For years, the talk after weekends in Argentina revolved around soccer. Whether Boca won, how River got on, which Lionel Messi goal was the most spectacular. Soccer, soccer and more soccer sets Argentinian pulses racing – but so do other popular sports in Argentina.
In this article we propose to take a tour of some of the sports beyond soccer which have been inflaming passions among Argentines in recent years.
A grand old Argentine passion, motorsports cross the country from top to bottom. Every weekend, spectators pack race tracks to hear the engines roar. Currently, Road Tourism, TC 2000 and Top Race are the most popular categories.
Oscar Gálvez, Juan Manuel Fangio, Juan Gálvez, Dante and Torcuato Emiliozzi, Roberto Mouras, Oscar Castellano, Juan María Traverso, Héctor Luis Pirín Gradassi and Guillermo Ortelli are some of the most notable drivers in the history of Argentine motorsport categories. Ford and Chevrolet are among the most important and traditional brands in one of the most popular sports in Argentina.
Created in 6000 BC, boxing has deep roots in the Argentine population. Local boxers who get to wear the world champion belt practically attain national idol status. A relatively recent example of this is the fight in which Sergio Maravilla Martínez defeated Julio César Chávez Jr. in 2012, reaching a peak of 25 rating points on Public Television.
Luis Firpo, Pascual Pérez, Nicolino Locche, Carlos Monzón and Sergio Maravilla Martínez are, for many, the most remarkable world champions that this sport – one of the most popular in Argentina – has produced.
Basketball reached the Argentine national consciousness in the 1920s, but its zenith in terms of popular mass was only reached in recent years. More precisely: in 2004, when the National Team won the Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in Athens. During that fondly-remembered tournament the national team went down in history for defeating the United States’ Dream Team, made up entirely of NBA players, in the semifinals.
Among the best national basketball players are Emanuel Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andrés Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and Juan Ignacio Sánchez – all of them veterans of the all-conquering NBA.
Anyone touring Argentina will come across clay tennis courts in almost every province. These training centers and rental courts are occupied by men and women, boys and girls, teachers and students.
Former greats Guillermo Vilas and Gabriela Sabatini are among those notable athletes responsible for the Argentines’ love of tennis. As are Juan Martín Del Potro, David Nalbandian, José Luis Clerc and Gastón Gaudio.
In contrast with everything that divides Argentinians, popular sports truly are a shared passion. Beyond football, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, other popular sports have taken root in Argentina.
