The first modern Olympic Games (1896) featured 9 sports. Since then, the Olympics has significantly popularized and with each draw more and more new sports disciplines have been added to it, and some sports have been removed from the program. Since 1896, 5 sports have consistently been present at every Summer Olympics. We will tell you more in this article. By the way, you can make money on the Olympic Games – you can bet on the website of the bookmaker. Often, bets bring income no worse than play online roulette.
In 2012, 26 sports were presented at the Olympic Games, in 2016 there are already 28, and for the next Games (2020 – postponed to 2021) 5 sports will be added, and in general the Olympics program will consist of 33 sports.
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Sports At The Olympic Games: Summer And Winter
At the moment, the program of the Summer Olympics consists of 28 sports (42 disciplines), and the winter and 7 sports (15 disciplines).
Most Popular Sports At The Summer Olympics Athletics
Athletics has always been a mandatory part of the Olympic Games. Participants perform in various disciplines such as running, relay races, walking, jumping competitions, throws / throws, all-around, marathons, etc.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics was presented at the first Olympic Games and to this day the competition is very popular in the tournament. Gymnastics is a sport, the program of which consists of floor exercises, as well as exercises on simulators (bars, horse, rings, crossbar). Gymnasts, performing the program, gain points for their actions, according to which the places are distributed. Gymnastics is a very difficult sport that requires strength, flexibility, balance, control and endurance.
Archery
Archery is a sport, the essence of which is to hit arrows in minesh from a given distance. It is one of the oldest sports, with a history of more than 3,000 years. Archery first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1900 in France, where 2 gold and 1 silver was won by the most successful archer in the history of the games, the Belgian Van Innis Hubert.
Basketball
Basketball is one of the most popular sports on the planet, the essence of which is that two teams of 5 people play on a rectangular court, trying to shoot the ball into the basket. Basketball has been a regular feature of the Olympic Games since 1936.
Badminton
Badminton is played 1 on 1 or 2 on 2. The essence of the game is to throw a shuttlecock (a projectile made of feathers or plastic with a cork base) over the net to the other half with rackets. Points are awarded when the shuttlecock falls on the opponent’s half of the court. Badminton first appeared at the Olympics in 1992.
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball games are held on sandy grounds where two teams play 2 on 2. The essence of the game is simple and consists in transferring the ball to someone else’s half of the field for a certain number of touches. Beach volleyball has been present at the Olympic Games since 1996 and is attended by men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
Football
For those who didn’t know, football is the most popular sport in the world. The army of fans of the game with the ball is simply colossal, although at the Olympics the teams play young teams, since the rules do not allow many professional football players in the team. And yet, even without a bunch of stars in the team, football matches at the Olympic Games constantly gather a lot of excitement around them.
Tennis
Tennis is played like 1 on 1, so there are doubles 2 on 2. The goal of the game in simple words is to hit the ball with a racket in such a way that it lands on someone else’s half of the field and the opponent could not return it. Tennis has a great Olympic history and the sport is one of the most popular in the tournament today.
Swimming
Swimming is racing on the water using a certain technique. There are many swimming competitions at the Olympics, including backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle, where the swimmer is allowed to use absolutely any style to move. In swimming, there are individual and team races in the form of a relay race.
The most popular sport of all time is football
With over 4 billion fans, it is by far the most popular sport in the world. The dominance of football on the planet is so obvious that the first place is no surprise to anyone. Football has received the main distribution in Europe, where for many it has become not just a game, but a way of life. The FIFA World Cup is the most iconic event in this sport. Football is also one of the most accessible sports in the world, and there is hardly a person who has never hit the ball in his life. Football news constantly flashes in the headlines of the largest newspapers, especially in the UK, Germany, France, Spain. The most watched competition in the world: The Football World Cup is the most anticipated sporting event. The final match between Germany and Argentina attracted 700 million viewers.
Biggest prize pool: $1.5 billion annually in the Champions League, Europe’s elite club football. Biggest TV contract: English Premier League matches are broadcast in 212 countries around the world and attract nearly 6 billion TV viewers during the season. Sky Sports and BT Sports had to shell out a hefty £5.3bn for broadcast rights in the UK. Another £3bn came from the sale of international rights. Most professional leagues: Professional football leagues exist in almost every country in the world, and almost always consist of several divisions. Biggest sponsorship deal: Adidas pays Manchester United £75m a year just to become official kit supplier. Most famous teams have such lucrative contracts with leading sports brands. Highest Paid Athletes: Top players such as Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo earn over 40 million euros a year and are among the top 10 most famous athletes in the world.
Wealthiest sports teams: The list of the 50 richest sports teams includes 30 football clubs. The largest federation: FIFA is the largest and most influential sports organization. More than 200 national federations and 6,500 professional football clubs are registered with FIFA. The most popular sports teams on social media: Real Madrid and Barcelona have over 100 million followers today. Most Followed Athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo has 150 million followers on Facebook* and Twitter.
Basketball
Basketball has over 1 billion fans. It is one of the highest rated sports in the US and the NBA generates over $5 billion in revenue annually. Wildly watched professional leagues in Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Argentina and China make basketball the fastest growing sport in the world. It is safe to say that in the next 10 years no one will be able to match football in popularity, but basketball has every chance to firmly occupy the second line.
Here are some interesting facts that prove it: Second most professional league in the world: Basketball is second only to football in the number of professional leagues. In most European countries, leagues consist of several divisions. The third largest sports league in the world: The NBA (National Basketball Association) is the third largest in terms of revenue, behind the NFL and the English Premier League. Highest median salary:
The median annual salary of NBA players is $4.4 million. The top 40 NBA players make over $15 million a year, while the top 10 make over $30 million a year. Biggest Sponsorships: Players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are earning more than $50 million a year in addition to solid sponsorship deals. Fastest Growing Sport: Basketball is also the fastest growing sport in the world, from revenue to spectatorship. More and more strong teams appear in countries such as Serbia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, where full stands gather at matches.
