Peru women's national volleyball team The Peru women's national volleyball team was one of the dominant forces in women's volleyball in the 1980s, culminating in the silver medal won at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The team's nickname is ''Las Hijas del Sol'' (''Su ...
was one of the strongest in the world, winning an Olympic silver medal in 1988, as well as a silver medal in 1982 and a bronze in 1986 at the World Championships.
Argentina men's national volleyball team The Argentina national volleyball team represents Argentina in international men's volleyball and is controlled by the Argentine Volleyball Federation (''Federación del Voleibol Argentino'' in Spanish, and abbreviated "FeVA"). The Argentina te ...
has won 2 Olympic bronzes in 1988 and 2020, and a bronze at the 1982 World Championship.


Beach Volleyball

Brazil is one of the strongest countries in the world in
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
, a sport widely practiced in the country due to its long coastline, mainly in Rio de Janeiro and in the Northeast Region of the country. Until the 2020 Olympic Games, the country had 2 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze in the men's modality, and 1 gold, 4 silvers and 2 bronzes in the women's modality. Argentina, Chile and Venezuela usually send representatives to the Olympic Games, but without any significant results so far. In world championships, in addition to several titles obtained by Brazilians, the Argentines
Mariano Baracetti Mariano "Mono" Joaquín Baracetti (born July 12, 1974 in Buenos Aires) is a beach volleyball player from Argentina, who won the world title at the 2001 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria partnering Martin Conde. He repr ...
and
Martín Conde Martín Alejo Conde (born 25 August 1971 in Mar del Plata) is an Argentina, Argentine beach volleyball player who won the world title at the 2001 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Klagenfurt, Austria, partnering with Mariano Baracetti. He r ...
were world champions in 2001.


Brazilian jiu-jitsu, vale tudo, and mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
is one of the most popular sports in Brazil.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
originated in Brazil in the 1910s, and emphasizes ground fighting techniques and submission holds involving joint-locks and chokeholds.
Hélio Gracie Hélio Gracie (October 1, 1913 – January 29, 2009) was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, also ...
had a rather small build and changed jiu-jitsu (originating from
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
) to be used by anyone in a real fight situation. The belt progression system goes in the following order: White, Blue, Purple, Brown, Black, Red-black, and Red.
Gracie Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a martial arts, self-defence martial art and combat sport based on ground fighting, grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opp ...
became known internationally in the 1990s, due to the very skilled fighters in the Gracie family, namely Hélio Gracie,
Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures i ...
, and
Rickson Gracie Rickson Gracie (; born November 21, 1958) is a Brazilian 9th-degree red belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and a retired mixed martial artist. He is a member of the Gracie family: the third oldest son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Grac ...
, which are also responsible for spreading the practice of
vale tudo Vale Tudo (; en, Everything Goes/Everything Allowed), also known No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would event ...
, meaning "anything goes", which evolved into mixed martial arts tournaments such as
PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...
,
DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
, and the
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
. Many Brazilian fighters have become significant figures in various mixed martial art tournaments abroad, some notable Brazilian fighters in these tournaments include
Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ...
,
José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júniorhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/CI3oOc0VAAAr_iv.jpg (, born 9 September 1986), commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He last competed in the Ultimate Fight ...
,
Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...
, Minotauro,
Vitor Belfort Vítor Vieira Belfort (; born 1 April 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. Belfort previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavywe ...
,
Mauricio Rua Mauricio may refer to: *Mauricio (given name) *Maurício José da Silveira Júnior (born 1988), Brazilian footballer known by the mononym Maurício *Maurício (footballer) Maurício is the Portuguese variant of Mauricio (given name). The diminutive ...
,
Murilo Bustamante Murilo Bustamante (; born 30 July 1966, in Rio de Janeiro) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion. He is one of the founders of the ''Brazilian Top Team'' and is the current leader. In addition to compe ...
,
Junior dos Santos Junior dos Santos (; born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of Eagle FC. As a mixed martial ar ...
,
Rafael dos Anjos Rafael Souza dos Anjos (; born October 26, 1984) is a Brazilian American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former UFC Light ...
,
Fabricio Werdum Fabricio () is a Spanish male given name. Fabrício () is the Portuguese equivalent. Among those with the first name are: *Fabricio Coloccini, Argentine footballer *Fabrício Guerreiro (born 1990), Brazilian mixed martial artist *Fabricio Oberto, A ...
,
Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...
,
Alex Pereira Alexsandro Pereira (born 7 July 1987) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Middleweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Middlewe ...
and
Amanda Nunes Amanda Lourenço Nunes (born May 30, 1988) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. She competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Featherweight Champion and two-time UFC Women's Bantamw ...
. Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay have already had some fighters in MMA, but to this day none of them have won the title of champion.


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 a sport that came with German immigrants, which is very popular in schools around South America. It's the second most practiced sport in schools in Brazil. The
Brazil men's national handball team Brazil national handball team is the national handball team of Brazil and is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Handebol. Competitions record Olympic Games World Championship Pan American Games Pan American Championship South ...
is considered the best in South America, with the
Argentina men's national handball team The Argentina national handball team is the national handball team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentina Handball Association. Tournament results Olympic Games World Championship Pan American Games Pan American Championship Sout ...
being its biggest rival. The biggest highlight in South America, however, has been the
Brazil women's national handball team The Brazil women's national handball team is the national team of Brazil. It is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Handebol and takes part in international handball competitions. History In December 2013, ...
, which, in the 2013 World Championship, were crowned world champions for the first time. They also finished 5th at the 2016 Summer Olympics.


Motorsports

South America have several drivers who won the
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
championship multiple times, including five-time champion Juan Fangio of
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 Brazilian drivers
Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
(2 titles),
Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
(3 titles), and
Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...
(3 titles). Brazil has hosted the
Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...
every year since 1973 and the
Argentine Grand Prix The Argentine Grand Prix (Spanish: ''Gran Premio de Argentina'') was a round of the Formula One championship, held intermittently from to , all at the same autodrome in the Argentine national capital of Buenos Aires. Origins and history The Bu ...
has hosted Formula One on 20 occasions. In Motos, South America had notable drivers as
Johnny Cecotto Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youn ...
,
Carlos Lavado Carlos Alberto Lavado Jones (born May 25, 1956) is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1978 to 1992. Lavado is notable for winning two 250cc road raci ...
,
Alex Barros Alexandre Barros (born October 18, 1970) is a Brazilian former professional motorcycle road racer who is a 7-time 500cc/MotoGP race winner and also a race winner in Superbike World Championship. After a long Grand Prix career, in 2006 he moved ...
,
Sebastian Porto Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
, Martín Cárdenas and
Yonny Hernández Yonny Hernández may refer to: * Yonny Hernández (baseball), (born 1998), Venezuelan professional baseball infielder * Yonny Hernández (motorcyclist) Yonny Hernández Vega (born 25 July 1988) is a Colombian motorcycle racer. He is the older br ...
. Also, South America has hosted the Moto GP in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(1977–1979),
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 ...
(1987–1989, 1992; 1995–1997, 1999–2004 as Rio Grand Prix) and
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 ...
(1961–1963, 1981–1982, 1987, 1994–1995, 1998–1999, 2014–present). The
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, ...
is also hosted by South America from 2009 to 2019 (mostly in Chile and Argentina).


