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Because ofLebanon's geography, both summer and winter sports are engaged in in the country. During autumn and spring it is sometimes possible to engage in both activities on the same day; for example,skiing in the morning and swimming in the afternoon.[1][2]
Lebanon hosted theAsian Cup in 2000[3] and thePan-Arab Games in 1957 and again in 1997. Lebanon gained acceptance to host the 13th Pan-Arab Games in 2015.[4] Although theAsian Winter Games were under consideration to be held in Lebanon in 2009, they ultimately did not take place.[5] However, Lebanon did host LesJeux de la Francophonie in 2009.
Rally of Lebanon, which is organized by the Automobile et Touring Club du Liban (ATCL), has been a sport in Lebanon since the late 1960s.[citation needed]
In 2001,Solidere planned to build a racing circuit in theBeirut Central District in a bid to stageFormula One races in Lebanon. The plan never saw fruition. However, Lebanon entered the world of international motor sport in 2004 with the formation of the LebaneseA1 Grand Prix team that included driverBasil Shaaban, making Lebanon the first Arab nation to participate in the World Cup of Motorsport.[citation needed]
Jogging is popular in parts of the capital.[citation needed]
The Beirut International Marathon (BIM) has been an annual event since 2003.[citation needed]
Bodybuilding is a sport in Lebanon. Bodybuilders likeSamir Bannout,Fouad Abiad andMohammad Bannout won international competitions.[citation needed]
Khalil Taha was a bronze medal winner in the1952 Helsinki Olympics inGreco-Roman wrestling, whileZakaria Chihab won the silver. In 1980,Hassan Bechara won the bronze medal at the1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[6]
Martial arts are also combat sports in Lebanon.[citation needed]
TheBeirut Hippodrome, a horse-racing facility built in 1885, is once again operating after years of neglect during the war. Additionally, private clubs have been established in Lebanon, such as The Lebanese Equestrian Club (CHL) also known asClub Hippique Libanais, the Buldozer[7]
Hiking,trekking andmountain biking are sports in the summer when ski lifts can be used to access some of Lebanon's trails, with views stretching as far asCyprus to the west andSyria to the east. TheLebanon Mountain Trail is Lebanon's first national long-distance hiking trail that covers 440 km and passes through 75 villages, starting in the north and trecking overMount Lebanon until it terminates in the south of Lebanon. The Baskinta Literary Trail, 24-km long, offers hikers a chance to discover 22 literary landmarks related to Lebanese literary figures.Cross-country running,rock climbing, andcaving are also practiced across Mount Lebanon.[8]
According to the 13th century French tale,L'histoire d'Apollonius de Tyr, theStoic philosopher andPhoenician king,Apollonius of Tyre was the oldest tennis player and champion on record, albeit fictional. In reality,Lawn tennis did not come to Lebanon until 1889 when it was first introduced in the village ofBrummana.Ainab was one of the first villages in Lebanon to have a tennis court, which was built by five professors from theAmerican University of Beirut early in the 20th century. The annual tennis tournament, which was an international event prior to the war, but now mostly a national one, is held atBrummana High School in August.[9][10]
Table tennis :Www.lttf.com.lb
Football is the most popular sport in Lebanon.[11][12] It is governed by theLebanese Football Association (LFA).[13] The country's most supported clubs areNejmeh andAnsar,[14] withAhed gaining popularity in recent years.[15]
While thenational team has never qualified for theFIFA World Cup, they first participated in the2000 AFC Asian Cup, as hosts.[16] Lebanon's first participation through regular qualification came in the2019 AFC Asian Cup,[17] in which they narrowly missed out on the knock-out stages by the fair-play rule.[18] They finished third once in theArab Cup, twice in thePan Arab Games, and once in theMediterranean Games, in all four instances as hosts.[citation needed]
The top division of theLebanese football league system is theLebanese Premier League, in which 12 teams compete.[19] Cup competitions include theLebanese FA Cup, the national domestic cup competition, theLebanese Super Cup, held between the winner of the league and the FA Cup, and theLebanese Federation Cup, a pre-season tournament in which the Lebanese Premier League teams compete.[20]
In2005, Nejmeh became the first team from Lebanon to reach the final of theAFC Cup.[21] However, they lost toAl-Faisaly 4–2 on aggregate.[22] After beatingApril 25 in the final of the2019 AFC Cup, Ahed became the first Lebanese team to win the competition.[23]
