Sport in South Africa
As you might have guessed, South Africa is in the southern tip of the African continent. It is one of the largest countries in the world as well as one of the most populous. And all these people, from various cultural backgrounds, often only come together for one reason, their love of sports.
Where it gets tricky is what sport they love. Statistically, the most popular sports in South Africa are cricket, rugby and soccer. Other sports which enjoy a particularly good amount of following includes athletics, basketball, boxing, golf, netball, swimming, and tennis.
For the black portion of the South African population, soccer has emerged as the number one sport. With their love of the sport, it is not hard to imagine why some of their stars have goner on to play for international clubs like Aaron Mokoena, Delron Buckley, Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe, Philemon Masinga, and Steven Pienaar. South Africa has also hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
A rugby stadium features in the spectacular landscape of Cape TownRugby is also a very popular sport in South Africa and their national team, the Springboks, has performed particularly well in the international stage taking the 1995, 2007 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. There is also a fair amount of world-class Rugby players from South Africa that includes Bryan Habana, Danie Craven, Francois Pienaar, Frik du Preez, Joost van der Westhuizen, and Naas Botha. South Africa has also hosted quite a few international sports meetings like the 1996 African Cup of Nations, 2003 Cricket World Cup, as well as the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship.
Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to South Africa.
Popular sports of South Africa
- Rugby Union, Cricket, Football (Soccer), Boxing, athletics, basketball, golf, netball, surfing, swimming, and tennis.
Regional or Traditional Sports of South Africa
- Ringball — a low key South African version of netball .
- Jukskei — a folk sport from South Africa where competitors throw wooden pins to try and knock down a target wooden peg.
South African Sporting Success
- Rugby World Cup winners 1995, 2007, 2019
Great athletes from South Africa
- Zola Budd (athletics)
- Gary Player (golf)
- Kepler Wessels (cricket)
- Jacques Kallis (cricket)
- Ernie Els (golf)
- Bryan Habana (rugby)
- Wayde van Niekerk (track and field sprinter)
South Africa Sports trivia
- Jukskei is a 200 year old folk sport that was developed and is played in South Africa.
- South Africa was absent from international sport for most of the apartheid era due to sanctions.
South Africa at major events
- South Africa at the Summer Olympics
- South Africa at the Winter Olympics
- South Africa at the Commonwealth Games
- South Africa at the FIFA World Cup
- South Africa at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- South Africa at the Cricket ODI World Cup
- South Africa at the Cricket T20 World Cup
- South Africa at the Rugby World Cup
- South Africa at the Netball World Cup
Past sporting events hosted in South Africa
- 1995 Rugby World Cup
- 1996 African Cup of Nations
- 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe & Kenya
- 2007 Men's T20 World Cup hosted by South Africa
- 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
- 2023 Women's T20 World Cup
Upcoming sporting events in South Africa
- 2023 Netball World Cup
- 2027 Cricket World Cup (1-Day) co-hosted with Zimbabwe and Namibia
Annual sporting events held in South Africa
- Comrades Marathon - an ultramarathon of about 89 km (56 miles) which is run annually between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Sporting Facilities in South Africa
- Sports Science Institute of South Africa
- Soccer City (Johannesburg)
- Ellis Park (Johannesburg)
- Greenpoint Stadium (Cape Town)
- Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban)
- Nelson Mandela Stadium (Port Elizabeth)
- Loftus Versveld (Pretoria)
- Free State Stadium (Bloemfontein)
- Royal Bafokeng Stadium (Rustenburg)
- Peter Mokaba Stadium (Polokwane)
- Mbombela Stadium (Nelspruit)
Other
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