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

Aquatic and paddle sports

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

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

Aquatic ball sports

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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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Archery

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Members of the Gotemba Kyūdō Association demonstrate Kyūdō.

Ball games

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Bat-and-ball games

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Awaiting a pitch: batter, catcher, and umpire in baseball

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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Tyrone try for a goal against Westmeath in a Gaelic football match

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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Ice hockey players Roman Hamrlik and Joffrey Lupul dueling for position
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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Net and wall games

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An international match of volleyball.

Games involving opponents hitting a ball over a net using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:

 
A game of squash

Games involving opponents hitting a ball against a wall/walls using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:

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

Cycling

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A track cycling Race

Sports using bicycles or unicycles.

Bicycle

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Skibob

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Unicycle

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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

Gymnastic

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Trampoline gymnast Jason Burnett at 2008 Canadian National Championships

Ice sports

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Kite sports

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Marker 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

Auto racing

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The start of a Formula One race in 2008

Motorboat racing

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Motorcycle racing

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MotoGP racing

ATV racing

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ATV racing on a motocross track

Musical

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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.

Running

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200 meters sprint

Sailing

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Windsurfing

Snow sports

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Skiing

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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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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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Street sports

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Strength sports

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Tag games

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Walking

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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.

Overlapping sports

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Sports falling into two or more categories.

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.

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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Esports

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Speedcubing

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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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Different classification

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Potentially other sports are listed here.

Air sports

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Athletics (track and field)

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Pole vault

Electronic sports

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Sports played using electronic devices.

Endurance sports

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Skating sports

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Snowsports

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A snowboarder and a skier
 
A ski jumper using the V-style
 
Freestyle skiing

See #Skiing

Strength sports

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Sports mainly based on sheer power.

 
Arm wrestling

Table sports

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Target sports

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

Cue sports

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Pool balls
 
Snooker.

Golf

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Team sports

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Sports that involve teams.

 
Match of lacrosse
 
Jack and Jill competition, Lumberjack World Championships, Hayward, Wisconsin, 2007.

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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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.