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Lebanon. In basketball, the main federation is the Lebanese Basketball Federation it's a member ofFIBA Asia. The first time basketball was played was in the mid-1920s. TheLebanon national basketball team has qualified three consecutive times to the FIBA World Championship in2002,2006,2010 and ranked 24th in the world and the women national team is ranked 61st in the world. Lebanon owns its own basketball league:Lebanese Basketball League for men and women in addition to the Lebanese Basketball Cup.[citation needed]
Famous basketball players include:
The Lebanese play mini football which is very similar or identical tofutsal. TheLebanon national futsal team represents Lebanon in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Futsal Commission of the Federation Libanaise de Football Association. In December 2007, Lebanon ranked 34 in the Futsal World Ranking, the sixth highest ranking Asian team that year. In 2010, Lebanon ranked 41 and in 2011, the country ranked 48.[24]
Rugby league is a sport in Lebanon. The Lebanese Rugby League Federation is based inSafra in Lebanon. They are Full Members of the Rugby League European Federation and also Full Members of the Rugby League International Federation. TheLebanon national rugby league team qualified and played in the2000 Rugby League World Cup, and nearly qualified for the2008 Rugby League World Cup, but were beaten bySamoa in their final game. In 2011, Lebanon again nearly qualified for the2013 Rugby League World Cup but lost toItaly who became the 14th and final nation to qualify for the event.[25] In 2015 they finally qualified for the2017 Rugby League World Cup, for what was just their second World Cup, after beatingSouth Africa 2–0 in a2-match qualifying play-off held in Pretoria. TheLebanon Rugby League ("LRL") National Championship is the leading domestic rugby league competition in Lebanon, and consists of 4 clubs (Tripoli City RLFC, Immortals RLFC, Jounieh RLFC and Wolves FC). The second tier of competition, known as theCollegiate Rugby League ("CRL") National Championship, consists of teams representing Lebanese universities and institutes of higher learning. The CRL is divided into two Divisions based upon longevity & success of the institution's Rugby League programme, and the CRL: Playoffs converge into a single CRL Finals Series. Rugby League is popular amongst Lebanese schools, with regionalSchools Rugby League ("SRL") championships held in "North Lebanon" and also in "Beirut & Mount Lebanon" regions, where the winners (aka: "Premiers") of each region face off to be crowned the "National Champion"; contested at both U14s and U16s level.[26] Lebanon has also sent schools to compete in regional international schools tournaments, and has hosted junior international sides from throughout the Middle East/North Africa region.[27]
Rugby union in Lebanon dates back to the French colonial period.[citation needed]
Touch Football is a sport in Lebanon. In 1998,Lebanese Australians founded theLebanon Touch Football Association.[26]
Volleyball has some popularity in Lebanon where there is a professional volleyball league.[28] This team sport was introduced to Lebanon through foreign schools after theFirst World War in 1918. In the 1920s, it spreads in some schools, namely the Sacré Coeur, Al Makassed and La Sagesse and in some universities such as theSaint Joseph University (USJ) and theAmerican University of Beirut (AUB). In 1973, the Lebanese government signed a sport's cooperation treaty with theUSSR to have Soviet coaches train the Lebanese national volleyball team.[29] Lebanon has competed in international volleyball events. In 1952,Israel defeated Lebanon 3–0 and then lost to Lebanon 3–2 in the World Volleyball Championships in Moscow.[30]
Swimming,water skiing,yachting,sailing,scuba diving, andwindsurfing are practiced along the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon, especially between Beirut and Tripoli.[31]
Diving is a sport in Lebanon with wrecks to explore.[32]
Lebanese water skier Silvio Chiha snagged the gold medal at the Asia-Australasia Oceania (AAO) water skiing championship that happened in 2012 in Chuncheon, South Korea. [DailyStar]
An international water ski championship was held in theSaint George Bay in Beirut, beginning in 1955, but the event was discontinued at the beginning of the war.[33]
In the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich,Mohamed Traboulsi won the silver medal, in addition to many gold medals in continental and regional championships.[34]
Lebanon has six ski resorts, with slopes for skiers andsnowboarders. Off-slope, there are opportunities forcross-country skiing,snowshoeing, andsnowmobiling.
