List of sports


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

Acrobatic arts

Air sports

Animal sports

Bovines

Dog sports

Sports in which dogs participate.

Equines

Sports using a horse.

Fishing

Hunting

Sometimes considered blood sports.

Rodeo-originated

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

Athletics

Jumping

Throwing



Combined

Ball games

Bat-and-ball games (safe haven 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.

Billiards

Ground billiards

Boules sports

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

Bowling

Dodgeball family

Golf

Sports which score is counted in reference to par

Invasion games

Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.

Basketball family

Football family

; Historical
;Modern codes

Handball family

Stick and ball family

Sports that use some kind of sticks for scoring goals.
Hurling and shinty

Other goal sports

Net and wall games

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

Pilota family

Racket (or racquet) sports

Other ball sports

Board sports

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

Climbing

Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts

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

Flying disc sports

Kite sports

Mixed discipline

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

Motorsports

Sports involving manned motorized vehicles

Aircraft

Motorboat

Terrestrial vehicles

Others

Orienteering

Parkour/Freerunning

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

Human-powered vehicles propelled by pedals

Cycling

Sports using bicycles, quadracycles, tricycles or unicycles.

Bicycle

Quadracycle

Tricycle

Unicycle

Watercraft

  • Pedal boat racing

Racing

Shooting sports

Archery

Gun sports

Sports using guns.

Individual

Athletic hybrid

Skirmish

Snow sports

Skiing

Sled sports

Stacking

Strength sports

Tag games

Walking

Water sports

These sports use water.

Aquatic ball sports

Surface

Underwater

Competitive swimming

Kindred activities

  • Bifins (finswimming)
  • Surface finswimming

Diving

Subsurface and recreational

Non motorized vehicles

Paddling sports

Canoeing and kayaking

Sailing

Weightlifting

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

Combination puzzle

Competitive model sports

Remote control

Esports

Other

Both physical and mind

Different classification

Potentially other sports are listed here.

Air sports

Beach sports

Versions of sports played on sand

Compromise rules

Electronic sports

Sports played using electronic devices.

Endurance sports

Ice sports

Marker sports

Parasports

Visual impaired

Wheelchair sports

Para-versions of sports played using wheelchairs

Other

Snow sports

Street sports

Strength sports

Sports mainly based on sheer power.

Tabletop games

Target sports

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

Team sports

Sports that involve teams.

Windsports

Sports which use the wind :

Fictional sports

Fictional sports that are played in real life: