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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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Main article: List of acrobatic activities
Cheerleading

Air sports

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Main article: Air sports
Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville.
Wingsuit flying

Animal sports

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Main article: Animals in sport

Bovines

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Recortes

Dog sports

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Main article: List of dog sports

Sports in which dogs participate.

Equines

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Main article: List of equestrian sports

Sports using a horse.

Horse racing at Arlington Park, 2007

Fishing

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Main article: Fishing

Hunting

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Main article: Hunting

Sometimes considered blood sports.

Rodeo-originated

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Main article: Rodeo

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

Barrel racing

Others

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Athletics

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Main articles: Sport of athletics and Track and field
Long jump
Triple jump
High jump
Pole vault
Discus throw
Javelin throw
Shot put
Hammer throw
100 meters
110 meters hurdles
The three activities in Track and field, from top-bottom rows: jumping, throwing and running.

Jumping

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Throwing

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Running

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Main article: Running

Combined

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Ball games

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Main article: List of ball games

Bat-and-ball games (safe haven games)

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Main article: Bat-and-ball games

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

Ground billiards

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Main article: Ground billiards

Boules sports

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Main article: Boules

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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Main article: Bowling
Bowling

Dodgeball family

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Main article: Dodgeball

Golf

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Main article: Golf

Sports which score is counted in reference to par

Golf player using a putter to score

Invasion games

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Main article: Goal (sport)

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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Main article: Football
Association football (soccer)
Association football (beach)
Association football (Futsal)
Gridiron football (American)
Gridiron football (Flag)
Rugby football (League)
Rugby football (Union)
Australian rules football
Gaelic football
International rules football
Several codes of football
Historical
Modern codes

Handball family

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Main article: Handball
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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Main article: Hockey
Field hockey
Indoor hockey
Beach hockey
Floorball
Unicycle hockey
Ice hockey
Bandy
Bandy (Rink)
Roller hockey (inline)
Roller hockey (quad)
Some hockey variants
Hurling and shinty
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Lacrosse
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Main article: Lacrosse
Field
Box
Women
Softcrosse
Lacrosse variants
Polo
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Main article: Polo
A polo player.

Other goal sports

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Cycle ball

Net and wall games

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Main article: Net and wall games

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:
Volleyball.
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:
A game of squash
One-wall handball
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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See also: List of racket sports
  • 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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Main article: Board sports

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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Main article: Climbing
Canyoning

Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts

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Main articles: Combat sport and Martial arts

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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Main article: Grappling
Two men compete in freestyle wrestling.

Striking

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Main article: Strike (attack)
A kick in kickboxing.

Mixed or hybrid

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Further information: Hybrid martial arts
Ground fighting in MMA.

Weapons

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Two kendōka.
Paintball

Other

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Main article: Blood sport

Flying disc sports

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Main article: Flying disc games
Australia vs Canada ultimate players WUGC 2012 in Japan. Ultimate Canada

Gymnastics

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Main article: Gymnastics
Balance beam
Uneven bars
Floor
Vault
Horizontal bar
Parallel bars
Pommel horse
Still rings
Artistic gymnastics apparatuses
Rhythmic gymnastics apparatuses, from left-right: ball, clubs, hoop, ribbon and rope.

Kite sports

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Mixed discipline

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See also: Multisport race

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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Main article: Motorsport

Sports involving manned motorized vehicles

Aircraft

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See also: Air racing and Aerobatics
Aerobatic maneuver

Motorboat

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Main articles: Offshore powerboat racing and Inshore powerboat racing
Formula 1 motorboat

Terrestrial vehicles

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Automobile

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Main article: Auto racing
The start of a Formula One race in 2008

Motorcycle

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Main article: Motorcycle sport
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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Main article: Cycle sport

Sports using bicycles, quadracycles, tricycles or unicycles.

Bicycle

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Main article: Bicycle
A track cycling Race

Quadracycle

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Tricycle

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Unicycle

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Main article: Unicycle
Mountain unicycle

Watercraft

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  • Pedal boat racing

Racing

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Shooting sports

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Main article: Shooting sports

Archery

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Main article: Archery
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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Main article: Skiing
A ski jumper using the V-style
Freestyle skiing

Sled sports

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Main article: Sledding
Bobsled

Stacking

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Strength sports

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Tag games

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Main article: Tag (game) § Variants
Kabaddi

Walking

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Water sports

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For a more comprehensive list, see List of water sports.

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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Main article: Competitive swimming
Back crawl
Breaststroke
Fly
Front crawl
Swimming strokes

Kindred activities

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Diving

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Subsurface and recreational

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Main articles: Underwater sports and Recreational diving
Snorkeling

Non motorized vehicles

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Paddling sports

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Canoeing and kayaking
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Further information: Outline of kayaking and canoeing
Main articles: Kayaking and Canoeing
Rafting
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Rafting
Rowing
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Other paddling sports
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Sailing

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Main article: Sailing
Windsurfing

Weightlifting

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Main articles: Olympic weightlifting and Powerlifting
Weightlifting

Mind sports

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Main article: 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

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Main articles: Card game and List of card games
Bridge

Combination puzzle

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Main article: Combination puzzle
Dogic

Competitive model sports

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RC aircraft

Remote control

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Esports

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Main articles: Esports and List of esports games
0 A.D. a real-time strategy game

Strategy board games

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Main articles: Board Games and List of board games
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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Main article: Parasports

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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Main article: Tabletop game
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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Main article: Team sport

Sports that involve teams.

Hurling

Windsports

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Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):

Fictional sports

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Main article: List of fictional games § Sports

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.
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