What sports are currently at the peak of popularity

Football and hockey do not seem to disappear from newspaper editorials, news portals and feeds. Publications, having enlisted the opinion of experts, often even argue which of these sports is more important in Russia. Of course, each has its own advantages. However, in these conversations, we sometimes forget about other disciplines. We remind you which of them are also very popular in our country.

“Relative” of one of the leaders

Observations in the field of sports showed that 31 million Russians were engaged in various sports in 2019, in 2022 there were four million more of them. The most common football in our country is football: 3.2 million people regularly play it at various levels. Hockey, with 670,000 fans, ranks second among winter activities. Such data were provided by Elena Istyagina-Eliseeva, Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the RF OP on Physical Culture and Promotion of a Healthy Lifestyle, Scientific Director of the Institute of Sports Management and Law of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

No less significant for citizens are the varieties of these team games. Among them, according to Gennady Zlubko, the head of the sports expertise of the Sportmaster company, mini-football: “This is due to the fact that it is not necessary to staff a full team of 11 people. And the all-season nature of this sport ensures unpretentiousness in choosing a location. If big football needs large fields, then a school hall and two teams of 5-6 people each are enough for a mini-version.

Beauty and grace

“In fact, from the point of view of interest, football and hockey in Russia have long had a competitor – figure skating,” says Andrey Lebedev, director of analytics at the CROS communications group. “This is due to the fact that our skaters are among the main trendsetters in this sport and they have a lot of loyal fans who do not miss a single start.”

An indicator of people’s love for figure skating, our interlocutor adds, are successful sports and entertainment television projects, where show business stars try their hand at ice paired with professionals. In addition, the memories of the Olympic take-offs are still fresh, as well as the unrest associated with athletes, for example, Kamila Valieva, who found herself at the center of a doping scandal this year.

50 shades of running

If we develop the theme of “cold” disciplines further, then biathlon (a winter Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting) comes to mind. Attention to him, Andrey Lebedev believes, is also traditionally high.

Aleksey Barykin, partner and co-owner of the Russian consulting company GRT Consulting, singles out cross-country skiing, which, according to him, he has been doing for almost nine years and, once deciding to try something new, switched to triathlon (multi-sport competitions that include three stages: swimming, cycling and running): “The achievements that I have in my arsenal remind me every time that you can reach any goal if you work in the right direction every day. For me, as a businessman who faces tasks of various levels of complexity, triathlon is another point of self-reliance.”

“It is no coincidence that they say about triathletes that they are knights of three qualities,” notes Professor Vladimir Lednev, Vice President of Synergy University, Head of the Department of Sports Management at the Faculty of Sports Industry. We have mastered these disciplines well from early childhood. We have been swimming, running, cycling since kindergarten. Perhaps that is why triathlon is so popular, especially among amateurs.”

Trail running counts millions of admirers. “This is a kind of evolution of ordinary running – instead of flat asphalt, you move on rough terrain, maneuver between branches and stones, jump over pits and sometimes even overcome fords. If ordinary running is considered more economical, then trail running is a power run: the surface always changes under your feet, each step is not like the previous one, ”says Gennady Zlubko. In previous years, about 600 people participated in the relevant competitions, for example, at the ProTrail festival, in 2022 there are already thousands of them.

And you can turn the pedals in different ways

In the second half of the 18th century, Leonty Shamshurenkov, a serf from the village of Bolshepolskaya in the Yaransky district of the Kazan province (now the Yaransky district of the Kirov region), invented the first self-running carriage. In 1883, the first bicycle race took place in our country – for 1.5 versts.

Now the school of cycling in Russia is very strong and rich in directions – mountain bike, track and highway. For all, said the coach of the highest category in cycling Alexander Kazakov, champions are growing.

Riding on iron horses, in addition to being included in the Olympic program, is one of the most accessible activities, as well as a wonderful and rewarding pastime.

Bicycle parades in megacities are becoming more and more relevant every year with the support of the authorities. Equipment can be bought or rented.

“Cycling is gaining popularity in our country, even though it is seasonal. But, perhaps, this has its own charm: you are waiting for spring to get on a bike and ride around the city or go for a longer bike ride. Or, having come to the section, grow from a mischievous child who loves to ride a bicycle around the yard, into a master of sports representing his country in the international arena, ”our interlocutor explained.

Extreme

40% of Russians go in for street sports, the Rambler&Co media holding and SberStrakhovanie, a subsidiary of Sberbank, found out. According to Oksana Bergman, the organizer of competitions and sports events, chairman of the BUNI Team Swimming Club NGO, these include parkour, skateboarding, tricks on BMX bikes and some youth dances, say, breakdance.

So, according to our interlocutor, we can note competitions that combine elements of both sports and shows: “For example, swimrunning, alternating running and swimming in open water, street basketball with one backboard and a team of “two by two” or “three for three”, all kinds of survival races, bike rides”.

Gamers

One of the most unusual and dynamically developing, according to Elena Istyagina-Eliseeva, is computer sports: “Last year, the market volume exceeded one billion dollars, and the audience of e-sports in the world reached almost 500 million people.” True, for example, he is still far from northern (Scandinavian) walking. If since 2019 the number of “walkers” has grown from 350 to 500 thousand (the second fastest growing sports tourism is from 600 to 700 thousand athletes in three years), then the number of gamers has increased only from 240 to 260 thousand.

According to Andrey Lebedev, classical volleyball and basketball, as well as tennis and auto racing in the Formula 1 class, have a huge number of both fans and practitioners.

But whatever sport attracts our attention, it is important that citizens have the opportunity to both train and cheer for their favorite athletes or team. These and other opportunities will be combined in the St. Petersburg multifunctional sports complex SKA Arena. It will open its doors in 2023, the overall readiness of the facility is 86.5%. Within these walls, children’s sections will open and competitions will be held in more than 20 disciplines: boxing, wrestling, MMA, volleyball, basketball, badminton, handball, mini-football, sports and rhythmic gymnastics, as well as dancing, weightlifting, of course, hockey and etc. In addition, the object will be surrounded by a large park of 12 hectares, where you can both walk and have fun, and engage in physical education, for which an athletics core with a football field and running tracks, as well as a skate park and basketball and volleyball courts are provided.