Guadalajara - Sports

Sports

Guadalajara is home to three professional football teams; Guadalajara, also known as Chivas, Atlas and Estudiantes Tecos. Guadalajara is the most successful and the most followed team in the country. Atlas also plays in the Primera División de México, due to their fine football game style of playing, they are known in the country as 'The Academy', hence they have provided Mexico's finest football players, among them: Rafael Márquez, Oswaldo Sánchez, Pavel Pardo, Andrés Guardado, and Mexico national Team's Top Scorer Jared Borgetti. Atlas, also won several Championships on Amateur Tournaments, and first Football Championship of a Guadalajara Team back in 1951. Atlas fans are collectively called La Fiel (the faithful) by themselves; younger followers are gathered as "Barra 51" ; La Barra 51 is a strong organized supporter group. His name recalls Atlas' the year of first championship in the Primera División de México in 1951. Estudiantes is associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara A.C.. It currently plays in the Primera División, with home games in the Estadio 3 de Marzo (March 3 Stadium, for the University's 1935 date of founding). They've won also a single Championship back in 1994 as they defeated Santos.

Charreada, the Mexican form of rodeo and closely tied to mariachi music, is popular here. The biggest place for Charreada competitions, the VFG Arena, is located near the Guadalajara Airport founded by singer Vicente Fernandez. Every September 15, charros make a parade in the downtown streets to celebrate the Charro and Mariachi day.

Guadalajara hosted the 2011 Pan American Games. Since winning the bid to host the Games, the city had been undergoing extensive renovations. The games brought in more than 5,000 athletes from approximately 42 countries from the Americas and the Caribbean. Sports included aquatics, football, racquetball and 27 more, with six others being considered.

COPAG (the Organizing Committee for the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011) had a total budget of $250 million USD with the aim of updating the city's sports and general infrastructure. The center of the city was repaved and new hotels were constructed for the approximately 22,000 rooms that were needed in 2011. The new bus rapid transit (BRT) system, Macrobús, was launched in March and runs along Avenida Independencia. The Pan-American village was built around the Bajio Zone. After the Games, the buildings will be used for housing.

There are already 13 existing venues in Guadalajara that the games will use, including the Jalisco Stadium, UAG 3 de Marzo Stadium, and the UAG Gymnasium. Eleven new sporting facilities were created for the event. Other works included a second terminal in the airport, a highway to Puerto Vallarta and a bypass for the southern part of the city.

Lorena Ochoa, a retired and former #1 female golfer, and Javier Hernández Balcázar, a forward who currently plays for Manchester United and the Mexico national team were also born in the city. The U.S.-based LPGA tour in women's golf visits Guadalajara annually for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, hosted by Ochoa.

Guadalajara is currently bidding to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.

Also Formula One driver, Sergio Perez (born in Guadalajara), shows true potential at Swiss team Sauber scoring podiums, partnering Kamui Kobayashi.