Russian society has an ambiguous attitude towards professional sports. If a quarter of the population is involved in amateur and semi-professional sports, about half of the population follows developments in the world of sports on television and on the Internet (and sometimes even goes to competitions), then about a third does not even understand what it is. If there is one thing that worries them, it is only the budgetary funds spent on professional sports.
Let's leave the last category aside and focus on the first two. What sports do residents of the Russian Federation like most? The answer is in the top 10 most popular sports in Russia. The assessment is based on Yandex search query statistics.
Chess
The most intellectual sport has always been popular in Russia, and the Russian chess school is respected throughout the world.
Education Minister Olga Vasilyeva said that compulsory chess lessons could be introduced in Russian schools in the next two years. Similar “experimental” lessons are already being conducted in schools in 40 regions of Russia.
However, this will not affect all classes, but only primary school students. This program allows children to develop strategic planning skills, promotes the development of spatial and systems thinking, and also develops comprehensive personality. It can also help develop a whole generation of future champions.
Workout
The term does not have a direct translation into Russian; it means street training. This is not just physical activity in the fresh air: workout combines a unique approach to classes, the desire for diversified personal development and social activity. All exercises can be performed without special equipment; an ordinary sports ground is sufficient. Special equipment is also not needed - most exercises do not even require weights; athletes use their own body weight.
Tennis
A spectacular and popular sport, especially women's championships among the male population. They love tennis for its speed, dynamism, intensity of play and elegant, powerful shots. There are even astronauts among fans of this sport: Russian and American astronauts have promised to organize a tennis match on the International Space Station.
The largest tournament in Russia is the VTB Kremlin Cup, previously it was called simply the Kremlin Cup, but in 2022 VTB Bank became the only sponsor of the tournament.
The prize fund for the men's tournament is more than $823 thousand, and the women's tournament is more than $790 thousand.
Figure skating
This sport has a very long and colorful history. He was also known in the time of Peter I. It was he who brought skates from Europe and figured out how to attach them directly to boots.
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The first figure skating textbook with the beautiful title “Winter Fun and the Art of Skating” was published in Russia in 1838. And soon (in 1865) figure skating was recognized as a sport in our country.
During Soviet times, figure skating, because of its fun and beauty, captivated millions of men and women to their television screens, no worse than popular films.
And the growing popularity of figure skating in modern Russia is largely due to the numerous triumphs of Evgenia Medvedeva - she wins all personal tournaments in which she participates. Along the way, the athlete sets new world records. Let's hope that the injury will not prevent Evgenia from performing just as brilliantly at the Olympics in Korea.
Boxing
Fist fights have long been among the popular Russian shows. Even during the times of Kievan Rus, various fist fights - “one-on-one” - were not only an interesting spectacle, but also one of the methods of legal proceedings. Hence the name “law of the fist.”
The Russians were introduced to English boxing (in the form of "international matches" for the entertainment of British ambassadors) during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. And as a sport, boxing began to develop in Russia only in the 19th century.
The popularity of boxing has increased in recent years. What is it: the desire to let off steam, drive aggression into the frame, learn to defend yourself, or just the pleasure of movement and the feeling of your strength?
Probably, next year the popularity of this sport will grow even more - the head of the Boxing Federation promised to work on its “publicity.” And Kadyrov has nothing to do with it.
Formula 1
These races are watched by 550 million people every year. The season consists of 20 rounds taking place in 20 different countries, making Formula 1 one of the most global sports.
The most profitable motor sport, Formula 1 generates between $1.5 and $2 billion in revenue each year. This money is distributed among 10 teams, which spend from 100 to 500 million per season on cars, development, personnel and pilot salaries.
Big contracts for F1 drivers: Most drivers earn between $1 million and $5 million a year, but frontrunners Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have contracts worth $50 million a year.
Organizers' contributions: to hold a Formula 1 stage in your country, you need to transfer 40 million dollars to the royal racing fund.
skiing
The honorable sixth place of skating in the hearts of Russian athletes (as opposed to foreign rankings) is apparently explained by the peculiarities of the climate. Our winter is long, we need to fill the time somehow.
Skiing has many interesting branches, such as skijoring (towing a skier), ski stunts, alpine skiing and racing, and even skydiving from an airplane without a parachute.
The Soviet ski school was very strong, and the Russian one continues its glorious traditions. Even a history of doping did not prevent Russian athlete Sergei Ustyugov from winning five victories in a row by the end of last year.
Athletics
The “Queen of Sports,” which dates back to ancient Greece, is not as popular in Russia as it is around the world. While he ranks first in foreign sports rankings, in Russia he barely reaches fifth place.
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Athletics in Russia has a very difficult fate. For some of the “saints,” but for the most part, the “overwhelming” years of the 90s of the twentieth century, sports schools where future athletes were trained were closed en masse, stadiums turned into markets, and coaches and athletes went abroad or did some other profitable business than sport.
