List of sports

Last updated

The following is a list of sports and games, divided by category.

Contents

According to the World Sports Encyclopaedia (2003), there are 8,000 known indigenous sports and sporting games. [1]

Acrobatic arts

Cheerleading Cheerleading at UP theater.jpg
Cheerleading

Air sports

Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville. Lima Lima Flight team flying Beechcraft Mentors.jpg
Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville.
Wingsuit flying Dubai Wingsuit Flying Trip (7623578306).jpg
Wingsuit flying

Athletics

The three activities in Track and field, from top-bottom rows: jumping, throwing and running.

Jumping

Throwing

Running

Combined

Ball games

Bat-and-ball games (safe haven sports)

Wrigley field 720.jpg
Muralitharan bowling to Adam Gilchrist.jpg
The two major Bat and ball games, from top-bottom: Baseball and Cricket.
Baseball like (roundball)
Cricket like
Longball
Other games

Billiards

Cue sports

Carom Billiards EC Brandenburg Havel-GER 2013-04-20 24-Leppens.JPG
Playing Billard. Pyongyang, North Korea. (2603187853).jpg
Snooker table selby.JPG
The three main family of Cue sports, from top-bottom: Carom, Pocket billards and Snooker.

Ground billiards

Lawn bowls Lawn Bowling - Tim Mason1.jpg
Lawn bowls

Boules sports

Bowling

Bowling 20160511 High backswing in bowling - John Hughes - Armed Forces Sports.jpg
Bowling

Dodgeball family

Golf

Golf player using a putter to score Golf (33267687864).jpg
Golf player using a putter to score

Invasion games

Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.

Basketball family

Basketball player Dwight Howard making a slam dunk at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Dwigth Howard olympics2008.jpg
Basketball player Dwight Howard making a slam dunk at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Football family

Historical
Modern codes

Handball family

A 7-meter throw in Handball. Kr-Oe-Siebenmeter.jpg
A 7-meter throw in Handball.

Stick and ball family

Hockey
Field hockey at the 2012 Summer Olympics - NZL-AUS (7796665032).jpg
Roman Hamrlik vs Joffrey Lupul.jpg
The two major sports in the Hockey family, from left-right: field and ice hockey.
Hurling and shinty
Lacrosse
Match of lacrosse Lacrosse dive shot.jpg
Match of lacrosse
Polo
A polo player. Iranian girl polo player.jpg
A polo player.

Other

Net and wall games

An international match of volleyball. Europei di pallavolo 2005 - Italia-Russia.jpg
An international match of volleyball.

Games involving opponents hitting/throwing a ball over a net using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely the body:

A game of squash Squash court.JPG
A game of squash

Games involving opponents hitting/throwing a ball against walls or any rebounding surface using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:

Games that use both walls and net

Pilota family

Valencian pilota. TrofeuNadal-06.jpg
Valencian pilota.

Racket (or racquet) sports

Tennis Richel Hogenkamp - Masters de Madrid 2015 - 11.jpg
Tennis
Sports that use a netted racket
Table tennis 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis championships 1.jpg
Table tennis
Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle

Board sports

Skateboard vert jump at the Sprite urban games 2006 in London. Vert (sport) (181091396).jpg
Skateboard vert jump at the Sprite urban games 2006 in London.
Snowboard figure at the 2008 Shakedown Shakedown 2008 Figure 1-de vignette.jpg
Snowboard figure at the 2008 Shakedown
Surfing in Hawaii Surfing in Hawaii.jpg
Surfing in Hawaii

Sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment.

Climbing

Canyoning Mystery-canyon-001.jpg
Canyoning

Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts

A combat sport is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement.

Grappling

Two men compete in freestyle wrestling. FreestyleWrestling2.jpg
Two men compete in freestyle wrestling.

Striking

A kick in kickboxing. 2010-02-20-kickboxen-by-RalfR-01.jpg
A kick in kickboxing.

Mixed or hybrid

Ground fighting in MMA. Pins down.jpg
Ground fighting in MMA.

Weapons and kicking

Axe throwing at the Ming Culture Village, a theme park near the Yangshan Quarry, China Ming Culture Village - axe throwing - P1060946.JPG
Axe throwing at the Ming Culture Village, a theme park near the Yangshan Quarry, China
Two kendoka. Kendo EM 2005 - nito.jpg
Two kendōka.

Other

Flying disc sports

Australia vs Canada ultimate players WUGC 2012 in Japan. Ultimate Canada 20120713 202257 NZ4 6429 1280.jpg
Australia vs Canada ultimate players WUGC 2012 in Japan. Ultimate Canada

Gymnastics

Yana Kudryavtseva.jpg
Natalia Gaudio 2016 Olympics Test Event 5.jpg
2018-10-16 Gymnastics at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics - Rhythmic Gymnastics - Hoop final (Martin Rulsch) 038.jpg
Viktoriia Onopriienko 2024 Sofia World Cup Ribbon Final 0.jpg
Carmen Acedo 1992 Bruselas.PNG
The five Rhythmic gymnastics apparatuses, from left-right: ball, clubs, hoop, ribbon and rope.

Kite sports

Mixed discipline

The three components of triathlon: swimming, cycling, running Tri swim bike run.jpg
The three components of triathlon: swimming, cycling, running

Decathlon, heptathlon, and the pentathlons consist of ten, seven, and five-component contests that are scored together using one points system.