Tennis

South America has produced a number of talented tennis players such as
Maria Bueno Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in women's doubles, and one in m ...
, the greatest South American tennis player, three-time
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 ...
winner
Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the French Open singles title three times ( 1997, 2000, and 2001), and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. During his career he ...
, four-time Grand Slam and Masters winner
Guillermo Vilas Guillermo Vilas (; born 17 August 1952) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. Vilas was the No. 1 of the Grand Prix seasons in 1974, 1975 and 1977, and won four Grand Slam tournaments, one year-end Masters, nine Grand Prix Super Se ...
, the first Latin American ranked number 1 in
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 ...
(ATP)
Marcelo Rios Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
, the first Latin American World number 1 in women tennis and the first Latin American to win a Grand Slam
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 ...
, US Open winner
Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...
,
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 ...
winners
Gastón Gaudio Gastón Norberto Gaudio (; born 9 December 1978) is an Argentine retired tennis player. He won eight singles titles and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 5 in April 2005. Gaudio's most significant title win came at the 2004 ...
and
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 ...
, 2009 US Open winner
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
, and double Olympic Gold medalist
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 ...
. In doubles, the continent has already produced players like
Marcelo Melo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
,
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
,
Luisa Stefani Luisa Veras Stefani (born 9 August 1997) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She is the first Brazilian woman to crack the WTA top 10. She made the milestone on 1 November 2021 when she rose two places to world No. 9 in doubles. On 20 M ...
,
Juan Sebastian Cabal ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
and Robert Farah. The continent hosts ATP tournaments, such as the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires and Cordoba, in Argentina, and the ATP 250 in Chile. Argentina was Davis Cup champion in 2016, and Brazil was a semi-finalist twice, in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
and
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Chile has already reached the quarterfinals three times.


Swimming

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 ...
is the greatest South American power in swimming, competing on an equal footing with the world's powers in this sport, especially in men's swimming. Some of the greatest exponents of Brazilian swimming history are:
César Cielo César Augusto Cielo Filho (, born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individual World ...
,
Ricardo Prado Ricardo Prado (born 3 January 1965 in Andradina, São Paulo, Brazil) is an Olympic and former World Record holding medley swimmer from Brazil. He was one of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil and the best Brazilian swimmer in the 1 ...
,
Gustavo Borges Gustavo França Borges (born December 2, 1972) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer. He swam for Brazil in the Summer Olympic Games in: 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. Borges has won the second-most Olympic medals of any Brazilian, with fouron ...
,
Fernando Scherer Fernando de Queiroz Scherer (born October 6, 1974) is a Brazilian former international swimmer. He won the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and another bronze medal four years later in Sydney with ...
,
Thiago Pereira Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira (born 26 January 1986) is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 ...
,
Djan Madruga Djan Garrido Madruga (born 7 December 1958 in Rio de Janeiro) is a former international freestyle swimmer and former South American record-holder from Brazil. His younger brother Roger Madruga, was also a professional swimmer. Early life At 6 ...
,
Bruno Fratus Bruno Giuseppe Fratus (born 30 June 1989) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer. He won a bronze medal in the 50-metre freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In July 2021, Fratus became the first swimmer in history to swim the long course ...
, Manuel dos Santos, Tetsuo Okamoto,
Nicholas Santos Nicholas Araújo Dias dos Santos (born 14 February 1980) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and butterfly sprint events. He swims for Esporte Clube Pinheiros. He swam the 50-metre freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympic ...
,
Felipe França 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 pe ...
,
Fernando Scheffer Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer (born 6 April 1998) is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre freestyle, he is the bronze medalist of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and the South American record holder in ...
,
Kaio de Almeida Kaio Márcio de Almeida (born 19 October 1984) is a Brazilian swimmer who specializes in the butterfly. He is also known by the reduced versions of his name: ''Kaio Márcio'', ''Kaio Márcio de Almeida'', ''Kaio Almeida'', or ''Kaio de Almeida' ...
,
João Gomes Júnior João Luiz Gomes Júnior (born 21 January 1986) is a Brazilian breaststroke swimmer. International career 2009–12 He was in the Brazilian national delegation who attended the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, where he competed in th ...
, Felipe Lima, Guilherme Costa,
Ana Marcela Cunha Ana Marcela Jesus Soares da Cunha (born 23 March 1992) is a Brazilian swimmer who specializes in the open water swimming marathon. She is considered one of the best open water swimmers in history, having obtained 14 medals in FINA World Aquatic ...
,
Etiene Medeiros Etiene Pires de Medeiros (born 24 May 1991) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who participates in backstroke and freestyle events. Widely regarded as the best Brazilian woman swimmer of all time, Medeiros was the first Brazilian to win an ind ...
and
Poliana Okimoto Poliana Okimoto (born March 8, 1983) is a Brazilian long-distance swimmer. Career She was at the 2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Moscow, where she finished 18th in the 800-metre freestyle. She won the Travessia dos Fortes in 20 ...
.
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 ...
was the main force on the continent until the 1960s, with historically important swimmers such as
Luis Nicolao Luis Alberto Nicolao (born June 28, 1944 in Buenos Aires) is a retired butterfly swimmer from Argentina, who in 1962 twice broke the world record in the men's 100 metres butterfly (long course). World records Trained and coached by the winnin ...
,
José Meolans José Martin Meolans (born June 22, 1978 in Córdoba) is a freestyle swimmer from Argentina, who won the world title in the 50 metre freestyle at the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships in Moscow, Russia. A year later he won 100m freesty ...
and
Georgina Bardach Georgina Bardach Martin (born August 18, 1983 in Córdoba) is a swimmer from Argentina. At the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships in Moscow, she finished third in the 400 m Individual Medley race. She also won the gold medal at the 200 ...
. Other countries like
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(with Francisco Sánchez,
Rafael Vidal Rafael Antonio Vidal Castro (January 6, 1964 – February 12, 2005) was a Venezuelan competition swimmer, Olympic medalist and sports commentator. Life Vidal was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1964. At age 20, he became the first Venezuelan sw ...
and
Albert Subirats Albert Subirats Altes (born September 25, 1986) is an Olympic and national record holding swimmer from Venezuela. He represented his homeland at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. At the 2007 World Championships, Subirats won Venezuela's firs ...
) 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 ...
(with Kristel Kobrich) tend to reveal talent from time to time. Brazil hosted the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) and won the
2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) were held in Doha, Qatar on 3–7 December 2014. The Hamad Aquatic Centre in the Aspire Zone hosted the event. Host selection On 14 December 2010, FINA announced that Catania, Italy would host the ...
.


