Sport plays an important role inEstonian culture. Estonia first competed as a nation at the1920 Summer Olympics, although theNational Olympic Committee was established in 1923. Estonian athletes took part at everyOlympic Games until the country was annexed by theSoviet Union in 1940. The1980 Summer Olympicssailing regatta was held in the capital cityTallinn. Estonia has won most of itsOlympic medals inwrestling,athletics,weightlifting, andcross-country skiing.[1]
Athletics is popular in Estonia, shown by number of medals won this field of sport.Jüri Lossmann came in second on the marathon at the1920 Olympic Games.Aleksander Klumberg won the bronze medal in 1924 in themen's decathlon competition. Between 2000 and 2009, Estonia scored at least one medal in major international competition in every year:2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008, and2009. Before that,Erki Nool won the gold medal in1998.
Basketball is a notable sport in Estonia, and has often been called the "national sport of Estonia".[2]Estonia national basketball team participated in1936 Summer Olympics and have appeared inEuroBasket six times. They had twice finished EuroBasket on 5th place before Soviet occupation. Many Estonian players also represented and won medals with the Soviet team. After regaining independence, Estonia finished Eurobasket 6th in 1993. The domestic top-tier basketball championship is called theKorvpalli Meistriliiga.BC Kalev/Cramo has the best results in the recent years, whileUniversity of Tartu team has won the league a record 26 times. Estonian clubs also participate in European and regional competitions.
Estonia featured national teams inbeach volleyball that competed at the2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in both the women's and the men's sections.[3]
TheEstonia Cricket Association (ECA) was formed in 2007 and became members of theInternational Cricket Council in 2008.[4] The ECA runs Men's and Women's leagues, playing 40-40, T20 and Super 8's competitions. It has member clubs inTallinn andTartu.Estonia is also home to a unique variant of the game inIce cricket. The Ice Cricket World Championship was held annually in the Estonian city ofTallinn played upon the surface of a frozen lake.
Kristin Tattar is Estonia’s most successful disc golfer of all time, and in 2022 she achieved the highestPDGA rating of any Estonian female.[5] She is the 2022 and 2023 Women's Professional Disc Golf Champion, and has also achieved the highest PDGA rating among all female athletes.[6]
Épéefencing has been very successful for Estonia in the past few decades.Oksana Jermakova became the first fencing World Champion for Estonia winning Individual épée in1993.Irina Embrich has won the most total medals for Estonia.Nikolai Novosjolov became the world champion in2010 and2013. At 2013 ChampionshipsJulia Beljajeva also won the gold medal. At the2018 European Championships Estonian women took a triple win in the individual épée. Both women's and men's épée teams have won championship medals. Women's épée team became the Olympic champions at the2020 Summer Olympics.
Estonia has won 17World Fencing Championships medals and severalEuropean Fencing Championships medals.
Estonia men's national floorball team has been successful at theWorld Championships with best result 7th and multiple 8th places.
Football is one of the most popular sports in Estonia by number of active players, although nothing special has been achieved. Estonia advanced to the2012 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying play-offs.
Kelly Sildaru won women's slopestyle at 2015 Dew tour. At just 13 years old, Kelly Sildaru might be the smallest competitor in the field, but she brought the biggest run of the contest, spinning all four directions and showcasing technicality on the rails in the process. On the jumps, Kelly landed a switch right 900, right corked 720, switch left 900 and left 720, and the judges rewarded her with a 90.80 to put her into 1st place.
Kelly won Gold in the slopestyle event in the2016 Winter X Games beating Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen. With this win, at age 13, Kelly became the youngest gold medalist to date at an X Games winter event. She was the gold medal favorite for thewomen's slopestyle event in 2018 Winter Olympics, but missed competing in the Games because of a knee injury.[7] Her later career has not been so successful, but she managed to win bronze medal at the2022 Olympics
Ice hockey in Estonia is governed by theEstonian Ice Hockey Association[8] (Eesti Jäähokiliit).[9] The top-tier league of men'sice hockey in Estonia is theMeistriliiga (also known asCoolbet Hokiliiga for sponsorship reasons). The top-tier league of women's ice hockey in Estonia is theNaiste Hokiliiga.
Judo is one of the most successful field of sport for Estonia. Since 1996, Estonia has won several medals in major international competitions.
Rallying became popular in Estonia during the Soviet time and it is still one the most popular sports inEstonia. Legendary Estonian rally drivers likeHeino Sepp,Heiki Ohu,Vello Õunpuu,Joel Tammeka and many more, achieved good results compiting in the Soviet Union. These drivers made rallying very popular among Estonians. Every year there was Soviet Union National Rally Team where half of the rally drivers were from Estonia.Markko Märtin was the first Estonian to winWRC event, attracting Estonian rally fans more and more.Ott Tänak is the first Estonian to win the World Rally Championship title in 2019. Estonian WRC event,Rally Estonia, gathers thousands of rally fans to watch top level drivers compiting.
Rowing is a popular sport in Estonia. One reason isJüri Jaanson, but there are also other well-known rowers in Estonia. Between 2004 and 2009, Estonia scored at least one medal in major international competition in every year:2004,2005,2006,2007,2008, and2009. After six years Estonia won bronze medal in2015.
Tõnu Endrekson,Andrei Jämsä,Allar Raja andKaspar Taimsoo have also won an Olympic medal.
Twin brothersTõnu Tõniste andToomas Tõniste competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. They won a silver and a bronze medal in the Men's 470 Class, for the Soviet Union (silver, 1988) and for Estonia (bronze, 1992).
Skiing is very popular in Estonia.Otepää is a popular skiing resort. Otepää is also known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer capital"Pärnu). It is also the annual Cross-country skiing World Cup event. The2011 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships was held in Otepää also.
In 2000,Raul Olle wonVasaloppet, which is amongst the oldest, longest, and biggest cross-country ski races in the world.
In 1999 Estonian skiing found success at international level, winning medals atWorld Championships. Estonia has won 4 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medal at theWinter Olympic Games.
Andrus Veerpalu,Kristina Šmigun-Vähi andJaak Mae are some of the most popular athletes in Estonia.
Weightlifting was one of the most successful field of sport for Estonia in the past.Alfred Neuland competed in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal, respectively, becoming the first Olympic gold medalist from Estonia.Alfred Schmidt was a featherweight weightlifter who won a silver medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics.Arnold Luhaäär competed in the 1928 and 1936 Olympics and won a silver and a bronze medal, respectively.Jaan Talts won a silver medal in weightlifting for theSoviet Union at the 1968 Olympic games and a gold medal at the 1972 Olympic games.
Wrestling was the most successful and also very popular Olympic event for Estonia between 1920 and 1936. In2006,Heiki Nabi became the firstamateur wrestling World Champion for Estonia. At the2012 Summer Olympics, Nabi won the silver medal in theMen's Greco-Roman 120 kg. Nabi continued his great career winning second gold medal at2013 World Championships and bronze medal at2014 World Championships.
Gallery of famous Estonian sportspeople
| Summer Olympic Sports | |
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| Winter Olympic Sports |
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| Other IOC Recognised Sports | |
| Others sports | |
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