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BGonline.org Forums
biggest sport (OT)
Posted By: Henrik Bukkjaer In Response To: biggest sport (OT) (christian munk-christensen)
Date: Tuesday, 10 July 2012, at 9:41 p.m.
CMC, you get a lot of Euro and US input here, stating more or less what we probably all thought: tennis is much bigger than cycling - because the majority of players are organized within that sport as competitive players, as opposed to cycling where it's only a few pedal-athletes that goes to register competitively in a club.
However, US is not the majority of the world population, so China, India, South America and Africa could swing things around.
But, even in the "bicycle country" China you get the same picture: Cycling simply doesn't exist as a big competitive sport. Unlike Tennis.
Here's some snippets from articles on the subject:
"Nevertheless, bike enthusiasts in China still have a lot of work to do in a country where the car is king and cycling lacks the attention of tennis, track or basketball. Cycling, for one, lacks superstars like former Houston Rockets basketball center Yao Ming, track and field champion Liu Xiang, or French Open tennis winner Li Na."
and
"Unlike European countries, where children are exposed to cycling at an early age, relatively few Chinese are recruited and trained by local sports academies. A budding Lance Armstrong or Carlos Sastre may never be discovered, since China has limited opportunities for junior cyclists and only two major events, the annual National Championships and National Games, which take place every four years."
"We have nothing to build on, because there isn't any competitive cycling tradition in China," he admitted. "The first thing we are looking to do is to promote the sport nationwide."
Best regards, Henrik
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