Athletics

South America has a number of historically important and some legendary athletes in track and field. In
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 following stand out:
Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (September 29, 1927 – January 12, 2001) was a Brazilian triple jumper. He won two Olympic gold medals and set four world records, the last being 16.56 metres in 1955 Pan American Games. In his early career he also ...
,
Joaquim Cruz Joaquim Carvalho Cruz (born March 12, 1963) is a Brazilian former middle-distance runner, winner of the 800 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He is one of only five men to run the 800 metres in less than 1 minute, 42 seconds. Biography Cruz wa ...
,
Maurren Maggi Maurren Higa Maggi (born June 25, 1976, in São Carlos) is a former Brazilian track and field athlete and Olympic gold medallist. She is the South American record holder in the 100 metres hurdles and long jump, with 12.71 seconds and 7.26 metre ...
,
Thiago Braz Thiago Braz da Silva (born 16 December 1993) is a Brazilian athlete specializing in the pole vault who holds the Olympic record of 6.03 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics . ...
, Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima,
João Carlos de Oliveira João Carlos de Oliveira, also known as "João do Pulo" (May 28, 1954May 29, 1999) was a Brazilian athlete who competed in the triple jump and the long jump. Born in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo De Oliveira won two Olympic bronze medals. His perso ...
,
Robson Caetano Robson Caetano da Silva (born September 4, 1964 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian sprinter. He participated in four consecutive Olympic Summer Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) and won the bronze medal over 200 metres in the 1988 Seoul Olympics a ...
,
Fabiana Murer Fabiana de Almeida Murer (born 16 March 1981) is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter eve ...
,
Alison dos Santos Alison Brendom Alves dos Santos (born 3 June 2000) is a Brazilian athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. He is a bronze medalist at the 2020 Olympic Games, the 2022 World Champion and the third fastest athlete in the history of the e ...
,
Nélson Prudêncio Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
,
Jadel Gregório Jadel Abdul Ghani Gregório (born 16 September 1980 in Jandaia do Sul, Paraná) is a Brazilian athlete competing in long jump and triple jump. Based in São Paulo, he has competed in several international championships since 2001. ...
, Zequinha Barbosa,
Sanderlei Parrela Sanderlei Claro Parrela (born October 7, 1974 in Santos) is a former Brazilian sprinter. Career With a personal best of 44.29 seconds he is the South American record holder at 400 metres. He won a silver medal in this event at the 1999 World ...
,
Claudinei Quirino Claudinei Quirino da Silva (born November 19, 1970 in Lençóis Paulista) is a retired Brazilian Sprint (running), sprinter who competed primarily in 200 metres. __TOC__ Career He has been successful on regional and world level, and won a 200 ...
,
Vicente de Lima Vicente Lenílson de Lima (born June 4, 1977) is a Brazilian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and the 4×100 metres relay. De Lima represented Brazil at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The 37.90 seconds were not enough ...
, André Domingos,
Édson Ribeiro Édson Luciano Ribeiro (born December 8, 1972) is a Brazilian sprinter competing mostly in 100 metres. He has been successful on regional level, and won two Olympic medals with the Brazilian 4 x 100 metres relay team. His personal best ...
, Caio Bonfim,
Rosângela Santos Rosângela Cristina Oliveira Santos (born December 20, 1990) is an American-born Brazilian track and field sprint athlete. Career Santos represented Brazil at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed at the 4x100 metres relay together ...
, Letícia Oro Melo, Mauro Vinícius da Silva and
Darlan Romani Darlan Romani (born 9 April 1991 in Concórdia) is a Brazilian track and field athlete specialising in the shot put. Indoor World Champion in 2022, he also finished 4th at the 2020 Olympic Games, 4th at the 2019 World Championships, and was cha ...
. Colombia with
Caterine Ibargüen Caterine Ibargüen Mena Order of Boyaca, ODB (born 12 February 1984) is a retired Colombian Sport of athletics, athlete competing in high jump, long jump and triple jump. Her notable achievements include a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, ...
,
Ximena Restrepo Ximena Restrepo Gaviria (born March 10, 1969 in Medellín) is a former Colombian nationalized Chilean sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. With the time of 49.64 seconds she won a bronze medal in 400 metres at the 1992 Olympic Games, ...
,
Anthony Zambrano Anthony José Zambrano de la Cruz (born 17 January 1998) is a Colombian sprinter. He won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in the 400 metres, setting the new Colombian national record of 44.15 seconds. He was also a finalist of ...
and
Sandra Arenas Lorena Arenas Campuzano (born September 17, 1993 in Pereira, Colombia, Pereira, Colombia) is a Colombian racewalking, race walker. She won the silver medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the 20 kilometer race walk. She competed at the 2 ...
, Venezuela with
Yulimar Rojas Yulimar Rojas Rodríguez (Venezuelan ; also known as Yolimar Rojas; born 21 October 1995) is a Venezuelan athlete who holds the world record for women's triple jump, at . She is the current Olympic champion, a three-time World Champion ( 2017 L ...
, Ecuador with
Jefferson Pérez Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born 1 July 1974) is an Ecuadorian retired race walker. He specialized in the 20 km event, in which he won the first two medals his country achieved in the Olympic Games. He won the gold medal at the 199 ...
, Argentina with
Delfo Cabrera Delfo Cabrera Gómez (April 2, 1919 – August 2, 1981) was an Argentine athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1948 Summer Olympics in one of the most dramatic finishes in athletics history. Biography Born in Armstrong, Santa Fe Provi ...
,
Juan Carlos Zabala Juan Carlos Zabala (October 11, 1911 – January 24, 1983), also known as "El Ñandú Criollo", was an Argentine long-distance runner, winner of the marathon race at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Biography Zabala ran his first marathon at the end ...
, Noemí Simonetto de Portela and
Reinaldo Gorno Reinaldo Berto Gorno (July 18, 1918 in Yapeyú – April 10, 1994 in Buenos Aires) was a long-distance runner from Argentina, who, behind Emil Zátopek, won the silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland. In 1954 ...
also contribute to the evolution of sport on the continent. The continent has a great tradition in competitions such as the
triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...
, and hosts important events such as the
Saint Silvester Road Race The Saint Silvester Road Race ( pt, Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre) is a long-distance running event, the oldest and most prestigious street race in Brazil. Regarded as the main international event in Latin American athletics, the Brazi ...
.


