Sport in Germany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Germany is a leading sporting nation which has had success in a wide range of sports.

Contents 1 Motorsport 2 Olympics 3 Football (soccer) 4 Bobsled 5 Cycling 6 Other team sports 7 Individual sports

[edit] Motorsport

Germany is one of the leading motorsports countries in the world. Countless race winning cars and drivers have come from Germany. The most succesful Formula One driver in history, Michael Schumacher rewrote the record books during his career. He has won more Formula One championships and races than any other driver since Formula one's debut season in 1946. In 2003 Schumacher set a new record for driver's championships, the former record of 5 was set by Juan Manuel Fangio and had stood for 46 years since 1957. He is also the highest paid athlete in sports history, with an annual salary of some $70 Million U.S from the Ferrari team and it is believed he acquired around 25-30 Million more from endorsements. In 2005 he became the worlds first Billionaire athlete, according to Eurobusiness magazine. He is considered to be one of the Greatest of all time as he won 7 championships before retiring, more than any other driver ever achieved. He is by far the most successful driver ever, holding all significant records in F1.

The 24 hours of Le Mans is a prestigious annual race held in France, Porsche has won the race 16 times, far more than any other constructor.

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is also extemely popular in Germany.

[edit] Olympics

In the all time Summer Olympics medal count through 2004 Germany ranks seventh, East Germany eighth and West Germany sixteenth. If all the medals are combined Germany ranks third. Germany has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in Berlin in 1936 and in Munich in 1972.

In the all time Winter Olympics medal count through 2002 Germany ranks fourth, East Germany seventh and West Germany fifteenth. Totaling the three sets of medals could theoretically move Germany into first, but again this is not a reliable measure (on the other hand rank four for Germany and only rank 7 for East Germany also does not show the real strength over the years). Germany hosted the Winter Olympics for the only time to date in 1936, when they were staged in the Bavarian twin towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen. Germany claimed the most gold medals and the most total medals during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

[edit] Football (soccer)

Germany's main football (soccer) league, the Bundesliga, has the second highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world, but as of 2005 it was only 5th in the UEFA Rankings, which are based on the performances of clubs in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup. [1] Bayern Munich (German: Bayern München) is the most successful German football club, with 20 national championships and 4 European Champions titles (three European Cup and one Champions League) to its name. Like many other German football clubs, Bayern Munich is a multi-sport club.

The German national football team is one of the traditional powers in international football. It won the FIFA World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and the European Football Championship in 1972 and 1980 as West Germany and in 1996 as Germany. Gerd Müller is the leading goal scorer for the national team with 68 goals, but his fame is perhaps eclipsed by that of Franz Beckenbauer. Germany also hosted the FIFA World Cup 1974, which they won and the FIFA World Cup 2006, in which they placed third, only losing the very close semifinal game against Italy, who were the eventual winners of the Cup.

[edit] Bobsled

Germany has long dominated the sport of Bobsledding. They have the second most medals in the Winter Olympics, behind Switzerland though this is due to classifying Germany as two nations, East Germany and West Germany from 1949 through 1990, if the two totals were combined the medal count would nearly double that of Switzerland. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Andre Lange piloted both the two man and the four man sleds to gold medals, sweeping the men's bobsledding events.

[edit] Cycling

Cycling is a popular sport in Germany and one of the greatest riders of recent times Jan Ullrich dominated the Tour De France in 1997 to win by the largest margin in the history of the tour. He finished a full 9 minutes in front of second place rider Richard Virenque. Jan was regarded as Lance Armstrong's only consistent rival, finishing second to him several times in the Tour De France.

[edit] Other team sports

Other popular team sports in Germany include ice hockey, basketball and handball. Germany is the main base for NFL Europe, hosting five teams out of six as of 2006, though American Football has never been a popular sport in Germany. Also, to a lesser extent, rugby league is played.

[edit] Individual sports

The two most successful German tennis players of all time are Steffi Graf and Boris Becker.

As of 2007 Germany hosts three events on golf's European Tour, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the BMW International Open. Two times Masters champion Bernhard Langer is the only German who has won a major championship and is a former World No. 1.