Motorsports

Sports involving the use of motorized vehicles

Air racing

Formula 1 motorboat F1 Powerboat.jpg
Formula 1 motorboat

Motorboat racing

Terrestrial vehicles

Automobile

The start of a Formula One race in 2008 Lap 1, Turn 1 Canada 2008.jpg
The start of a Formula One race in 2008

Motorcycle

MotoGP racing Capirossi Hayden Rossi 2005.jpg
MotoGP racing

Others

ATV racing on a motocross track ATVracing2006.jpg
ATV racing on a motocross track

Orienteering

Parkour/Freerunning

Sport Parkour and Freerunning are empirically measured competitions of skill, speed or style on an obstacle based course. Self expression, demonstration of control and power are measured.

Pedal vehicle

Human-powered vehicles propelled by pedals

Cycling

Sports using bicycles, quadracycles, tricycles or unicycles.

Bicycle

A track cycling Race Track cycling 2005.jpg
A track cycling Race

Quadracycle

Tricycle

Unicycle

Watercraft

Racing

Shooting sports

Archery

Members of the Gotemba Kyudo Association demonstrate Kyudo. Kyudo or the way of archery.jpg
Members of the Gotemba Kyūdō Association demonstrate Kyūdō.

Gun sports

Sports using guns (firearms, air guns, etc.).

Individual

Laser-run Women's Individual Laser-Run YOG18 13-10-2018 (002).jpg
Laser-run

Athletic hybrid

Skirmish

Snow sports

Skiing

A ski jumper using the V-style Calgary.jpg
A ski jumper using the V-style
Freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing jump2.jpg
Freestyle skiing

Sled sports

United States Air Force Major Brady Canfield, 2003 U.S. skeleton champion, shows his takeoff form. Brady Canfield skeleton start 2.jpg
United States Air Force Major Brady Canfield, 2003 U.S. skeleton champion, shows his takeoff form.

Stacking

Strength sports

Tag games

Kabaddi Iran women's national kabaddi team 1397060223024359515137374.jpg
Kabaddi

Walking

Water sports

These sports use water (a river, pool, etc.).

Paddling sports

Canoeing

Kayaking

Rafting

Rafting Rafting PescadosRiverClassIV VeracruzMexico.jpg
Rafting

Rowing

Other paddling sports

Sailing

Windsurfing Windsurf.600pix.jpg
Windsurfing

Aquatic ball sports

Greece - Hungary water polo match (World Junior Championship 2004 Naples, Italy) WaterPolo.JPG
GreeceHungary water polo match (World Junior Championship 2004 Naples, Italy)

Surface

Underwater

Competitive swimming

Kindred activities

Subsurface and recreational

Diving

Weightlifting

North Korean weightlifter Pak Hyon-suk performing the snatch, one of the two lifts in the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Pak Hyon-Suk.jpg
North Korean weightlifter Pak Hyon-suk performing the snatch, one of the two lifts in the sport of Olympic weightlifting.

Sports involving animals

Dog sports

Sports in which dogs participate.

Equestrian sports

Horse racing at Arlington Park, 2007 Horse race, Arlington International.jpg
Horse racing at Arlington Park, 2007

Sports using a horse.

Fishing

Hunting

Sometimes considered blood sports.

Rodeo-originated

Barrel racing Barrel Racing(14583529059).jpg
Barrel racing

Sports that have originated from rodeos in the old Western Americas.

Others

Mind sports

Requiring little or no physical exertion or agility, mind sports are often not considered true sports. Some mind sports are recognised by sporting federations. The following list is intended to represent anything that is likely to be referred to as a mind sport, not to argue their validity as sports.

Card games

Bridge Bridge-Grossschlemm.JPG
Bridge

Combination puzzle

Dogic Dogic10-2.jpg
Dogic

Esports

Strategy board games

A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China Mahjong in Hangzhou.jpg
A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China

Other

Competitive model sports

Remote control

Overlapping sports

Sports falling into two or more categories.

Different classification

Potentially other sports are listed here.

Air sports

Beach sports

Beach tennis NYLB08 3620.jpg
Beach tennis

Versions of sports played on sand

Compromise rules

Electronic sports

Sports played using electronic devices.

Endurance sports

Ice sports

Paintball Paintball breakout.jpg
Paintball

Marker sports

Skating sports

Snow sports

A snowboarder and a skier Airforce skiing at keystone colorado.jpg
A snowboarder and a skier

Street sports

Strength sports

Arm wrestling Girls arm wrestling home alive.jpg
Arm wrestling

Sports mainly based on sheer power.

Air hockey AirHockeyTable.JPG
Air hockey

Table sports

Target sports

Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.

Team sports

Cillian Buckley in action for Kilkenny against Galway in a hurling league game Cillian Buckley.jpg
Cillian Buckley in action for Kilkenny against Galway in a hurling league game

Sports that involve teams.

Wheelchair sports

Para-versions of sports played using wheelchairs

Windsports

Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):

Fictional sports

Fictional sports that are played in real life:

Miscellaneous sports

Jack and Jill competition, Lumberjack World Championships, Hayward, Wisconsin, 2007. Lumberjack.JPG
Jack and Jill competition, Lumberjack World Championships, Hayward, Wisconsin, 2007.
Logrolling LogRolling Scheer'sLumberjackShow.jpg
Logrolling

See also

References

  1. Lipoński, Wojciech (2003). "Introduction". World Sports Encyclopedia. Ozgraf. ISBN   0760316821 via Internet Archive. Former reference version, How many sports are there in the world? ( "World Sports Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)). See ISBN   9780760316825.
  2. "Blind Baseball Rulebook" (PDF). World Baseball Softball Confederation.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. RaP7 (2022-04-06). Baseball + Cricket = Rap7Ball | Know More About Rap7Ball . Retrieved 2025-02-18 via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. Wood, Robert (2012-12-01). "360Ball - a cool new sport". Topend Sports. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  5. Day, Lewin (2023-08-02). "What a Spectacle: Thai Farmers Drag Race Tuned Stand-Up Tractors". The Drive. Retrieved 2024-11-26.