Boxing

Boxing is particularly strong in South America, with several world and Olympic champions born in the continent. In
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 ...
, the most historically important boxers are:
Carlos Monzón Carlos Roque Monzón (7 August 1942 – 8 January 1995), nicknamed Escopeta (''Shotgun'' in Spanish), was an Argentine professional boxer who held the undisputed world middleweight championship for 7 years. He successfully defended his title 14 t ...
, Horacio Accavallo,
Santos Laciar Santos Benigno Laciar (born January 31, 1959), known familiarly as Santos Laciar and nicknamed Falucho, is an Argentine who was boxing's world flyweight and super flyweight champion. Biography Laciar was born in Huinca Renancó, in the province ...
,
Juan Martín Coggi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronoun ...
,
Nicolino Locche Nicolino Locche (September 2, 1939 – September 7, 2005) was an Argentine boxer from Tunuyán, Mendoza who held the World Junior Welterweight title from 1968 to 1972. Locche is often cited as one of the finest defensive boxers of all time an ...
,
Victor Galindez The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, Jorge Castro,
Marcela Acuña Marcela Eliana Acuña (born 16 October 1976) is an Argentine professional boxer and part-time politician. She has held multiple super bantamweight world titles, including the IBF title since 2018; the WBA title from 2006 to 2008; the WBC titl ...
and. Sergio Martínez. In Brazil,
Eder Jofre Eder may refer to: People *Eder (surname) *Éder (given name), a Portuguese or Spanish given name *Éder (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer Éder Citadin Martins *Eder (footballer, born 1987), Portuguese footballer from Guinea-Bissau Ede ...
and Acelino Popó Freitas are former world champions;
Robson Conceição Robson Donato Conceição (born 25 October 1988) is a Brazilian professional boxer. He is a two-time super featherweight world title challenger, having challenged for the WBC title in 2021, and the unified WBC, WBO and '' The Ring'' titles in 2 ...
and
Hebert Conceição Hebert William Carvalho da Conceição Sousa (born 28 February 1998) is a Brazilian professional boxer. As an amateur, Conceição won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games as well as winning a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships. Con ...
were Olympic champions, and other Olympic medalists were
Servílio de Oliveira Servílio Sebastião de Oliveira (born May 6, 1948 in São Paulo) is a former Brazilian Olympic bronze medalist . In 1968, he became the first Brazilian boxer ever to win an Olympic medal. It occurred at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. An ...
,
Yamaguchi Falcão Yamaguchi Falcão Florentino (born 24 January 1988) is a Brazilian boxer, currently a professional and a former holder of the World Boxing Council Latino Middleweight Title.Esquiva Falcão Esquiva Falcão Florentino (born 12 December 1989) is a Brazilian professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and silver at the 2012 Olympics. Early life Falcão was born in Vitória, Espírit ...
, Abner Teixeira,
Adriana Araújo Adriana Dos Santos Araújo (; born 4 November 1981) is a Brazilian professional boxer. As an amateur she won a bronze medal in the lightweight division at the 2012 Olympics and qualified for the 2016 Olympics at the same weight. Boxing career ...
and
Beatriz Ferreira Beatriz Iasmin Soares Ferreira (; born 9 December 1992) is a Brazilian boxer. She won a medal at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. She represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known ...
.


Judo

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 ...
is one of the greatest world powers in judo, a sport developed in the country thanks to its large Japanese community. The greatest exponents of the sport until today were
Aurélio Miguel Aurélio Fernández Miguel (born March 10, 1964) is a Brazilian judoka and Olympic champion, and later politician. Among his best sporting achievements are his gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and a bronze medal at the 1996 Summ ...
,
Sarah Menezes Sarah Gabrielle Cabral de Menezes (born March 26, 1990) is a judoka from Brazil. In Judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 48 kg, 2012, she became the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in judo, after defeating the reigning ...
and
Rogério Sampaio Rogério Sampaio Cardoso (born September 12, 1967 in Santos) is a Brazilian judoka and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.Douglas Vieira Douglas Vieira (born June 17, 1960) is a Brazilian judoka and Olympic medalist. Among his best sporting achievements is his silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), oft ...
,
Tiago Camilo Tiago Henrique de Oliveira Camilo (born 24 May 1982) is a judoka from Brazil, who won the silver medal in the lightweight (−73 kg) division at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also won a gold medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships, and was ...
, Carlos Honorato, and the Olympic bronze medalists
Chiaki Ishii (born 1 October 1941 in Ashikaga, Japan) is a Japanese Brazilian judoka, who won Brazil's first Olympic medal in judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Career Ishii trained judo since a very young age, at a dojo loca ...
, Luiz Onmura,
Walter Carmona Walter Carmona (born 21 June 1957 in Sao Paulo) is a Brazilian judoka and Olympic medalist. He placed 5th at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los ...
,
Henrique Guimarães Henrique Carlos Serra Azul Guimarães (born September 9, 1972 in São Paulo) is a male judoka from Brazil. He won the bronze medal in the men's half lightweight (– 65 kg) division at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia ...
,
Leandro Guilheiro Leandro Marques Guilheiro (born August 7, 1983) is a Brazilian male judoka. He won the bronze medal in the lightweight (<73 kg) division at the
,
Flávio Canto Flávio Vianna de Ulhôa Canto (born April 16, 1975 in Oxford, England) is a Brazilian judoka who competed in Men's 81 kg Judo. He won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is founder and president of the Instituto Reação, and ...
,
Ketleyn Quadros Ketleyn Lima Quadros (born 1 October 1987) is a Brazilian judoka. She won the bronze medal in the 57 kg weight class at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and became the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic medal in an individual sport. Personal l ...
,
Felipe Kitadai Felipe Kitadai (born July 28, 1989) is a judoka from Brazil. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and a gold at the 2011 Pan American Games. He also won gold medals six consecutive times in the Pan American Games Judo Championships: at 20 ...
,
Mayra Aguiar Mayra Aguiar da Silva (born August 3 1991) is a Brazilian judoka. She was a bronze medallist in three consecutive Olympics, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She is also three-time world champion (2014, 2017, 2022). She is the first Brazilian woman to win th ...
, Daniel Cargnin and Rafael Silva. The sport has also been developing lately in
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 ...
, with judokas like
Paula Pareto Paula Belén Pareto (born 16 January 1986) is an Argentine retired judoka and physician. She was the flag bearer for her country at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She competed at the 2020 Summer ...
, and in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, with judokas like Yuri Alvear.


