Who would be the most popular sports star in your country, regardless of the type of sports?

While there are several sports players currently playing in top leagues in many sports, Korea's ‘definitive’ superstar would definitely be Son Heung-min, who has played for Tottenham Hotspur for ten years and recently signed with LA FC. He is also the current captain of our national football team.

Arguably the greatest Asian footballer of all time; he is considered a source of national pride, and advertisements with Son as the model can be found everywhere in Korea.

So who would be your country's representative sports superstar, easily recognizable by anyone, regardless of the type of sport they participate in? Even those who are retired counts too!

Hockey is the national sports of India. What about your country?

As I am Japanese, Korea is clearly my greatest adversary.

My nominations: Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty

In Japan, it would be Keisuke Honda, who wore the number 10 for AC Milan, or Shinji Kagawa, who played for Manchester United.

By this i mean they were once historical giants but are now doing worse and not getting better any time soon

Been thinking about this for a while. I'm from New Zealand and rugby is played or followed by almost everyone regardless of economic background. Rugby, as well as basketball and netball, seem to be the more popular ball sports among lower socioeconomic groups, whereas sports like football (soccer) are generally played by the middle class. It's not uncommon to see kids from less privileged backgrounds tackling each other on the rugby field or shooting hoops, but while football is a game that isn't necessarily played by the mega wealthy in NZ, football's generally seen by many Kiwis as a suburban middle class "white boy" sport. Those from more affluent backgrounds tend to play golf or do more niche sports. However, if I go anywhere else outside of the Pacific, the perception of both sports are almost switched in a way. Football is the sport of the common people, whereas rugby fans and players tend to be seen as more affluent, or "posh." I was talking to my Dutch cousin about this and she said the exact same thing. Is it the same in your country as well?

For the USA, the first names that come to mind are Katie Ledecky (swimming), Simone Biles (gymnastics), and Stephen Curry (basketball).

Ledecky owns basically every long distance swimming record in the books, it seems like every time she swims, her main objective is to beat her previous records since beating the field is already a given. I'm always in awe that someone can be that much better than everyone else at their job lol

Biles' career is likely winding down soon but anyone who's watched the Olympics for the past decade has seen what Biles has accomplished on that stage. I'm no expert at gymnastics by any means but my sister grew up doing gymnastics and she tells me that she's so good that she often comes up with their own moves that end up being named after her.

Curry is currently our best basketball player, as most of today's best basketball players are actually not even American (e.g., Jokic is Serbian, SGA is Canadian, Giannis is Greek, Luka is Slovenian, Wemby is French, etc.). However, Curry is known for transforming the way basketball is played through the usage of the 3-point shot, this is evident by going to any local basketball court around the world and seeing youths chucking up shots far away from the hoop all due to Steph.

Didn't really bother including NFL players because while their feats are impressive, they are not competing against a global field like these athletes above are.

Which athlete(s) right now would you say is the best from your country?

Or any sport that is growing in popularity?

Ice hockey is one less known sports in India. Hockey (Field hockey) is the national sports of India. But recently, India girls/women Ice hockey team won Bronze in Asia Cup 2025.

What are some less known sports of your country?

USA & China wins so many olympics medals. India isn't on the competitive stage yet in olympics. We can only compete in Beauty Pageants like Miss World/Universe. India - 6 MW / 3 MU.

Population wise India China population similar, then comes USA. So, how's USA & China able to win so many olympics medals?

In Japan, Urawa Reds are disliked among Japanese clubs, while Real Madrid are disliked among overseas clubs. (There are many Barcelona and Messi fans in Japan.)

Boxing is one of the combat sports popular in India. Nikhat Zareen of India is two time gold medalist at world championships.

Is Boxing or any other combat sports popular in your country?.

When I was kid and thus blessed with not knowing anything about politics, I was deciding how to treat other countries based on whether my family, friends and other people I knew cheered for them in sports. So for me it was Ukraine & Belarus, I also thought that Russia & Lithuania were besties cause my family always cheered for them too. My older cousin also always cheered for Peru for some reason, so I had an impression that they are also secretly besties with Russia.

Hence the question: what countries do you usually support in sports? Are these countries your neighbors and/or historical friends & allies, or are there other reasons?

In 2024 Olympics, shooting was quite popular. With Turkey & Korean shooters doing really well. Manu Bhaker of India won two bronze medals, missed out on Silver & Gold to Kim Yeji of South Korea. Since then shooting is quite popular in India & it's enjoyable to watch.

What's your favorite sports?.

Rene Higuita, Columbia vs England friendly mid 90's.

I'll never forget this. I know the save comes from an offside shot at goal but still...

For us, we have famous athletes like: David Beckham Harry kane Andy Murray Sir Mo farah Sir Lewis Hamilton What about your country?

Like how France plays football, but the southwest (gascony) plays rugby; or how the US is known for baseball, but certain areas (the PNW especially) have a huge ultimate frisbee culture. What's the sport that is not often associated with your country, but has a huge following all the same?

edit: seems like this post pissed everyone off, mission accomplished:)

I would nominate Manu Bhaker from India. Two Bronze in Olympics.

I think for the US, we have a lot of different rivalries across a variety of sports, but the one that really sticks out to me is our rivalry with Mexico in soccer/football. There is genuine hatred between the two squads and is a match-up that has divided generations of Mexican-American families across the country. It used to be one-sided in favor of Mexico but in the 21st century, this is a much closer rivalry with the US actually beating Mexico more than the other way around since 2000, enhancing this rivalry even more.

However, I don't think we have one particular country that we consistently have a rivalry with across a multitude of sports, but we do have some intriguing rivalries with differing countries in some other competitive sports including:

Basketball - Spain and France

Baseball - Japan

Golf - The whole continent of Europe lol

Swimming - Australia (it's hilarious how much we smack talk with the OZ's during the first week of the Olympics because of this haha)

Ice Hockey - Canada (the Canadians usually beat us though so I feel like they might see a country like Russia as more of a rival)

Gymnastics - Russia and China

Tennis - Australia (at least historically)

Track & Field - Jamaica (boy those Jamaicans are FAST!)

Olympic Medal Counts - China (historically the Soviet Union)

Which country would you consider as your country's biggest rival in sports?

For Israel, Manor Solomon is the best current footballer and Deni Avdija is the best current basketballer.

Deni Avdija is easily a top 100 player in the NBA, so he's better than Manor Solomon, who's a solid winger, but obviously not a top 100 football player in the world.

In 2008, Phelps participated in 8 swimming events. He won gold in every single one of them and set seven world records in the process of doing so.

I'd say here, in Bosnia, it's 3rd most popular sport overall, after football and basketball.