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Sports in Peru are popular and widespread.
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Sports in Peru are popular and widespread.
Football is the most popular sport in Peru, and the Peru national football team have competed in the FIFA World Cup five times.
The national team has also won two Copa América trophies: 1939 and 1975.
At the club level there are significant achievements such as the Cienciano championships in the 2003 Copa Sudamericana and in the 2004 Recopa Sudamericana. [1] [2] The Simon Bolivar Cup won by Defensor Lima and Alianza Lima in 1974 and 1976 respectively, [3] in addition to the Copa Libertadores U-20 championship won by Universitario de Deportes in 2011. [4]
The Peru First Division is the top flight of association football in Peru.
The Liga 2 (Ligue 2) of Peru is the second-highest division in the Peruvian football league system.
Taekwondo was introduced in Peru by Hakeem Aanders Polar, an Arequipeños instructor master the art of Taekwondo in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and introduced this form of martial art in the early 1970s. The first Taekwondo Clubs in Peru were to be found in Arequipa.
In the late 1970s, Sa Bum Nim Byon Oh Park introduced taekwondo in Lima. In 1979, Sa Bum Nim Jon Hye, after a few years spent in Argentina also joined Byon Oh Park in disseminating taekwondo in Lima.
Simultaneously to these two, John Polar and Byon Oh Park, Alex Velazques was doing taekwondo with a reduced number of practices along with "La Yegua" Leiblinger who later moved to Argentina.
It was Byon Oh Park, who introduced the regulated form of taekwondo and started to teach to some new taekwondo instructors. Of those, Percy Vergara and Juan Infantas were the YUHmain instructors and the ones who started the dissemination of taekwondo to bigger audiences. Both Percy Vergara and Juan Infantas started to run a Taekwondo Club in the San Marcos University. They also opened up a new club, Black Belt Taekwondo Club where most of their best students from San Marcos continued training.
In 1982, the first open martial arts competition was run. In this competition, practitioners from kung fu, karate, kyokushinkai and other styles, along with taekwondo took part. It was the first time taekwondo athletes were to take part in any open national event.
After this experience taekwondo grew up in popularity and a number of clubs and academies started to flourish. In 1981, Saboming Ki Hyung Lee arrived to Peru and joined forces into making this sport even more popular. Percy Vergara started clubs in Regattas Lima, as Cesar Landeo started one in the Engineering National University (UNI) where he graduated as Electrical engineer. The UNI team has won more than 10 university championships between 1981 and 1994 at the university level. Other taekwondo Clubs appeared and flourished, thanks also to the contribution of Ki Bong Lee, So Yong Kim and Eui Hwang Chung.
In the south of Peru, taekwondo was disseminated by Professor Alberto Cabrera Cano, Angle Leon, while in the north by Professor Luis Benites.
Today taekwondo, although it has lost the prestige it had by the mid-1990s remains steadfast and efforts are made to return the sport in Peru to its previous level of prestige.
The Peru 2008 Summer Olympics team included Peter López; he finished at fourth place.
Until the mid-70s, Peru had one of the best basketball national teams in South America. However, since the 1973 South American Basketball Championship, where Peru won the bronze medal, international victories have become scarce.
While no Rugby league has been played on Peru soil, Peru has a National Rugby league team. They make their debut on 17 October 2015 in the first Latino Seven competition.
On 30 November 1996, the first university test match saw the Universidad de Lima win 18 to 3 against the Pontificia Universidad Catolica. This match also has the distinction of being the first time that the participants on the pitch including team members and the referee were Peru-born.
Peru is the only country of the region that has won the Central, South American & Caribbean Championships for six years in Sunfish Class. In the Optimist Class, it was three times World Champion in Team-Racing in 1997 and 1998, and have more South American Champions in J24, Windsurf, Laser Class and Lightning.
Peru's four Olympic medals achievements include three in shooting. Edwin Vásquez won Peru's only gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics, while Francisco Boza (Los Angeles 1984), and Juan Giha (Barcelona 1992) both won silver medals.
For travelers from all over the world, Peru offers waves for everyone: beginners, intermediate, and advanced longboard riders alike surfers. Felipe Pomar, Second World Surfing Championship, Peru 1965, and Sofia Mulanovich, Women's World Surf Champion in 2004.
Luis Horna and Jaime Yzaga are well-known Peru-born tennis players. Tennis Hall of Famer and Davis Cup and Wimbledon winner Alejandro Olmedo is Peru-born, but played for the United States. [43] [44] Laura Arraya is the best Peruvian tennis player in the women's competition. Her brother is Pablo Arraya, a former Peruvian tennis player.
The Peru Davis Cup team currently compete in the Americas Zone Group II, with their best result qualifying for the World Group in 2008. They had twice previously reached the World Group playoffs in 1989 and 1994, but did not advance.
Club Lawn Tennis de la Exposición is located in the district of Jesús María in Lima, the usual court location for Peru's players. The court was found in 1884, and was the home court for the golden generation of Peru's tennis players of the 1980s. Its principal colosseum was named after the Buse Brothers, Enrique and Eduardo Buse. Enrique played at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1946 and again at the US Open in 1951.
