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Sports in Ecuador influence the culture and its people. Football is the most popular sport, followed by volleyball, basketball, cycling and tennis.
Since 2005, Ecuador has been greatly involved in sports and hosted the Guayaquil Marathon in Ecuador's largest city.
Football is the most popular sport in Ecuador. Its best known professional teams include Barcelona and Emelec from Guayaquil, LDU Quito, Deportivo Quito, and El Nacional from Quito, Olmedo from Riobamba, and Deportivo Cuenca from Cuenca.
The national team's matches are the most watched sporting events in the country. In June 2007, FIFA adopted a resolution, prohibiting international football games at or higher than 2,500m above sea level. Ecuador, Bolivia and other South American countries issued a joint letter of protest against this ruling. Ecuador qualified for the finals tournaments of the 2002, 2006, and 2014 editions of the FIFA World Cup.
Ecuador finished ahead of Poland and Costa Rica to come second to Germany in Group A in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, eventually falling to England in the Round of 16. Ecuador failed to advance past the group stage in 2002 and 2014, leaving the tournament in fourth and third place in their group, respectively.
There is a considerable interest in tennis in the middle and upper classes in Ecuadorian society, and several Ecuadorian professional players have attained national fame, including Nicolás Lapentti, Francisco Segura, and Andrés Gómez. As of 2015, Ecuador hosts an ATP World Tour 250 series event, the Ecuador Open Quito as part of the South-American summer clay-court circuit.
Ecuador has competed in eleven Summer Olympic Games. They participated in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time in 2018. The nation from South America won its first Olympic medal, when Jefferson Pérez won the gold medal in the Men's 20 km Walk. The Ecuadorian Olympic Committee was created in 1948 and recognized by the IOC in 1959.
Basketball has a high profile, especially at amateur (high school and college) level as an alternative to football. It is sometimes considered as the second sport behind football; Ecuador even took part in the inaugural 1950 FIBA World Championship, finishing 8th out of 10 teams. There are regional leagues and a national league, which include clubs and teams from colleges as well.
One of Ecuador's specialties includes ecuavóley , a three-person variation of volleyball with more relaxed rules (the ball can be hit with the palm of the hand, and a football is traditionally used). Rugby union is found to some extent in Ecuador, with teams in Guayaquil, Quito, and Cuenca. Pelota nacional, an indigenous racquet sport, is also played. Surfing is popular in some coastal towns. Winter sports are very popular in the Andes mountains, which have the most suitable climate for them.
Although Ecuador has several noteworthy areas for technical climbing, it is more known for its high-altitude volcanoes, which draw alpinists from all over the world. [1]
There is flourishing activity in non-traditional sports such as inline hockey, capoeira, mountain biking, motorbiking, whitewater kayaking, skiing, snowboarding, and paintball. Martin Davalos, from Pichincha, Quito, is a well-known accomplished AMA motocross and supercross dirtbike rider and racer. Marlon Vera (aka Chito) is a champion mixed martial arts fighter from Manabi. In cycling, Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to win a Grand Tour. He won the 2019 Giro d'Italia [2]
Some coastal resorts, particularly Montañita and Ayampe, have been developed as surfing centres. The 2005 World Rafting Championships were held on the Quijos River in Napo Province. Ecuador also hosted the 2007 Youth World Championship for rock climbing, held in Ibarra, becoming the first country outside of Europe or Asia to host the event.
Demographic features of the population of Ecuador include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Barcelona Sporting Club is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Los Canarios. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of football in the country, and hold the distinction of being the only club in the Ecuadorian top flight to not have played in the Serie B.
Club Deportivo Cuenca is an Ecuadorian football club based in Cuenca. They currently play in the Serie A, the top-flight football league in the country, and is one of two clubs from Cuenca to have played in the top-flight.
Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Second Category of Pichincha.
The Ecuadorian Football Federation is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador national team.
The Liga Pro Bet593, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Serie B, the lower level of the Primera Categoría. The season runs from February to December and is usually contested in multiple stages.
Christian Rolando Lara Anangonó, nicknamed Diablito, is an Ecuadorian former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Nicolás Geovanny Asencio Espinoza is an Ecuadorian former football striker.
The VI South American Games were a multi-sport event held in 1998 in Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador, with some events in Azogues (futsal), Gualaceo (boxing), Guayaquil, Paute (wrestling), and Quito (fencing). The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR). An appraisal of the games and detailed medal lists were published elsewhere, emphasizing the results of the Argentinian teams.
The XIV Bolivarian Games were a multi-sport event held between September 7–16, 2001, in Ambato, Ecuador. Some events took place in Guayaquil and in Quito. The Games were organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (ODEBO).
Edder Javier Vaca Quinde is an Ecuadorian footballer.
Tilson Oswaldo Minda is an Ecuadorian former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Juan Carlos Paredes Reasco is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Cumbayá F.C.
The 1969 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol was the 11th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. LDU Quito won their first national title.
The 1967 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol was the 9th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. This season marked the first time the national championship was contested as a league and not as a tournament in which teams had to qualified for. With the creation of the Segunda Categoria this same season, a system of promotion and relegation was also implemented.
The XVI Bolivarian Games were a multi-sport event held in 2009 in Sucre, Bolivia. The competitions in Sucre took place from 15–26 November. A number of Bolivian cities hosted some of the sporting events, including Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and Tarija. Also, events were held outside of Bolivia, with Guayaquil, Lima, Quito and Salinas hosting a number of competitions. The Games were organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (ODEBO).
The 1974 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A was the 16th national championship for football teams in Ecuador. LDU Quito won their second national title.
Adrián Javier Bone Sánchez is an Ecuadorian international footballer who plays for Técnico Universitario, as a goalkeeper.
Ecuadorians are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Ecuadorian.
Alexander Antonio Alvarado Carriel is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a winger for L.D.U. Quito of the Ecuadorian Serie A.
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