Skateboarding

Skateboarding is very popular in
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 ...
, especially in large urban centers. The country has internationally renowned skaters like
Bob Burnquist Robert Dean Silva Burnquist (; born 10 October 1976) is a Brazilian-American professional skateboarder who competed for Brazil throughout his career. In 2010, he became the first skateboarder to land a " fakie 900" (900-degree reverse-natural r ...
,
Sandro Dias Sandro is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Georgian and Croatian given name, often a diminutive of Alessandro or Alexander. It is also a surname. Sandro may refer to: Given name or nickname Sports * Sandro (footballer, born 1973), Brazi ...
,
Rayssa Leal Jhulia Rayssa Mendes Leal (born 4 January 2008) is a Brazilian skateboarder who won a silver medal in women’s street skateboarding at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Skateboarding career Leal was born and lives in Imperatriz, the second largest cit ...
,
Pedro Barros Pedro Barros (born March 15, 1995), known as Pedrinho Barros, is a Brazilian skateboarder who is specialized in Bowl and Park Skateboarding. He won the silver medal in the inaugural Olympic men's park skateboarding event at the 2020 Summer Oly ...
,
Kelvin Hoefler Kelvin Hoefler (born 10 February 1994) is a Brazilian professional street skateboarder. He won the silver medal in the inaugural Olympic men's street skateboarding event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Career Hoefler began skateboardin ...
, Pâmela Rosa and
Letícia Bufoni Letícia Bufoni e Silva (born April 13, 1993) is a Brazilian-American professional street skateboarder. She is a six-time X Games gold medalist. Early life Bufoni was born in São Paulo. She began skating at age nine, and her grandmother bough ...
.
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 ...
is a country that shows a certain degree of development in skateboarding, having sent representatives like Angelo Caro Narvaez to World Championships and the Olympics.


Surfing

Surfing is very popular in
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 country has progressively evolved to become one of the biggest forces in the sport in the world.
Fábio Gouveia Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...
reached number 5 in the world in 1992. In the 2010s, the Brazilian Storm appears, with several Brazilians getting closer to the world title, until
Gabriel Medina Gabriel Medina Pinto Ferreira (born 22 December 1993) is a Brazilian professional surfer who won the 2014, 2018 and 2021 WSL World Championships. With 16 WSL Championship Tour (CT) event wins and 29 Final appearances under his belt, Medina is ...
conquers the same in 2014 and Adriano de Souza wins in 2015. In 2020 surfing ascends to the category of Olympic sport and
Ítalo Ferreira Ítalo Ferreira (born May 6, 1994) is a Brazilian professional surfer hailing from a small community of Baía Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Ferreira is one of the most explosive surfers in the world, and is ...
becomes Olympic champion.
Filipe Toledo Filipe Toledo (born April 16, 1995) is a Brazilian professional surfer who has competed on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2013. He’s a second-generation pro who grew up outside of Ubatuba, Brasil on the northeastern coast of the s ...
was also world champion, in 2022.
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 ...
also has renowned surfers such as
Lucca Mesinas Lucca Mesinas (born 20 April 1996) is a Peruvian surfer. In 2020, Mesinas won the inaugural edition of the Gordo Barreda Cup, a tribute to Peruvian surfing legend Sergio Barreda. He placed 7th overall at the 2021 ISA World Surfing Games, whe ...
and Miguel Tudela.


Gymnastics

Brazil has a large training center for Olympic athletes in
artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
, which has already revealed athletes such as
Rebeca Andrade Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (born 8 May 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic and 2021 World champion on the vault and 2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olymp ...
,
Arthur Zanetti Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti (born April 16, 1990) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. He won the gold medal in the rings exercise at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, becoming the first Brazilian and Latin American gymnast to win an Olympic medal i ...
,
Daiane dos Santos Daiane Garcia dos Santos (born February 10, 1983) is a retired Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the 2003 world champion on the floor apparatus. On doing so, she became the first black gymnast to ever win an event at the World Champio ...
,
Jade Barbosa Jade Fernandes Barbosa (born July 1, 1991) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time bronze medalist at the World Championships, and represented Brazil at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics. Gymnastics career Barbosa was the Brazilian ...
,
Arthur Mariano Arthur Nory Oyakawa Mariano (born 18 September 1993) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national team. He participated in the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, placing fourth in the horizontal bar and 12th ...
,
Diego Hypólito Diego Matias Hypólito (; born 19 June 1986) is a Brazilian gymnast, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion in the floor exercise. He is the first male gymnast from Brazil, and South America, to win a medal at the World Championships. He also won 6 ...
and
Daniele Hypólito Daniele Matias Hypólito (born 8 September 1984) is a Brazilian gymnast who competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games. Hypólito is the first gymnast from Brazil to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver in fl ...
. In Chile, Tomás González reached 4th place in the floor and vault events at the 2012 London Olympics. In
rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
, the Brazilian team won an unprecedented bronze in the general event of the Athens, Greece stage of the
Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition for rhythmic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the W ...
, held in March 2023.


Yachting and Equestrianism

Despite yachting and equestrianism being inaccessible sports for the general population, Brazil has a great tradition in yachting, and, to a lesser extent, but no less important, tradition in equestrianism. The biggest center for these sports in South America is
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
and its neighboring city
Niterói Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...
. Several Olympic medalists in yachting have trained in
Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and ...
, such as
Martine Grael Martine Soffiatti Grael (born 12 February 1991) is a Brazilian sailor in the 49er FX class. Together with Kahena Kunze she won the 49er FX class at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. ...
, Clinio Freitas, Daniel Adler,
Eduardo Penido Eduardo Henrique Gomes Penido (born January 23, 1960) is a Brazilian sailor and Olympic champion. He won one gold medal in the ''470 Class'' with Marcos Soares at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no ...
,
Isabel Swan Isabel Marques Swan (born November 18, 1983) is a Brazilian sailor. She won a bronze medal in Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 470 class, 470 class at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Born in Rio de Janeiro and raised in Niterói, she ...
, Kiko Pellicano, Marcelo Ferreira, Marcos Soares, Nelson Falcão and Ronaldo Senfft. The country also has olympic medalists from São Paulo
Robert Scheidt Robert Scheidt (born April 15, 1973) is a Brazilian sailor who has won two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze from five Olympic Games and a Star Sailors League Final. He is one of the most successful sailors at Olympic Games and one of t ...
,
Torben Grael Torben is a Danish variant of the given name Torbjörn. People named Torben include: *Torben Betts (born 1968), English playwright and screenwriter *Torben Boye (born 1966), Danish former footballer *Torben Frank (born 1968), Danish former footbal ...
,
Kahena Kunze Kahena Kunze (born 12 March 1991) is a Brazilian sailor in the 49er FX class. Together with Martine Grael she won the 49er FX class at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships and a gold medal in the inaugural 49er FX race, during the 2016 Rio O ...
, Reinaldo Conrad,
Alexandre Welter Alexandre "Alex" Welter (born 30 June 1953) is a Brazilian sailor and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the ''Tornado Class'' at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p ...
,
Bruno Prada Bruno Prada (born 31 July 1971 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian sailor. After sailing Optimists until the age of 14, he moved to the Laser class, where he was Brazilian and South American Junior champion and 7th at Youth Worlds in 1989, and the ...
and
Peter Ficker Peter Ficker (born 8 June 1951) is a Brazilian sailor. He won a bronze medal in the '' Flying Dutchman Class'' with Reinaldo Conrad at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Econo ...
. In equestrianism, the Gávea Hippodrome trained athletes such as
Rodrigo Pessoa Rodrigo de Paula Pessoa (born 29 November 1972 in Paris, France) is a Brazilian equestrian specialized in show jumping. The son of fellow equestrian Nelson Pessoa, Pessoa is considered one of the most talented of his generation ...
and his father
Nelson Pessoa Nelson Pessoa Filho (born December 16, 1935) is a Brazilian equestrian who competed in the sport of Show jumping. He was among the first Brazilian civilians to do well in the sport, as the military had dominated it in the Brazil of that era ...
, as well as Luiz Felipe de Azevedo; the country also has olympic medalists from São Paulo
Álvaro de Miranda Neto Álvaro Affonso de Miranda Neto (born 5 February 1973), more commonly known as Álvaro de Miranda or "Doda" Miranda, is an Olympic-class Brazilian show jumping rider. He was married to Athina Onassis. He is president of the organizing co ...
and from Rio Grande do Sul André Johannpeter.
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 ...
also trains high-level athletes in yachting, with some Olympic medals.
Santiago Lange Santiago Raúl Lange (born September 22, 1961 in San Isidro, Argentina) is an Argentine Olympic sailor and a naval architect. Sailing career He studied Naval Architecture at Southampton Collage of Higher Education (now known as Solent Universi ...
and Cecilia Carranza were Olympic champions in 2016, and the country still had 4 silvers and 5 bronzes in yachting by the 2020 games. The country has already won an Olympic silver in equestrian with
Carlos Moratorio Carlos Alberto Moratorio (10 November 1929 – 7 March 2010) was an Argentine equestrian. He was born in La Cruz, Corrientes. Carlos won a silver medal in individual eventing at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Moratorio also competed at the 19 ...
.
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 ...
won 2 Olympic silvers in 1952 in equestrianism, mainly with the help of Óscar Cristi.