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The Peru women's national volleyball team is the national team of Peru. The team was one of the dominant forces in women's volleyball in the 1980s, culminating in the silver medal won at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Peru has a volleyball league called the Liga Nacional Superior de Voleibol, which has both men’s and women’s competitions, the winners move into South American competitions. It was founded in 1965 and the current teams with the most winners are Peerless in the men’s division, and Regatas Lima for the women’s division, each with eight champions won.
Volleyball was introduced in Peru in 1911, with the hiring by the government of President Augusto B. Leguía of American educators Joseph Lockey and Joseph McKnight, responsible for an educational reform, and that he practiced it as a hobby, since in those years football and boxing predominated. [45] [46] [47]
Peru features a water polo team that finished fourth at the 2018 South American Games. [48]
Peru's women's national under-20 water polo team made its debut at the 2021 FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships. [49]
Peru has officially participated in 17 Summer Olympic Games and 2 Winter Olympic Games. The Comité Olímpico Peruano is the National Olympic Committee for Peru which was founded in 1924 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1936.
Peru has won a total of four medals, three in shooting events and one in volleyball. Their first and only gold medal to date was won by Edwin Vásquez in the 1948 Summer Olympics in the Men's 50 metre pistol. The remaining three medals were silver.
Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica and his wife Esther Grande de Bentín, stockholders of the Peruvian brewery Backus and Johnston. The club and the brewery have been closely linked since its inception, and it is for this reason that it is popularly known as los Cerveceros.
Club Alianza Lima, is a Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on 15 February 1901 by working-class youth in the Chacaritas neighborhood of Lima. It is widely known for having one of the most historical and successful football teams in Peru; they have won a total of 21 official league titles of the Peruvian Primera División and are currently the oldest team playing in that competition, since the club was founded in 1901. According to CONMEBOL, it is considered the most popular club in Peru with more than 12 million fans as of April 2016.
Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club based in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of San Marcos but was forced to rename in 1931. Since 1928, the club competes in the top tier of Peruvian football, the Torneo Descentralizado. In 2000, they opened the 80,000-capacity stadium Estadio Monumental, currently the largest stadium in Peru and second-largest in South America, retiring their smaller Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernández. Universitario and Alianza Lima participate in the Peruvian Clásico, which has its roots in the club's first participation in the Primera División in 1928. It also has rivalries with Sporting Cristal, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.
The Peru First Division, officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since 1966, when the first teams residing outside the Lima and Callao provinces were invited to compete in the inaugural league national competition.
Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a professional football club based in Chiclayo, Peru. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005; they play in the Torneo Descentralizado where they have been playing since attaining promotion when they won the 2007 Copa Perú. They play their home games at the Estadio Elías Aguirre.
The Copa Perú is a football tournament in Peru. Despite its name, it is not entirely an elimination-cup competition involving all Peruvian clubs, but rather a series of league tournaments leading to an elimination tournament, with regional league clubs as participants. It guarantees its winner promotion to the professional Liga 2.
The Peruvian Second Division, officially known as the Liga 2 of Peru is the second-highest division in the Peruvian football league system. It is a professional and promotional division organized by the Peruvian Football Federation. The winners and Ligiulla winners get promoted to the Peruvian Primera División. The bottom two teams get relegated to the Copa Perú, which will be later changed to relegation to the Peruvian Tercera División. After years of changing numbers of clubs, as of 2024 the league includes 18 clubs.
Renzo Revoredo Zuazo is a Peruvian footballer who plays for Sporting Cristal and the Peru national football team.
The Peruvian Clásico or the Classic of the Classics of Peruvian Football is the name given to Peru's biggest football derby between Alianza Lima and Universitario. The rivalry between these two clubs started in their first game on 23 September 1928 when the two first faced off in a violent game. Both clubs come from the capital city, Lima.
Club Atlético Defensor Lima is a Perúvian football club located in the district of Breña, Lima. The club was founded on July 31, 1931.
Cusco Fútbol Club is a professional Peruvian football club based in the city of Cusco, that competes in the Liga 1, the top flight of Peruvian football. It was founded on 28 August 2008 as Real Garcilaso, changing their name to Cusco FC in 2019. The teams home stadium is Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, which is shares with city rivals Cienciano and Deportivo Garcilaso.
Club Sportivo Jorge Chávez was a Peruvian football club, located in the city of Callao. The club was founded with the name of club Jorge Chávez in honor to the Peruvian aviator Jorge Chávez and played in Peruvian Primera Division from 1915 until 1921, and later in 1929, 1948 and 1950 it was their last appearance.
The 2015 Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional is the 99th season of the highest division of Peruvian football. A total of 17 teams have been confirmed to compete in the season after Alianza Atlético were reinstated in the first division following their relegation in 2011.
The 2019 Liga 1 de Fútbol Profesional was the 103rd season of the highest division of Peruvian football. A total of 18 teams competed in the season, with Sporting Cristal coming in as defending champions.
José Tadormina Garrido was a Chilean football manager who developed his career in Peru.
The 2014 season was Melgar's 99th since its founding in 1915. The club played the Peruvian Primera División and the Torneo del Inca.
The 2016 season was Melgar's 101st since its founding in 1915. The club played the Peruvian Primera División and the Copa Libertadores.
The 2017 season was Melgar's 102nd since its founding in 1915. The club played the Peruvian Primera División and the Copa Libertadores.
The 2018 season was Melgar's 103rd since its founding in 1915. The club played the Peruvian Primera División and the Copa Libertadores.
