A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the Olympic Games, first held in modern times in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games, one of a number of such events held in antiquity. Most modern multi-sport events have the same basic structure. Games are held over the course of several days in and around a "host city", which changes for each competition. Countries send national teams to each competition, consisting of individual athletes and teams that compete in a wide variety of sports. Athletes or teams are awarded gold, silver or bronze medals for first, second and third place respectively. Each game is generally held every four years, though some are annual competitions.
The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participate in a competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, every 4 years, the year before Summer Olympics. It is the second oldest continental games in the world. The only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. In 2021, the Junior Pan American Games was held for the first time specifically for young athletes. The Pan American Sports Organization is the governing body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter.
World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA, is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in water sports. It is one of several international federations which administer a given sport or discipline for both the IOC and the international community. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has more than 900,000 members nationwide, including more than 100,000 volunteers. The philosophy of the AAU is "Sports for All, Forever."
The Canada Games is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two separate programs are organized in order to cover the seasons of summer and winter: the Canada Summer Games (CSG) and the Canada Winter Games (CWG). Athlete age eligibility rules vary. The host cities have not been chosen for the games after 2025 but the provinces through 2035 have been selected. St. John's, Newfoundland will host the 2025 Canada Summer Games at the Aquarena, which is currently undergoing renovations in preparation for the event.
The EuroGames are an LGBT+ multi-sport event in Europe, licensed by the EGLSF to a local city host each year and organised by one or more of the federation's member clubs. Similar to the Gay Games, EuroGames are a sports-for-all event, open for participation irrespective of sex, age, sexual identity or physical ability. Additionally it often included less prominent non-olympic sports and disciplines catering to interest of LGBT+ communities like same-sex ballroom dance, line dance, cheerleading, aerobics, bodybuilding as well synchronised/artistic swimming with male participants, which was historically forbidden.
The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia.
The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the Association of African Sports Confederation.
Panam Sports is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of the American continent.
The European Youth Olympic Festival is a multi-sport event held in both summer and winter disciplines every second year. Figure skating is one of the sports in its winter edition. The competition is held in junior category.
Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee, the Games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with the current Olympic Games format, though in reverse order with the Olympic Winter Games held in leap years instead of the Games of the Olympiad. The first summer version was held in Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010 while the first winter version was held in Austria from 13 to 22 January 2012.
The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Games was the last Parapan American Games that was not held in the same city as the Pan American Games. The most recent Parapan American Games were held between 17 and 26 November 2023, in Santiago, Chile.
It's organized by the Americas Paralympic Committee.
The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, or World School Sport Games, or ISF World School Sport Games is an international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is the largest event among many other sport events held by the ISF. Aligned with the philosophy of the organisation, only individuals between the ages of 13 and 18 are eligible to compete.
The European Paralympic Committee (EPC) is an international non-for-profit organisation which serves a membership of 49 National Paralympic Committees and 9 European branches of disability. Based in Vienna, Austria, the EPC was founded in November 1991 as the IPC European Committee and was later registered as an independent entity in 1999.
The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees (EOC), which announced their launch at its 41st General Assembly in Rome, on 8 December 2012.
The 1991 European Youth Olympic Days was the inaugural edition of multi-sport event for European youths between the ages of 13 and 18. It was held in Brussels, Belgium from 12 to 21 July. A total of nine sports were contested by 2084 athletes representing 33 European nations. The idea for the competition came from Jacques Rogge, an International Olympic Committee member, as the continent did not have its own multi-sport event at the time.
The Junior Pan American Games is a multi-sport event held every four years among youth athletes from all over the American continent. The Games have been organized by Panam Sports. This event, inspired by the Youth Olympic Games, is exclusively for athletes who are under 21 years of age, with fewer requirements on infrastructure and cost than the Pan American Games.
The European Para Youth Games (EPYG) is a biennial multi-sport event for young para-athletes aged between 13 and 23 from the member countries of the European Paralympic Committee (EPC).
