Sport in Germany
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In 2006 about 27.5 million people were members of the more than 91,000 sports clubs in Germany. Almost all sports clubs are represented by the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB, German Olympic Sports Federation).
Olympics
In the all-time Olympic Games medal count through 2006 Germany ranks fifth, East Germany seventh and West Germany twenty-first. If all the medals are combined Germany ranks third. Germany has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in Berlin in 1936 and in Munich in 1972. Germany hosted the Winter Olympic Games once, in 1936 when they were staged in the Bavarian twin towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen. Germany claimed the most gold medals and the most total medals during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Football
Germany's top level football league, known as the Bundesliga, has one of the highest average attendances of any professional sports league in the world. As of the 2010–11 season, the Bundesliga is placed third in UEFA rankings, which are based on the performance of clubs in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. [1]
Football in Germany is (like in most European countries) the number one assistance and practiced sport. Besides the national league, the Euro cup and the Fifa World Cup has much attention among its population.
Bayern Munich (German: Bayern München) is the most successful German football club, with 21 national championships, 14 National Cups and four European Champions titles (three European Cups and 1 Champions League) to its credit. Like many other German football clubs, Bayern Munich is a multi-sport club.
The German national football team is one of the traditional powers of international football. It won the FIFA World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and the European Football Championship in 1972 and 1980 as West Germany and in 1996 as Germany. Gerd Müller is the leading goal scorer for the national team with 68 goals, but his fame is perhaps eclipsed by that of Franz Beckenbauer who is one of the few men in the world who have won the World Cup both as a coach and a player. Germany also hosted the World Cup in 1974 and 2006, finishing third in 2006 after losing a close semi-final contest to eventual cup winners Italy.
The women's national team is also a world power, with its wins of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and 2007, making Germany the only nation to win both the men's and women's World Cup and European titles – a rarity for a nation where the center of attention is usually the men's game. Women have their own Bundesliga, but it is semi-professional and does not command the fan support the men's competitions do. Germany will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Ice hockey
Main Article: Ice hockey in Germany
Ice hockey is one of Germany's most popular sports, although considering its meaning and spectator favour in the nation it is ranked far behind Football. There are many leagues but the top one is the 15 team Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The Germany men's national ice hockey team features NHL players such as Christian Ehrhoff, Jochen Hecht, Dennis Seidenberg, Thomas Greiss, Marcel Goc and Marco Sturm and NHL prospects like Alexander Sulzer, Philip Gogulla, Korbinian Holzer and Marcel Müller. The men's national team is currently ranked 9th in the world.
In 2010, Mannheim and Cologne co-hosted the Ice Hockey World Championships. Germany defeated the USA in the opening game in front of a record breaking crowd of 77,803 in Gelsenkirchen's Veltins-Arena. Germany finished the tournament in fourth place, the nation's best finish since 1953. German goaltender Dennis Endras was named the tournament's top goaltender by the IIHF directors and the top goaltender and most valuable player by the media.[1][2]
Rugby Union
Rugby union reached Germany through affluent British students, who attended renowned private grammar schools in the German Confederation or studied in Heidelberg; others completed their military service in Hanover and played rugby in their spare time. This has influenced German rugby to this day: Heidelberg and Hanover are the centres of the sport in Germany.
The first German rugby team existed at Neuenheim College - now called Heidelberg College - in Heidelberg. Around 1850, the game started to attract the attention of the students. Students under the guidance of the teacher Edward Hill Ullrich were the ones who then founded the Heidelberger Ruderklub von 1872 (HRK 1872) in 1872, which is today the oldest German rugby club.
The German Rugby Federation was set up in 1900. Germany was Olympic silver medallist in rugby union in 1900 and beat France twice in the 1930s.
The Nazis barely tolerated rugby as it was 'too English' a sport. As a result it lost its financial support and much of the popularity it had gained in the western and northern cities of Heidelberg, Hanover, and Frankfurt. The sport was decimated by World War II as most of the players were killed.
However, today the sport is experiencing a major resurgence with over 10,000 registered players and 100 clubs across Germany. The Germany national rugby union team currently competes in the second division of the European Nations Cup, having been relegated from the first division at the end of the 2008–10 competition.