Chess

Chess is a sport with many fans in South America. The continent has produced some great players such as Argentine
Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...
(known for the
Najdorf Variation The Najdorf Variation ( ) of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular, reputable and deeply studied of all chess openings. ''Modern Chess Openings'' calls it the "Cadillac" or "Rolls-Royce" of chess openings. The opening is named after th ...
), and Brazilians
Henrique Mecking Henrique Costa Mecking (born 23 January 1952), also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian chess grandmaster who reached his zenith in the 1970s and is still one of the strongest players in Brazil. He was a chess prodigy, drawing comparisons to Bobby ...
(3rd best in the world in 1977) and
Luis Paulo Supi Luis Paulo Supi (born October 10, 1996) is a Brazilian chess grandmaster. He became a grandmaster in 2017 by winning Magistral Acre and won the title of Brazilian Chess Champion in 2021. In addition to being a professional player, Supi is also a ...
(who defeated world champion
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
).


Baseball

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 ...
is the most popular sport in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. In
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, Baseball is very popular in their north region, and has been gaining popularity recently in the other regions of Colombia. A wide list of players from Venezuela and Colombia are in the major leagues 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 ...
. Both countries are the only ones in this region to participate in the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
(plus Brazil) and the
Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...
.


Table tennis

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 ...
is very popular and widely played in
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 ...
, and the country has a considerable tradition in this sport. The greatest player in the history of the country is
Hugo Calderano Hugo Marinho Borges Calderano (born 22 June 1996, in Rio de Janeiro) is a table tennis player from Brazil. In January 2022, he peaked at number 3 in the world rankings, becoming the greatest Americas player of all time. He is the first-ever pl ...
, who reached number 3 in the world in 2022 (becoming the greatest
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
player of all time), and was the first South American to reach the quarterfinals of this sport at the Olympic Games. Other historically important players in the country are
Gustavo Tsuboi Gustavo Tsuboi (born 31 May 1985, São Paulo) is a table tennis player from Brazil, he won three medals in double and team events in the Pan American Games. Along with Hugo Hoyama and Thiago Monteiro, Tsuboi was part of the winning team at the ...
, Cláudio Kano,
Hugo Hoyama Hugo Hoyama (born May 9, 1969) is a retired Brazilian table tennis player of Japanese origin who has won several medals in single, double and team events in the Latin American Table Tennis Championships. Along with Gustavo Tsuboi and Thiago M ...
and
Bruna Takahashi Bruna Takahashi (born July 19, 2000) is a Brazilian table tennis player. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as part of the Brazilian team in the women's team event. At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, she was seeded #5, and is ...
. The best players from
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 ...
so far have been
Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...
,
Gastón Alto Gastón Alto (born 6 July 1985) is an Argentine table tennis player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in T ...
and
Horacio Cifuentes Horacio Cifuentes (born 16 March 1998) is an Argentine table tennis player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 ...
. For Chile, the player Berta Rodríguez stood out.


Taekwondo

In
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 1992, when it was still an Olympic demonstration sport, the Venezuelan
Arlindo Gouveia Arlindo Inacio Gouveia Colina (born 22 December 1969 in Punto Fijo, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan athlete that competed in taekwondo. He won two medals in the Pan American Games in 1987 and 1991, as well as a medal in the 1990 Pan American Taekwond ...
was champion and
Adriana Carmona Adriana Carmona (born December 3, 1972 in Puerto La Cruz) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist. Olympic Games She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she received a bronze medal in the +67 kg class ...
was a bronze medalist (later she would be a bronze medalist in 2004, officially). Another Venezuelan,
Dalia Contreras Dalia María Contreras Rivero (born September 20, 1983) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in taekwondo. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing 8th in her weight class. ...
, was a bronze medalist in 2008. Brazilian
Natália Falavigna Natália Falavigna da Silva (born May 9, 1984 in Maringá''Guia do Pan – XV Jogos Pan-Americanos''. Rio de Janeiro: Lance!, 2007) is a taekwondo athlete from Brazil. She finished in the fourth place in the women's 67-kilogram category in taekw ...
was a bronze medalist in 2008 and 4th place in 2004. Maicon Siqueira won bronze in 2016. Diogo Silva finished 4th in 2004 and 2012, and Milena Titoneli finished 4th in 2020. Argentina's biggest highlights are
Sebastián Crismanich Sebastián Eduardo Crismanich (born 30 October 1986 in Corrientes) is an Argentine taekwondo athlete. He won the gold medal in the men's 80 kg division at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Sebastián has the distinction of being the second indi ...
, Olympic champion in 2012, and Gabriel Taraburelli who finished 4th place in 2000. For Colombia, Óscar Muñoz Oviedo was bronze in 2012, and Gladys Mora finished 4th in 2004. The Peruvian Peter López Santos came in 4th place in 2008.


Canoeing

The Brazilian
Isaquias Queiroz Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos (born 3 January 1994) is a Brazilian sprint canoeist who has competed since 2005. He is the only Brazilian athlete to ever win three medals in a single edition of the Olympic Games, and the third most decorated Brazil ...
is the best canoeist in the history of South America, being the only Olympic champion of this modality on the continent and adding a total of four Olympic medals until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Erlon Silva also won Olympic silver for Brazil in canoeing.


