Bolivia Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Bolivia

The Most Popular Bolivian Sports

Find below Bolivia national sports, ranked by popularity:

So there you have them, the most popular sports in Bolivia! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Bolivia.

What is the National Sport of Bolivia?

The national sport of Bolivia is football. Football is by far the main sport in Bolivia, making it almost a religion! There is no other sport that comes even close to “futbol”, as everyone in the country, poor and rich, can play it and watch it.

Learn More About Bolivia Popular Sports

Bolivia is a landlocked country bordered by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Peru, and it is located in western-central South America. Its capital city is La Paz, which counts more than 816,000 inhabitants (but more than 2,187,000 if you include the metropolitan area!).

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Bolivian popular sports, and I hope you will love them:

Football

Football is almost considered a religion in Bolivia, and it is the most popular sport in the country by a mile.

Even though many Bolivians jokingly say that this sport is a religion, the reality is not that far from that. Everyone loves playing and watching football in the country, and it is one of the first things that children do to play together. They will start by building goals with whatever they can, and when they start becoming addicted, no rain or mud can stop them!

Famous Bolivian Football players: Marco Etcheverry, Erwin Sánchez, Joaquin Botero, Marcelo Moreno, Julio César Baldivieso, Juan Manuel Peña

Tennis

The second most popular sport in Bolivia is tennis. Again, in the minds of many Bolivians, there is nothing else than football. However, there are still some other popular sports in the country, including tennis.

Surprisingly enough, the history of tennis in Bolivia is intertwined with the history of the Bolivian Railroad Co., which was founded in 1888. With the advent of British railroads, tennis came to the country during the 20th century.

After that, the Bolivian Tennis Federation was founded on March 24th, 1937, by 7 clubs: La Paz, Oruro, Cochabamba, Potosi, Sucre, Uyuni and Catavi.

Famous Bolivian Tennis players: Hugo Dellien, Federico Zeballos, Maria Fernanda Alvarez Teran, Noelia Zeballos, Ramiro Benavides

Swimming

The third most popular sport in Bolivia is swimming. I am sure you are aware that there are many amazing lakes in the country of Bolivia, including the famous Lake Titicaca, Lake Poopó, and Lago Coipasa.

Because of this, it is not very surprising that swimming is that popular in the country. Not only do locals love their lakes, but these destinations are some of the most coveted ones for tourists going to South America, from all around the world.

Famous Bolivian Swimming players: Esteban Nuñez, Sebastian Cariaga, Gabriel Castillo, Aldo Castillo, Karyna Aldunate

Horse riding

The fourth most popular sport in Bolivia is horse riding. Believe it or not, riding a horse is very exhausting, and it is definitely a challenging sport.

With all the picturesque landscapes and hiking trails that Bolivia has to offer, no wonder horse riding is so popular in the country. Both tourists and locals appreciate traveling through the country and discovering wonderful places.

There is not much to say about competitive horse riding, as only one Bolivian equestrian is famous to this day: Roberto Nielsen-Reyes.

Famous Bolivian Horse riding players: Roberto Nielsen-Reyes

Golf

The fifth most popular sport in Bolivia is golf. Even though Bolivia is quite a poor country, golf is still relatively popular there, despite how expensive it can be.

This is mainly due to the highlands of Bolivia being so perfect for golf courses, which are all in perfect conditions.

The history of golf in the country is also tied to the railroad company, similarly to tennis, as it was English engineers and managers who founded the first golf club in La Paz, in 1912.

Famous Bolivian Golf players: Susana Benavides

Climbing

The sixth most popular sport in Bolivia is climbing. I have already spent a lot of time telling you how beautiful the country of Bolivia is, but I have to do it once more! There are so many incredible climbing spots and a huge number of mountains over 5,000m high that climbing attracts more and more people, whether it’s a small wall or a tall mountain.

Also, the country is one of the best ones for tourists who want to do climbing, since it is one of the most cost-effective mountaineering destinations.

Famous Bolivian Climbing players: The Cholita Climbers

Skiing

The seventh most popular sport in Bolivia is skiing, and it is the last on this list. Skiing in Bolivia is very peculiar: as sad as it is, it used to be very popular, but this era is now almost over.

More precisely, Chacaltaya used to be the world’s highest ski resort and it was very reputed all around the globe. Now, with climate change, snow is simply gone. And even though the resort is 5,375 m / 17,634 ft above sea level, this will never change.

Famous Bolivian Skiing players: María José de la Fuente, Antonella Genuzio

So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Bolivia. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:

More Sport Facts!

Loved these Bolivia sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Famous Sports in Colombia
• Famous Sports in Costa Rica
• Famous Sports in Cuba

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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