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
The three activities in
Track and field , from top-bottom rows: jumping, throwing and running.
Bat-and-ball games (safe haven sports)[ edit ]
Baseball like (roundball)
Cricket like
Longball
Other games
Lawn bowls
Bowling
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 ]
The two major sports in the
Hockey family, from left-right:
field and
ice hockey.
Match of lacrosse
A polo player.
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
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
Valencian pilota .
Racket (or racquet) sports[ edit ]
Tennis
Sports that use a netted racket [ edit ]
Table tennis
Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle[ edit ]
Skateboard vert jump at the Sprite urban games 2006 in London .
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 .
Weapons and kicking [ edit ]
Axe throwing at the Ming Culture Village, a theme park near the Yangshan Quarry , China
Two kendōka.
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
Members of the Gotemba Kyūdō Association demonstrate Kyūdō.
Sports using guns (firearms , air guns , etc.).
Laser-run
A ski jumper using the V-style
Freestyle skiing
United States Air Force Major Brady Canfield , 2003 U.S. skeleton champion, shows his takeoff form.
Kabaddi
These sports use water (a river, pool, etc.).
Rafting
Other paddling sports [ edit ]
Windsurfing
Aquatic ball sports [ edit ]
Greece – Hungary water polo match (World Junior Championship 2004 Naples , Italy )
Competitive swimming [ edit ]
Subsurface and recreational [ edit ]
North Korean weightlifter Pak Hyon-suk performing the snatch , one of the two lifts in the sport of Olympic weightlifting .
Sports involving animals [ edit ]
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.
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
Strategy board games [ edit ]
A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China
Competitive model sports [ edit ]
Sports falling into two or more categories.
Different classification [ edit ]
Potentially other sports are listed here.
Beach tennis
Versions of sports played on sand
Sports played using electronic devices.
Paintball
A snowboarder and a skier
Arm wrestling
Sports mainly based on sheer power.
Air hockey
Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.
Cillian Buckley in action for Kilkenny against Galway in a hurling league game
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