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]
Cheerleading
Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville .
Wingsuit flying
Recortes
Sports in which dogs participate.
Horse racing at Arlington Park , 2007
Sports using a horse.
Sometimes considered blood sports .
Barrel racing
Sports that have originated from rodeos in the old Western Americas.
Elephants
Other ungulates
Birds
Invertebrates
Small mammals
Herpetiles
The three activities in
Track and field , from top-bottom rows: jumping, throwing and running.
Bat-and-ball games (safe haven games)[ edit ]
Games in which the objective of the offensive team is to reach safe havens to score runs, and of the defense to prevent it.
Baseball like (roundball)
Cricket like
Longball
Other games
Lawn bowls
Games which the objective is to throw, roll or slide balls as closely as possible to a jack or target.
Bowling
Sports which score is counted in reference to par
Golf player using a putter to score
Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.
Basketball player Dwight Howard making a slam dunk at the 2008 Summer Olympics .
Several codes of football
Historical
Modern codes
A 7-meter throw in Handball .
Stick and ball family [ edit ]
Sports that use some kind of sticks for scoring goals.
A polo player.
Cycle ball
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:
An international match of volleyball .
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
Games that use both walls and net
Valencian pilota .
Racket (or racquet) sports[ edit ]
Racketlon (a series of other racket and paddle sports)
Sports that use a netted racket [ edit ]
Tennis
Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle[ edit ]
Table tennis
Skateboarding
Snowboard figure at the 2008 Shakedown
Surfing in Hawaii
Sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment.
Canyoning
Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts [ edit ]
A combat sport is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement.
Two men compete in freestyle wrestling .
A kick in kickboxing .
Ground fighting in MMA .
Two kendōka.
Paintball
Australia vs Canada ultimate players WUGC 2012 in Japan. Ultimate Canada
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.
Sports involving the use of motorized vehicles
Formula 1 motorboat
Terrestrial vehicles [ edit ]
The start of a Formula One race in 2008
MotoGP racing
ATV racing on a motocross track
Parkour/Freerunning[ edit ]
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.
Human-powered vehicles propelled by pedals
Sports using bicycles , quadracycles , tricycles or unicycles .
A track cycling Race
Mountain unicycle
Members of the Gotemba Kyūdō Association demonstrate Kyūdō.
Sports using guns (firearms , air guns , etc.).
Skeet shooting
Laser-run
Inline figure skating
A ski jumper using the V-style
Freestyle skiing
Bobsled
Kabaddi
These sports use water (a river, pool, etc.).
Rafting
Other paddling sports [ edit ]
Windsurfing
Aquatic ball sports [ edit ]
Waterpolo
Competitive swimming [ edit ]
Subsurface and recreational [ edit ]
Snorkeling
Weightlifting
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.
Bridge
Dogic
Competitive model sports [ edit ]
RC aircraft
0 A.D. a real-time strategy game
Strategy board games [ edit ]
Chaturanga, parent of many strategy board games
A game of Monopoly
Both physical and mind [ edit ]
Different classification [ edit ]
Potentially other sports are listed here.
Beach tennis
Versions of sports played on sand
Sports played using electronic devices.
Speed skating
A snowboarder and a skier
Arm wrestling
Sports mainly based on sheer power.
Air hockey
Axe throwing at the Ming Culture Village, a theme park near the Yangshan Quarry , China
Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.
Hurling
Sports that involve teams.
Para-versions of sports played using wheelchairs
Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):
Fictional sports that are played in real life:
Miscellaneous sports [ edit ]
Jack and Jill competition, Lumberjack World Championships , Hayward, Wisconsin , 2007.
Logrolling
^ 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 .
^ "Blind Baseball Rulebook" (PDF) . World Baseball Softball Confederation .
^ 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 )
^ "Making History: The Rise and Roll of Roller Basketball" . Sport in American History . 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ "Unicycling disciplines | Stichting Eenwieleren Nederland" . stichtingeenwieleren.nl . Retrieved 2025-04-01 .
^ Geekify Guys (2016-03-15). Ultimate Hoverboard Hockey . Retrieved 2025-05-22 – via YouTube.
^ "Blind Hockey" . www.usahockey.com . Retrieved 2025-05-22 .
^ Phillips, Rachel (2021-08-11). "El Paso hockey team is born from blind child's curiosity & fearless coach" . KVIA . Retrieved 2025-05-22 .
^ "Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) suggested Rules for Wheelchair Lacrosse" (PDF) .
^ Wood, Robert (2012-12-01). "360Ball - a cool new sport" . Topend Sports . Retrieved 2024-11-26 .
^ Day, Lewin (2023-08-02). "What a Spectacle: Thai Farmers Drag Race Tuned Stand-Up Tractors" . The Drive . Retrieved 2024-11-26 .
^ "Electric mountain bike racing explained" . BikeRadar . 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ BENTIA, RANDI (2024-03-25). "Electrify Race League 2024 National Points Championship Hits 4 Cities" . Electrify News Site . Retrieved 2025-05-26 .
^ DeGeurin, Mack (2025-05-23). "In world's first humanoid boxing match, gloating robot face plants" . Popular Science . Retrieved 2025-05-28 .