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

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

Acrobatic arts

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Air sports

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Lima Lima aerobatics team performing over Louisville.
 
Wingsuit flying

Athletics

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Pole vault

Jumping

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Throwing

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Running

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200 meters sprint

Combined

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Ball games

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Bat-and-ball games (safe haven sports)

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The two major Bat and ball games, from top-bottom: Baseball and Cricket.
Baseball like
Cricket like
Schlagball like
Other games

Billiards

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Cue sports

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

Ground billiards

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Boules sports

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Bowling

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Dodgeball family

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Golf

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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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Hockey
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The two major sports in the Hockey family, from left-right: field and ice hockey.
Hurling and shinty
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Cillian Buckley in action for Kilkenny against Galway in a hurling league game
Lacrosse
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Polo
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A polo player.

Other

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Net and wall games

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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 o any rebounding surface using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:

Games that use both walls and net

Pilota family

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Valencian pilota.

Racket (or racquet) sports

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Sports that use a netted racket
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Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle
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Board sports

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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.

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 and kicking

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

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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Trampoline gymnast Jason Burnett at 2008 Canadian National Championships

Kite sports

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Mixed discipline

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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

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Sports involving the use of motorized vehicles

Air racing

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Motorboat racing

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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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Watercraft

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  • Pedal boat racing

Racing

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

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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Athletic hybrid

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Skirmish

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Stacking

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Strength sports

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Tag games

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Walking

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Water sports

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

Paddling sports

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Canoeing

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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

Aquatic ball sports

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GreeceHungary water polo match (World Junior Championship 2004 Naples, Italy)

Surface

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Underwater

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Competitive swimming

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Kindred activities

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Subsurface and recreational

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Diving

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Weightlifting

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

Sports involving animals

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Dog sports

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Sports in which dogs participate.

Equestrian sports

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Horse racing at Arlington Park, 2007

Sports using a horse.

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.

Others

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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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Combination puzzle

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Esports

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Strategy board games

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A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China

Other

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Competitive model sports

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Remote control

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Overlapping sports

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Sports falling into two or more categories.

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

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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Marker sports

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Skating sports

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Snow sports

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A snowboarder and a skier

See #Skiing

Street sports

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Strength sports

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Arm wrestling

Sports mainly based on sheer power.

Table sports

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_target sports

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

Team sports

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Match of lacrosse

Sports that involve teams.

Wheelchair sports

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Para-versions of sports played using wheelchairs

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. ^ Wood, Robert (2012-12-01). "360Ball - a cool new sport". Topend Sports. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  3. ^ Day, Lewin (2023-08-02). "What a Spectacle: Thai Farmers Drag Race Tuned Stand-Up Tractors". The Drive. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
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