Archery

Marcus Vinicius D'Almeida Marcus Vinicius Carvalho Lopes D'Almeida (born January 30, 1998 in Rio de Janeiro), known as Marcus D'Almeida, is a Brazilian athlete who competes in recurve archery. World runner-up in 2021. In February 2023, he became the first Brazilian to le ...
, in the
recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a ...
category, is the greatest male
archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
athlete in the history of South America, having been number 1 in the world in 2023, and world runner-up in 2021. The Chilean
Denisse van Lamoen Denisse Astrid van Lamoen (born 12 September 1979) is a Chilean archer. In 2000, she became the first Chilean archer to compete at the Summer Olympics, but after failing a drug test in 2002 she left archery to study law. She later returned to t ...
won a world title in the recurve bow in 2011, and the Colombian Natalia Sánchez was a world bronze medalist in 2009. In the
Compound bow In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs. In general, compound bows are widely used in target practice and hunting. The pulley/cam system grants the user a mechan ...
(which does not participate in the Olympic Games), The Colombian Sara López, multiple world champion, stands out.


Field Hockey

Very popular in
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 ...
(2 times World Champion). The women's national team ''Las Leonas'' is one of the world's most successful, with five Olympic medals, two
World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, a World League and seven Champions Trophy. The national team won the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
in
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. At the Olympic Games, it won the silver medal in
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, as well as bronze in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. ''Las Leonas'' also won the annual Champions Trophy on seven occasions, in
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
,
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
,
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
and the World League 2014-2015.
Luciana Aymar Luciana Paula Aymar (; born 10 August 1977) is an Argentine retired field hockey player. She is the only player in history to receive the FIH Player of the Year Awards, FIH Player of the Year Award eight times, and she is considered as the best ...
is recognized as the best female player in the history of the sport, being the only player to have received the
FIH Player of the Year Award The FIH Player of the Year Awards are awarded annually by the International Hockey Federation to the male and female field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield pl ...
eight times. The men's national team ''Los Leones'' won the gold medal at the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
and the bronze medal at the
2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
and 2008 Champions Trophy. The national squad also won
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 ...
on ten occasions and the
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
,
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
Champions Challenges.


Modern pentathlon

Yane Marques Yane Márcia Campos da Fonseca Marques (born January 7, 1984 in Afogados da Ingazeira) is a modern pentathlon athlete from Brazil. She became nationally known despite the obscurity of her sport in the country after winning a bronze medal at the ...
is the only person born in South America to win an Olympic medal in
modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...
(until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games), having also been the first person in Latin America to do so.


Rink Hockey

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 ...
has won the world cup in 5 times.


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 ...
is becoming popular in South America, following the recent successes of
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 ...
in recent
Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
competitions (3rd place in 2007 and 4th place in 2015). The popularity of the game has spread across the continent.
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 ...
,
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
,
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
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 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 ...
,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, Guyana, Peru and Bolivia all have Rugby Federations.


