Sports

A sport is a physical activity in which an individual or team takes part for fun or as part of a competition. In some sports, the person who runs fastest or throws furthest is the...

American football

American football, or gridiron football, known simply as “football” in the US and Canada, is played by two opposing teams of 11. The object of the game is to move the...

Athletics

Athletics is a collection of running, walking, jumping and throwing contests requiring a mix of strength, speed, endurance and agility. Athletics can be divided into track events...

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport that takes its name from the four bases that form a diamond (the infield) around the pitcher's mound. There are nine players on each side. The...

Basketball

Basketball is game played generally indoors between two teams of five players—although each team has a squad of 12 players to choose from, with unlimited substitutions allowed...

Boxing

Boxing is a sport where two fighters attack and defend using padded gloves. They aim punches at the upper body of their opponent until one of them cannot continue or is outscored...

Cricket

Cricket is a bat and ball sport played on a grass field between two teams of 11 players. Batters score points, called runs, by running between two sets of small wooden posts called...

Cycling

Cycling is an individual and team sport for men and women racing on roads, tracks or across country. It has been popular since the invention of the bicycle and has led to many...

Equestrian sports

Equestrian sports are events for horse and rider at horse trials and the summer Olympic Games. There are three events: dressage, show jumping and eventing (also known as hunter...

Football

Football (also known as soccer) is a sport in which two teams of 11 players try to put the ball into the opposition’s goal. It is played on a grass pitch with the goals set in...

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often called simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the...

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport made up of various events in which athletes run, jump, tumble, somersault and balance using equipment such as bars, beams, rings and vaults. Its origins are...

Hockey

Hockey (known as field hockey in the USA and Canada where the word “hockey” is used for ice hockey) is a game in which two teams of 11 players attempt to strike a small, hard...

Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a contact team sport, originating in south India in ancient times. The game, played by both men and women, is popular throughout the Indian subcontinent, especially in...

Martial arts

Martial arts are traditions, practices or sports based on combat—with or without weapons—and which involve a set of techniques and rules. They are practised for reasons of...

Motor sports

Motor sports are competitive sports that use powered vehicles such as cars, motorcycles or powerboats. The main car events are circuit races such as Formula One, IndyCar and Le...

Netball

Netball is played by two teams of seven players. The game is most popular in Commonwealth nations, especially in schools, and is chiefly played by girls or women. A netball court...

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is an international sports festival. There are summer and winter Olympics, each held at four-yearly intervals, staggered two years apart. The Games' beginnings...

Rugby

Rugby is a highly physical team game in which players carry and kick an oval ball. Players try to score points by touching the ball down behind the opponent’s goal line, or by...

Sepak takraw

Sepak takraw, or kick volleyball, originated in Southeast Asia and is popular in all countries in the region today. It differs from the similar game of footvolley by its use of a...

Swimming and diving

Swimming was not a competitive sport until the late 19th century. It has been part of the Olympics since the modern games began in 1896. Swimmers use one of four strokes—front...

Tennis

Tennis is played between individuals (singles) or pairs (doubles)—which can include mixed pairs of men and women. The first tennis tournament was at Wimbledon, England, in 1877...

Water sports

Water sports include any sport practised on, in or under water. Many surface water sports (performed on the surface of water) use equipment, such as boats, boards, skis, paddles...

Winter sports

Winter sports take place on snow or ice. Once only possible in winter, they can now be practised all year in any climate on artificial surfaces. Major individual sports include...

Sports A-Z