From the Olympics to the soccer team, sport is a vital part of Mexico's modern identity. But the country's sporting heritage is rooted in centuries of history, identity, and community. Keep clicking for a 10-step guide to the history of Mexican sports.
1. Ancient Mesoamerican games
Long before the modern Olympics, ancient Mesoamerican cultures had their own unique sports. These activities were often intertwined with religious ceremonies, and the players were believed to be connecting with the gods. The ancient sport "ballgame" is still played today!
2. Making football history
The world-famous Estadio Azteca, host to two World Cup finals, stands as a testament to Mexico's love of football. Designed by architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Rafael Mijares Alcérreca, it was built in 1962 for the 1970 World Cup.
3. The Olympics
Mexico City hosted the 1968 Olympic Games. Here, Enriqueta Basilio made history as the first woman to carry the Olympic torch and light the cauldron, launching a new era for women in sport.
4. Charrería: a national sport
Charrería, a sport involving complex maneuvers on horseback, has evolved into a cultural symbol of Mexico. It's even recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Jalisco.
5. Pádel: a Mexican invention
Born in Mexico, pádel has become a global phenomenon, and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. It combines elements of tennis and squash for fast-paced and competitive fun.
6. Baseball in Mexico
Baseball is one of Mexico's most popular sports. Some historical accounts suggest that the country's first baseball game took place during the war against the United States in 1847. Today, it is played across the country and incorporates festivities like Los Tomateros.
7. Lucha Libre: more than just wrestling
Wrestling heroes and villains are known both inside and outside of the ring. El Santo, the Silver Masked wrestler, became a symbol of justice for the Mexican people. His image appeared in comics and movies, and his legacy continues to inspire generations.
8. Running with the mountains
The Tarahumara people call themselves Rarámuri, a name that speaks to their strength and agility. The word combines "rara" (foot) and "muri" (to run), highlighting their prowess as runners. Running is part of Mexico's cultural DNA.
9. Mixteca Ball: a living tradition
Mixteca Ball, a game where a ball must be launched through wall-mounted rings in a painted court, has origins that date back to pre-Hispanic times. It is popular in Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla, Mexico City, and across the border in the US cities of Fresno and Los Angeles
10. Swimming triumphs
It wasn't until the 1968 Mexico City Olympics that Mexico won its first swimming medals. Felipe Muñoz's gold and María Teresa Ramírez's bronze marked a turning point for Mexican athletes on the world stage.
Mexican sports showcase years of history, culture, and tradition. Athletes today are continuing to celebrate the legacy of their sports and what it means to them. Scroll down to explore more.
The artistry, legacy, and cultural impact of Mexican wrestling
More than a sport
Lucha libre is a performance, its stories are myths, and its wrestlers ... legends.
Love and combat
The eternal romance between the Mexican people and wrestling flourished in 1863 when Enrique Ugartechea, the first Mexican wrestler, invented this Greco-Roman wrestling-inspired sport.
Masks and mystery
In lucha libre, masks don't just disguise one's identity—they represent an enigma, a symbol. Behind each mask, a warrior fights in the ring and is cemented in the public's collective imagination.
Epic duels
Each fight is a story and a duel: a confrontation between heroes and villains, where technique and acrobatics are intertwined with the narrative of the battle between good and evil.
The mystery behind the mask
Nothing thrills the crowd more than a mask vs. mask, legacy vs. legacy duel. For some, losing their mask could mean the end of their career, while for others, a new beginning. What's certain is that this event is charged with cultural meaning.
Cultural impact
Lucha libre is Mexico City's cultural heritage. It is an artform that transcends sport, capturing the imagination of generations and embodying Mexico's popular culture through its characters and colors.
Childhood dreams
The wrestlers are so much more than just flesh and bone—their exploits live on in Mexico's traditional toys, which enrich the imaginations of thousands of children as they grow up.
More than sport
Every hit, every jump and every chokehold tells a story. It's a spectacle that entertains, inspires and unites, a reflection of life itself with its trials and triumphs.
Immortal legends
Some wrestlers, like 'El Santo' or 'Blue Demon,' have even transcended the ring and time itself by becoming heroes of the silver screen and cultural icons.
The legacy continues
New generations of wrestlers carry on the tradition, combining respect for the past with new ideas that keep the spirit of wrestling alive and preserve its culture.
Celebrating an artform
Every lucha libre performance is a celebration of strength, courage and artistry. Stories of honor and passion play out in the ring, reflecting Mexico's rich popular culture.
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Mexico. Anecdotally, some historical accounts state that the country's first baseball game took place during the war against the United States in 1847.
Historical curiosities
At that time, US soldiers fighting the Mexican army near Xalapa captured the wooden leg of Antonio López de Santa Anna as he retreated from the battlefield and used it as a bat in their leisure time.
Mexico's game
However, it was not until the end of the 19th century that this sport began to be played in different regions of the Republic, thanks to the influence of sailors and workers from the United States, who taught the local inhabitants the rules of the game.
A national tradition
Although various sources attribute the birthplace of baseball in Mexico to regions such as Guaymas in Sonora, Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas, and Cadereyta Jiménez in Nuevo León, it was not until 1887 that a baseball team was founded in the capital of the Republic: the Club México.
The origin of baseball
These teams played in a match considered the first documented baseball game in Mexico, which took place in 1899. From then on, teams and local leagues were founded in different regions of the Mexican Republic.
Rapidly popular
In cities like Monterrey, Torreón, Hermosillo, and Guaymas in the north, as well as Veracruz, Yucatán, and Oaxaca in the south, this sport gained great popularity and became one of those most played by young people.
Revolutionary problems
During the Mexican Revolution, baseball experienced a stagnation in its development due to the decrease in promoters and investors as a result of political and social turmoil.
University resurgence
However, the sport continued to be played daily by amateurs on the plains of the capital, as well as on university fields, where a League of Professional Schools was established that kept the sporting enthusiasm alive.
Presidential boost
Around 1916, baseball in Mexico received a new boost once the country's political situation began to stabilize, following the military victory of the Carrancista faction in the armed conflict.
Organizing a league
Sports promoters and writers took the initiative to reorganize baseball and establish an association capable of regulating and organizing games in the capital, with the goal of professionalizing the practice.
Various league initiatives
In 1917, at the initiative of the newspaper 'El Universal,' the Liga France was created in the capital of the Republic. This first attempt to institutionalize the sport did not prosper, although it managed to reawaken the interest of promoters and businessmen.
First Mexican league
In 1925, through the initiative of the promoters Alejandro Aguilar Reyes 'Fray Nano' and Ernesto Carmona, the Mexican Baseball League was founded: the first professional circuit that brought together six of the country's clubs, from Veracruz, Guanajuato, Puebla, and Mexico City.
Mexican tradition
Since then, the Mexican Baseball League has undergone different stages of development and expanded throughout the national territory. Today, baseball continues to enjoy great popularity and has become a deeply rooted tradition among Mexicans.
Capturing legendary moments: from Impressionism to Realism
Man and art through time
As our understanding of our own humanity has evolved, so has the way art captures the magic and spirit of sports.
Immortalized in stone
Pietro Bazzanti, with his work 'The Wrestlers,' immortalized the essence of sport and man in stone through a naturalistic artistic representation that captures the true being of athletes and their physical effort.
Artistic splendor
Bazzanti masterfully captured an eternal moment, perfectly showcasing the physique of the wrestlers and paying homage to the beauty of the human body.
Impressionism in bronze
Naturalism is not the only artistic approach that has been adopted when portraying sports. With his impressionist style, Auguste Rodin managed to extraordinarily capture the essence of an athlete in bronze, almost half a century after Bazzanti.
The calm before the storm
In contrast to the wrestlers, 'The Athlete' by Auguste Rodin captures the athlete in a moment of calm, resting on a bench. The impressionist style of layering material in the sculpture reflects the construction of a perfect body, a union between art and sport.
Art and sports
This magnificent sculpture was inspired by the physique of the athlete Samuel Stockton White III, who won the Sandow medal in 1899, awarded to the strongest and most perfectly developed man in the United Kingdom.
Impressionism in motion
Team sports are captured in artistic representations that create a mosaic of diverse unique moments, recreating a story within the frame.
Moments that make history
Unlike naturalism, the beauty of impressionism becomes more evident the further we are from the work to appreciate it.
The drama of baseball
In his work 'Baseball,' Luis Améndolla captures one of the tensest moments of any game: a throw to first base. In contrast to the aesthetics of Bazzanti and Rodin, who capture stoic moments, this painting conveys movement and inertia.
Momentary realism
Améndolla seeks to capture the realism of the sport, not through the physical perfection of the athletes, but by portraying the moments that turn sports into myth and its players into legends.
Sporting illusions
Sporting legends do not exist without their fans. It is their devotion, dreams, emotions, and tears that ignite the passion for sport. In this work, Améndolla shows us the strength of a dream.<br><br>
The legacy
The greatness of sport lies in the moments that define it. This work, created to celebrate the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, seeks to immortalize a moment, just like Bazzanti's sculpture.
Expression and realism
This work has a more naturalistic tint than Améndolla's aesthetic. However, it seeks to capture the athlete's internal struggle in the facial expressions.
A date with history
This work forever commemorates the spirit and heart of the Brazilian team that won the 1970 World Cup.
Caricature
Not everything in sports is about epic moments and displays of physical splendor. Sports are also the subject of laughter and comical situations that are rarely immortalized.
The mundane
In the work 'Ponchador Ponchado' ('Strikeout Pitcher Struck Out'), Luis Améndolla humorously explores a tragedy that could happen to any pitcher.
Comradeship and expression
This work captures the intense emotions that sports evoke in athletes, portraying the debates and conflicts common among opponents and teammates.
Art and sports
Art and sports are two forms of human expression that exist in perfect harmony. Together they capture epic and mundane moments, intense emotions, and the passion of a culture, immortalizing in works the moments that make humans extraordinary.
By embracing their passion for sports, these athletes are defying outdated gender stereotypes. They demonstrate that everyone, regardless of gender, can achieve greatness in their chosen field.
Alexa Moreno
An Olympic gymnast who, at 26 years old, has become the first Mexican woman to stand on the podium in an international gymnastics competition. She won her first gold medal in 2010 at the Pacific Rim Championships and won the Premio Nacional (National Sports Prize) in 2019.
Donovan Carillo
A figure skater who made his debut at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games and made history as the first Mexican to reach the finals of the men's free figure skating program. In October that year, he received the Will Sears Award in New York.
Lorena Ramírez
A long-distance runner from the Rarámuri community, internationally known for taking first place in the Ultra Trail Cerro Rojo in 2017. Despite receiving no help from the government, she ran numerous long-distance races and finished in first place.
Enriqueta Basilio
Thanks to her stellar performance and trajectory as an athlete, she was chosen by the National Mexican Committee to carry the Olympic torch in the 1968 Olympic Games. As the first woman to light the cauldron, she went down in history as a feminist icon of her time.
Jennifer Muñoz
Despite only having a short career in Mexican soccer, this didn't stop her from leaving her mark on the sport. Debuting in 2019 when she played for Club América, she consolidated herself as one of the best midfielders in the Liga MX Femenil.
Amalia Pérez
A Paralympic athlete in adapted powerlifting, considered one of the best weightlifters in the world by the International Paralympic Committee. Effort, dedication and discipline led her to win six medals, including gold.
Arly Velásquez
One of the best Paralympic skiers in the world, her career in para-alpine skiing began in 2010, when she was the sole athlete to represent Mexico in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Her passion and dedication for the sport have inspired future generations.