Weightlifting

Weightlifting is popular in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and has been evolving in
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 ...
. Some of the top Colombian weightlifters are:
María Isabel Urrutia María Isabel Urrutia Ocoró (born 25 March 1965) is a former Olympic weightlifting, weightlifter, athlete and politician from Colombia. She won the first ever gold medal for Colombia at the Summer Olympic G ...
, Óscar Figueroa,
Mabel Mosquera Mabel Mosquera Mena (born July 1, 1969) is a weightlifter from Quibdó, Colombia. Born in Quibdó, Department of Chocó, she started weightlifting in 1999. She competed in the women's 53 kg weight class at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Lifti ...
and Diego Fernando Salazar. The greatest exponent of this sport in Brazil was
Fernando Reis Fernando Saraiva Reis (born March 10, 1990) is a Brazilian weightlifter. He competed at both the 2012 Summer Olympics
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 ...
in Colombia became very popular with the beginning of the annual
Vuelta a Colombia The Vuelta a Colombia (Spanish for ''Tour of Colombia'') is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela and Ecuador during the first days of August. It is organized by the ...
race in 1951, followed by the annual
Clásico RCN The Clásico RCN (Spanish for ''RCN Classic'') is an annual cycling road race that takes place over many stages through different regions of Colombia during October. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation. The event is sponsored b ...
starting in 1961. The triumphs of Martín Emilio "Cochise" Rodríguez in European cycling competitions increased the sport's popularity, which in turn helped to develop the
Colombian Cycling Federation The Colombian Cycling Federation or FCC () is the national governing body of cycle racing in Colombia. The FCC is a member of the UCI and COPACI. External links * Cycle racing organizations Cycle racing in Colombia Cycling Cy ...
. Rodriguez was followed by professional Colombian cyclists known as the "Colombian beetles", which include up to this date Luis "Lucho" Herrera,
Luis Felipe Laverde Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (born 6 July 1979 in Urrao) is Colombian professional road bicycle racer for , having left the team. His best results are two stage victories in the Giro d'Italia, in 2006 and 2007. Palmarès ;2001 : Pan American C ...
,
Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto (born November 22, 1959 in Sogamoso, Boyacá) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the ''Novatos'' classification for new riders or riders riding their fi ...
,
Víctor Hugo Peña Víctor Hugo Peña Grisales (born July 10, 1974 in Bogotá) is a Colombian professional retired road racing cyclist. He last rode for the professional cycling team. In 2003, Peña became the first Colombian to wear the yellow jersey at the Tou ...
,
Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Echeverry (born October 27, 1972) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a Españ ...
,
Mauricio Soler Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández (born January 14, 1983 in Ramiriquí, Boyacá) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTour team . He competed in the Tour de France for the first time in 2007, winning st ...
. The "escarabajo" (beetle) nickname was coined by radio announcer José Enrique Buitrago, while watching
Ramón Hoyos Ramón Hoyos Vallejo (26 May 1932 – 19 November 2014) was a Colombian road bicycle racer who won the men's individual road race at the 1959 Pan American Games. He represented his native country twice at the Summer Olympics; in 1956 and 1960. He ...
climb a hill ahead of French professional racer
José Beyaert José Beyaert (1 October 1925 – 11 June 2005) was a French professional cyclist who competed during the 1940s and 1950s, and was the 1948 Olympics road race champion. Beyaert moved to Colombia in 1952 and lived there for several years where ...
during the 1955 Vuelta a Colombia. Colombian cycling has enjoyed a renaissance in the early 2010s, with Colombian riders enjoying international success. One of the factors cited for this success has been the establishment of the 4-72 Colombia cycling team (formerly known as Colombia es Pasión-Café de Colombia), which has developed several cyclists who have gone on to compete for
UCI Worldteams UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...
. The government-backed Colombia-Coldeportes cycling team competed at the 2013 Giro d'Italia, and was the first all-Colombian team to do so for 21 years. The team aimed to secure UCI ProTeam status and compete in the Tour de France, however the team announced its disbanding in October 2015 due to the withdrawal of financial support from
Coldeportes The Administrative Department of Sport, Recreation, Physical Activity and the Use of Free Time, Coldeportes was the national government department of sports in and for Colombia; it is charged with fomenting, planning and organizing the activities ...
, the Colombian government's sports ministry. Riders who graduated to the UCI World Tour from the team included
Esteban Chaves Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (born 17 January 1990) is a Colombian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Born in Bogotá, Chaves has competed as a professional since the start of the 2012 season, having signed fo ...
and
Darwin Atapuma Jhon Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (born 15 January 1988) is a Colombian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . After two seasons with , Atapuma left the team at the end of the 2013 season and joined the for 2014. In 2015, he finishe ...
. High-profile riders emerging in this period include
Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known ...
,
Rigoberto Urán Rigoberto Urán Urán, ODB (born 26 January 1987) is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the road race. He became the first Colombian ever ...
,
Sergio Henao Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (born 10 December 1987) is a Colombian former racing cyclist, who competed professionally from 2012 to 2021 for , and . He retired after the 2021 season when folded. Early life Henao was born in Rionegro in 1987, the ...
,
Carlos Betancur Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez (born 13 October 1989) is a Colombian road racing cyclist, who most recently rode for Colombian amateur team . Career In 2010 he won the Girobio stage race; the amateur version of the Giro d'Italia; and in 2011 ...
and
Mariana Pajón Mariana Pajón Londoño ODB OLY (born 10 October 1991) is a Colombian cyclist, two-time Olympic gold medalist and BMX World Champion.
. The two main strongholds of the sport in Colombia are the
Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alti ...
in the centre of the country and Antioquia in the west, both being mountainous regions. Some of the top Colombian cyclists are: *
María Luisa Calle María Luisa Calle Williams (born October 3, 1968) is a Colombian professional racing cyclist. She was born in Medellín. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the cycling women's points race, the first Colombian to win a m ...
, bronze medal winner in 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), ...
in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and World Champion. *
Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto (born November 22, 1959 in Sogamoso, Boyacá) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the ''Novatos'' classification for new riders or riders riding their fi ...
, 3rd place in the tour de France, 1988 *
Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Echeverry (born October 27, 1972) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a Españ ...
, Time trial world champion * Martín Emilio "Cochise" Rodríguez, Hour world record holder and world champion in 4,000 m pursuit. *
Marlon Pérez Marlon is a masculine given name. According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', the popularity of Marlon Brando led to general awareness of the name (his father was also named Marlon), though the origin of the name is not known. Speculatio ...
, Youth World Champion in the
points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium even ...
, 1994 * Efraín Domínguez, Double world record in kilometer and 200 m pushed 1987 * Luis "Lucho" Herrera, "El jardinerito", Champion of the
Dauphiné Libéré The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centur ...
(1988, 1991) and
Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
(1987), first non-European to win the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
Mountains classification in the Tour de France, Mountains classification (1985) * Martín Ramírez (cyclist), Martín Ramírez, Champion Dauphiné Libéré 1984 * Alfonso Flórez Ortiz, Champion Tour de l'Avenir 1980 *
Víctor Hugo Peña Víctor Hugo Peña Grisales (born July 10, 1974 in Bogotá) is a Colombian professional retired road racing cyclist. He last rode for the professional cycling team. In 2003, Peña became the first Colombian to wear the yellow jersey at the Tou ...
, one of only three Colombian cyclists to have ever worn the yellow jersey in the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
(2003). *
Rigoberto Urán Rigoberto Urán Urán, ODB (born 26 January 1987) is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the road race. He became the first Colombian ever ...
, silver medal winner in the Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race, Men's Olympic Road Race, 2012 Summer Olympics, second place in the Giro d'Italia (2013, 2014), second place in the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
(2017). *
Mariana Pajón Mariana Pajón Londoño ODB OLY (born 10 October 1991) is a Colombian cyclist, two-time Olympic gold medalist and BMX World Champion.
, gold medal winner at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX, women's BMX event, gold medal winner at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX, women's BMX event. *Carlos Oquendo, bronze medal winner at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's BMX, men's BMX event. *
Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known ...
, 2nd place overall in the 2013 Tour de France, Tour de France, 2013, 1st place overall 2013 Tour of the Basque Country, Tour of the Basque Country, 2013, 1st place overall 2013 Vuelta a Burgos, Vuelta a Burgos, 2013, 1st place overall Giro d'Italia 2014, winner of 2015 Tirreno–Adriatico, Tirreno–Adriatico 2015, 1st place overall
Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
2016. *Edwin Ávila, double track cycling world champion in the points race (2011,2014). *
Esteban Chaves Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (born 17 January 1990) is a Colombian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Born in Bogotá, Chaves has competed as a professional since the start of the 2012 season, having signed fo ...
, second place in the Giro d'Italia (2016) *Carlos Ramirez (BMX rider), Carlos Ramirez placed third at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's BMX, men's BMX *Iván Sosa, 1st place overall in the 2018 Vuelta a Burgos *Fernando Gaviria wearer of the Yellow Jersey in the 2018 Tour de France *Egan Bernal winner of the general and youth classifications in the 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d'Italia


Golf

Golf is growing in popularity in both Brazil and Argentina but is not widely played elsewhere in South America. Culture of Bolivia #sports, Bolivia has the highest tournament class golf course in the world.


Jai Alai

Jai alai or Basque pelota is played in many parts of South America. Although this sport is mostly played in Spain and France, there are federations of Basque ball in
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 ...
, Bolivia,
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 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 ...
, Ecuador,
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. Due to the origin of the game, there are many good players who are Basques, either natives or from the Basque diaspora.Pilota vasca (campeonatos)
at Auñamendi Encyclopedia


Cricket

Cricket is the most popular sport in Guyana. Apart from there, is mostly played in the Southern Cone, especially in areas settled by English people. Although a number of South American nations have teams, none of them are major, except for the Guyana national cricket team, which plays in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean. Guyana is also an independent nation represented by the West Indies cricket team, the only team in the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
with Test cricket, Test status. South American Cricket Championship is a limited overs cricket tournament played since 1995 between the national teams of the continent with North American teams also often invited to participate. It is currently played annually but until 2013 was usually played biennially. Variants of street cricket are also played, such as bete-ombro in Brazil.


Polo

Polo is popular in some parts of
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 ...
,
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Games

* South American Games * South American Masters Games * South American University Games * South American Schools Games * South American Transplant Games * Bolivarian Games * ALBA Games * Ibero American Games * Indigenous Peoples' Games * South American Deaf Games * South American Blind Games


See also

*Sport in Africa *Sport in Asia *Sport in Europe *Sport in North America *Sport in Oceania


References

{{Americas topic, Sport in Sport in South America,