However, despite all the difficulties, Russian athletics managed to survive and brought many awards to its country. In 1996, at the Olympics in Atlanta, the national team was no longer the USSR, but Russia (for the first time since 1912). He has 26 gold, 21 silver and 16 bronze medals.
In recent years, this sport in Russia has been seriously paralyzed due to doping scandals. Fortunately, there is something to be proud of: Russian jumper Maria Lasitskene took more than 18 first places last year and hopes to set a new world record.
Basketball
Once upon a time, this game was invented by one of the teachers at an American university to entertain students in physical education classes. Since then, it has not only quickly emerged from America, but has also become a new sports discipline.
In Russia, the first basketball teams appeared in 1906 on the basis of the St. Petersburg sports club “Mayak”. In 1947, Russian basketball players received the right to participate in FIBA competitions. In the period from the 50s to the 80s of the twentieth century, the USSR national basketball team was considered the strongest in the world.
Perhaps the secret to the game's popularity, as a basketball team manager once said, is that it is human nature to jump for joy or be happy while jumping.
Baseball. 500 million viewers
Residents of the CIS countries may have the impression that baseball is a purely American sport. We also heard something about Japan, but in general no one is interested in it anymore... This is a huge misconception: there are 120 baseball federations in the world, and the sport is wildly popular in Cuba, Venezuela, China, South Korea, Mexico and even in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands .
The main league in the world, of course, is the American MLB, where most of the finances and spectator interest are concentrated. The New York Yankees baseball club is the second most valuable baseball club in the world.
Volleyball
Volleyball ranks third among the most popular sports among Russians. It is impressive, invigorating, promotes team spirit, and is also non-contact, which means it is not too dangerous for injury. What more do you need from a good sport?
Here are some of the most striking moments in the history of Russian volleyball: - the victory of the USSR men's team at the 1950 European Championship; - victory of the USSR men's team at the 1965 World Championships; — victory of men's and women's teams at the championships
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Youth Europe in 1966. The results of 2022 turned out to be extremely favorable for volleyball fans from the Russian Federation: 32 medals were added to the Russian national team’s treasury, more than half of which are gold!
The victory at the World Championships in Krakow, where the Russian team faced German volleyball players, was especially impressive.
Cricket. 2.5 billion viewers
Cricket is exotic for the post-Soviet space, but it is the most popular sport in Asian countries that were once colonies of Great Britain. Cricket has the largest number of fans in India, a country with a population of 1.36 billion people, almost 10 in Russia. . The main distinguishing feature of the discipline is the completely unrealistic duration of matches. TestsLimited by time, not by the number of runs or overs scored. games can last five days for six hours!
Cricket is similar to the more commonly known baseball game: it also uses a bat and a ball. Each team has 11 players, who are divided into servers (bowlers) and returners (batsmen). The goal of the batsman is to return the throw so that the ball reaches the boundaries of the field or flies far enough away from the opponents to allow it to run to the other end of the pitch. .
Hockey
Traditionally considered one of the “Russian” sports, along with figure skating and chess. However, difficult times for domestic hockey came in the 1990s, when the lack of stability in domestic sports forced famous athletes to try their luck in foreign clubs. After winning the 1993 World Championships, the Russian team was left without a single medal for many years.
And only in recent years has Russian hockey regained its former glory. In 2008 (exactly the centenary of hockey), the Russian team beat the Canadians, winning the title of world champions. And in 2014 she became world champion five times.
But at the end of 2022, the situation for the Russian national team is disappointing: Swedes and Canadians have recently ruled the hockey kingdom.
Football
Football ranks first among the most popular Russian sports. Even the constant transition from hope to disappointment during the Russian national team's performance, apparently, cannot make people stop loving the green field and the black and white ball.
Football was brought to Russia by English engineers fired by industrialist Savva Morozov. On the pages of pre-revolutionary newspapers and magazines there were heated discussions about the significance of this sport. In the parlance of the phrase, many could not resist the ceremony and called football "fighting with legs" and "an extremely difficult sport." But all this talk did not prevent the Russian Empire team from taking fourth place at the Olympics in Sweden in 1912. And in 1923, the first USSR football championship took place.
The USSR national football team won many glorious victories, including victory at the 1988 Olympic Games. Three times - in 1964, 1972 and 1988 - it became European vice-champion. The Russian national team may not yet boast of great success, but fans are waiting and hoping that the best moments in the history of Russian football are yet to come.
Famous sporting events in Russia
If we do not take into account sporting events such as the Olympic Games, which take place in different countries, but take into account annual events, then the following disciplines are worth highlighting among the well-known ones:
- Basketball.
- Martial arts (judo, sambo, boxing and others).
- Volleyball.
- Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
- Football.
- Weightlifting.
- Powerlifting.
- Formula 1.
- Hockey.
- Chess.
The tournaments and championships themselves depend on the organization, government support and other conditions. Lists of events are announced in advance for the entire year.
