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List of sports

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a list of sports and games, divided by category. According to the World Sports Encyclopaedia (2003), there are 8,000 known indigenous sports and sporting games.[1]

Acrobatic arts

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Cheerleading

Air sports

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Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville.
Wingsuit flying

Animal sports

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Bovines

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Recortes

Dog sports

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Sports in which dogs participate.

Equines

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Sports using a horse.

Horse racing at Arlington Park, 2007

Fishing

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Hunting

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Sometimes considered blood sports.

Rodeo-originated

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

Barrel racing

Others

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Athletics

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Jumping

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Throwing

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Running

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Combined

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Ball games

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Bat-and-ball games (safe haven games)

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Games in which the objective of the offensive team is to reach safe havens to score runs, and of the defense to prevent it.

The two major Bat and ball games, from top-bottom: Baseball and Cricket.
Baseball like (roundball)
Cricket like
Longball
Other games

Billiards

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Cue sports

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The three main family of Cue sports, from top-bottom: Carom, pool and Snooker.

Ground billiards

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Boules sports

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Games which the objective is to throw, roll or slide balls as closely as possible to a jack or target.

Lawn bowls

Bowling

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Bowling

Dodgeball family

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Golf

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Sports which score is counted in reference to par

Golf player using a putter to score

Invasion games

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Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.

Basketball family

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

Football family

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Historical
Modern codes

Handball family

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A 7-meter throw in Handball.

Stick and ball family

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Sports that use some kind of sticks for scoring goals.

Hockey
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Hurling and shinty
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Lacrosse
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Lacrosse variants
Polo
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A polo player.

Other goal sports

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Cycle ball

Net and wall games

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Sports when players/teams score whenever the opponent fails to return validly the possession of ball/bird back.

Games involving opponents hitting/throwing a ball over a net using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely the body:
Tennis
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:
Padbol
Games that use neither walls nor net:
Crossminton

Pilota family

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Valencian pilota.

Racket (or racquet) sports

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  • Racketlon (a series of other racket and paddle sports)
Sports that use a netted racket
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Badminton
Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle
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Table tennis

Other ball sports

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Board sports

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

Skateboarding
Snowboard figure at the 2008 Shakedown
Surfing in Hawaii

Climbing

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Canyoning

Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts

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

Grappling

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Two men compete in freestyle wrestling.

Striking

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A kick in kickboxing.

Mixed or hybrid

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Ground fighting in MMA.

Weapons

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Two kendōka.
Paintball

Other

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Flying disc sports

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Australia vs Canada ultimate players WUGC 2012 in Japan. Ultimate Canada

Gymnastics

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Rhythmic gymnastics apparatuses, from left-right: ball, clubs, hoop, ribbon and rope.

Kite sports

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Mixed discipline

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

The three components of triathlon: swimming, cycling, running

Motorsports

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Sports involving manned motorized vehicles

Aircraft

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Aerobatic maneuver

Motorboat

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Formula 1 motorboat

Terrestrial vehicles

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Automobile

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The start of a Formula One race in 2008

Motorcycle

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MotoGP racing

Others

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ATV racing on a motocross track

Orienteering

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Parkour/Freerunning

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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

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Human-powered vehicles propelled by pedals

Cycling

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Sports using bicycles, quadracycles, tricycles or unicycles.

Bicycle

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A track cycling Race

Quadracycle

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Tricycle

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Unicycle

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Mountain unicycle

Watercraft

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  • Pedal boat racing

Racing

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Shooting sports

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Archery

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Members of the Gotemba Kyūdō Association demonstrate Kyūdō.

Gun sports

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

Individual

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Skeet shooting

Athletic hybrid

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Laser-run

Skirmish

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Skating sports

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Inline figure skating

Snow sports

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Skiing

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A ski jumper using the V-style
Freestyle skiing

Sled sports

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Bobsled

Stacking

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Strength sports

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Tag games

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Kabaddi

Walking

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Water sports

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

Aquatic ball sports

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Surface

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Waterpolo

Underwater

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Competitive swimming

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Kindred activities

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Diving

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Subsurface and recreational

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Snorkeling

Non motorized vehicles

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Paddling sports

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Canoeing and kayaking
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Rafting
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Rafting
Rowing
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Other paddling sports
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Sailing

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Windsurfing

Weightlifting

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Weightlifting

Mind sports

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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

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Bridge

Combination puzzle

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Dogic

Competitive model sports

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RC aircraft

Remote control

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Esports

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0 A.D. a real-time strategy game

Strategy board games

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Chaturanga, parent of many strategy board games
A game of Monopoly

Other

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Both physical and mind

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Different classification

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Potentially other sports are listed here.

Air sports

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Beach sports

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Versions of sports played on sand

Beach tennis

Compromise rules

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Electronic sports

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Sports played using electronic devices.

Endurance sports

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Ice sports

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Speed skating

Marker sports

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Parasports

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Visual impaired

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Goalball

Wheelchair sports

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Para-versions of sports played using wheelchairs

Wheelchair rugby

Other

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Sitting volleyball

Snow sports

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A snowboarder and a skier

Street sports

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Strength sports

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Sports mainly based on sheer power.

Arm wrestling

Tabletop games

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Air hockey

Target sports

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

Axe throwing at the Ming Culture Village, a theme park near the Yangshan Quarry, China

Team sports

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Sports that involve teams.

Hurling

Windsports

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Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):

Fictional sports

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Fictional sports that are played in real life:

Miscellaneous sports

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Jack and Jill competition, Lumberjack World Championships, Hayward, Wisconsin, 2007.
Logrolling

See also

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References

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  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. ^ "Beeball". KNBSB (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  3. ^ "Blind Baseball Rulebook" (PDF). World Baseball Softball Confederation.
  4. ^ 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)
  5. ^ "Making History: The Rise and Roll of Roller Basketball". Sport in American History. 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  6. ^ "Unicycling disciplines | Stichting Eenwieleren Nederland". stichtingeenwieleren.nl. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  7. ^ Geekify Guys (2016-03-15). Ultimate Hoverboard Hockey. Retrieved 2025-05-22 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Blind Hockey". www.usahockey.com. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  9. ^ Phillips, Rachel (2021-08-11). "El Paso hockey team is born from blind child's curiosity & fearless coach". KVIA. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  10. ^ "Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) suggested Rules for Wheelchair Lacrosse" (PDF).
  11. ^ "AirBadminton Rules - How To Play AirBadminton – Badminton Insight". badminton-insight.com. 2020-06-06. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
  12. ^ "OFFICIAL BEACH VOLLEYBALL RULES (VERSION 4 VS 4) 2023-2024" (PDF).
  13. ^ Wood, Robert (2012-12-01). "360Ball - a cool new sport". Topend Sports. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  14. ^ volleyballcompass (2019-11-29). Squash-Volleyball on wall - crazy warmup game for multiple teams. Retrieved 2025-09-11 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "INTERNATIONAL GRAPPLING RULES, GRAPPLING, GRAPPLING GI" (PDF).
  16. ^ Day, Lewin (2023-08-02). "What a Spectacle: Thai Farmers Drag Race Tuned Stand-Up Tractors". The Drive. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  17. ^ "Electric mountain bike racing explained". BikeRadar. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  18. ^ BENTIA, RANDI (2024-03-25). "Electrify Race League 2024 National Points Championship Hits 4 Cities". Electrify News Site. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  19. ^ DeGeurin, Mack (2025-05-23). "In world's first humanoid boxing match, gloating robot face plants". Popular Science. Retrieved 2025-05-28.