Sport
Madrid is home to La Liga football club Real Madrid, who play their home games at the Santiago Bernabéu. Their supporters are referred to as Madridistas or Merengues (Meringues). Real Madrid is one of the most prestigious football clubs in the world (FIFA selected Real Madrid the best team of the 20th century), having won a record 9 European Cups. Their hometown rivals, Atlético Madrid, are also well supported in the city. The players (and supporters) are referred to as Colchoneros (The Mattress Makers), in reference to the team's red and white jersey colours, which were determined by mattress material being the cheapest at the time of the club's formation. In 1982, Madrid hosted the FIFA World Cup Final. Along with Barcelona, Glasgow and Lisbon, Madrid is one of only four cities in Europe to contain two UEFA 5-star stadia: Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu and Atlético Madrid's Vicente Calderón both meet the said criteria. Rayo Vallecano and Getafe CF are two further teams from the Madrid area playing currently in La Liga.
Some of Spain's top footballers are Madrileños (born in Madrid), including Real Madrid former player Emilio Butragueño and co (La Quinta del Buitre, "The Vulture's Quint"), Premier League's Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Real Madrid veterans Raúl, Guti and Iker Casillas.
Madrid boasts a prominent place in Spanish basketball, with two clubs in the country's top-level Liga ACB. Real Madrid's basketball section has won 30 Spanish League championships, 22 Spanish Cup championships, 8 Euroleague Championships, 4 Saporta Cups, 4 Intercontinental Cups and have won 2 Triple Crowns. Madrid's other professional basketball club is Estudiantes that have won 3 Spanish Cup championships.
Madrid hosts the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open. The tournament is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and a Premier Mandatory event on the Women's Tennis Association tour. Caja Mágica (The Magic Box, and also known as the Manzanares Park Tennis Centre) is a tennis structure located at Manzanares Park, used for the Madrid Masters tournament, Caja Mágica is also home to the Spanish F1 team HRT F1 Team.
The city is also host to the Circuito Permanente Del Jarama, a motorsport race circuit.
Historically, the city serves as the final stage of the Vuelta a España cycling event, in the same way Paris serves as the conclusive stage of the Tour de France.
Skiing is possible in the nearby mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama, where the ski resorts of Valdesqui and Navacerrada are located.
In the past, Madrid has bid to host the 1972, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Munich, London, and Rio de Janeiro respectively. In July 2011 Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon announced Madrid's plans to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The city has two major annual road running events – the Madrid Marathon and the San Silvestre Vallecana 10 km (6 mi) run – tens of thousands of runners take part in these races each year. As reported by Olympic news outlet Around the Rings,
| Club | League | Sport | Venue | Established | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid C.F. | La Liga | Football | Santiago Bernabéu | 1902 | 85,454 |
| Atlético Madrid | La Liga | Football | Vicente Calderón | 1903 | 54,851 |
| Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | Football | Estadio de Vallecas | 1924 | 15,500 |
| Real Madrid Castilla | Segunda División | Football | Alfredo di Stéfano | 1930 | 6,000 |
| Real Madrid Baloncesto | ACB | Basketball | Palacio de Deportes de Madrid | 1932 | 16,000 |
| CB Estudiantes | ACB | Basketball | Palacio de Deportes de Madrid | 1948 | 16,000 |
| BM Atlético Madrid | ASOBAL | Handball | Palacio Vistalegre | 2011 | 15,000 |
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Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“What sport shall we devise here in this garden
To drive away the heavy thought of care?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The sport of digging the bait is nearly equal to that of catching the fish, when one’s appetite is not too keen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I wish glib and indiscriminate critics of industrialists had some conception of the problems that have to be met by factory management.... General condemnation of employers is a favorite indoor sport of the uninformed intelligentsia who assume the role of lance- bearers for labor.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)