Bobsled, luge, and skeleton
Germany's dominance in this sport can be attributed to them being the only country in the world to have four bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks. These tracks are located in Altenberg, Königssee, Oberhof, and Winterberg.
Bobsled
Germany has long been dominant in the sport of Bobsledding having won more medals in the Winter Olympics than any other nation except Switzerland. However, if medal wins by East Germany and West Germany from 1949 through 1990 are combined, Germany's medal count is nearly double that of Switzerland. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, André Lange piloted both the two-man and four-man sleds to gold, sweeping the men's bobsledding events.THEY WELL BE COMPETEING IN THE WITER OLIPICS.
Luge
In luge, Germany has also been dominant, stretching from luge's foundation in the early 20th century with dominance in the European championships to the Winter Olympics. Noted lugers include Georg Hackl, Klaus Bonsack, Margit Schumann, David Möller, Silke Kraushaar-Pielach, Sylke Otto, and Tatjana Hüfner.
Skeleton
In skeleton, Germany has been dominant with the likes of Kerstin Jürgens and Anja Huber.
Cycling
Cycling is a popular sport in Germany and one of the greatest riders of recent times Jan Ullrich dominated the Tour de France in 1997. He finished a full 9 minutes in front of second place rider Richard Virenque. Jan was regarded as Lance Armstrong's only consistent rival, finishing second to him several times in the Tour de France.
Other team sports
Other popular team sports in Germany include field hockey, basketball and handball. Germany was the main base for NFL Europa, an American football league, hosting five of the six teams at the time that the NFL folded the league in 2007. In domestic gridiron, the German Football League was founded in 1979. One of the most popular non-football athletes to come out of Germany is Dirk Nowitzki, who plays power forward for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. In 2007, he became the first player trained totally outside the U.S. to be named league MVP.
Individual sports
The two most successful German tennis players of all time are Steffi Graf and Boris Becker.
As recently as 2007, Germany hosted three events on golf's European Tour—the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the BMW International Open. However, since 2010, the only European Tour event in Germany has been the BMW International Open. The Players Championship was scrapped after 2007; the Mercedes-Benz Championship was not held in 2008, resumed in 2009, and dropped again in 2010. Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer is the first German to have won a major championship and is a former World No. 1. He is now on the Champions Tour in the U.S. for golfers 50 and over; he has led that tour in prize money in each of his first three full seasons (2008, 2009, 2010), and won two majors in 2010, namely the Senior British Open and U.S. Senior Open. Martin Kaymer became the second German to win a major championship by winning the 2010 PGA Championship in Wisconsin, and in 2011 rose to World No. 1.
Motorsport
Germany is one of the leading motorsports countries in the world. While countless race winning cars have come from Germany, only Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel have been Formula One world champions. One other German driver came close to winning the title: Wolfgang Von Trips died in a crash in the last race in Monza in 1961, giving the championship to his Ferrari team mate Phil Hill.
Schumacher has won more Formula One championships and races than any other driver since the Formula One world championship began in 1950. In 2003, Schumacher set a new record for driver's championships when he surpassed Juan Manuel Fangio's total of 5 championships, a record that had stood for 46 years since 1957. He is also the highest paid athlete in sports history, with an annual salary of some U.S. $70 million from the Ferrari team, and an estimated $25–30 million more coming from endorsements. In 2005, he became the world's first billionaire athlete, according to Eurobusiness magazine. He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time, on his retirement holding 7 championships and every significant F1 record.
In 2010, Vettel became the youngest driver ever to win the world championship; he had already been the youngest ever to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, earn F1 world championship points, start from pole position in an F1 race, and finish as runner-up for the driver's championship.
The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) is the national touring car series. It is considered one of the best touring car series in the world. Many Formula 1 drivers have made the switch to the series, including, Mika Häkkinen, Jean Alesi and others. From 1995, only German marks of cars are allowed to compete in the series. Currently only Audi and Mercedes-Benz compete, but BMW, Opel and Alfa Romeo have a history in the sport. The races are held mainly in Germany, but some races occur elsewhere in Europe. The races draw monster crowds and TV ratings and many celebrities have attended race days.
The 24 hours of Le Mans is a prestigious annual race held in France, Porsche has won the race 16 times, far more than any other constructor.
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