There are a wide variety of classes and types of sport around the world. Likewise , there are also many ways to classify them according to some and other parameters.
Like any human physical activity, the varieties and combinations are infinite or almost infinite. This is why when we talk about types of sports, the more concrete and thorough we make the classification, the easier it will be for us to encompass all sports.
On the other hand, if we make a more general classification of sports, it will be easier to include everyone but they will be less defined.
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The 26 types of sports that exist
We begin our classification. As we can see, we have divided the different types of sports in the world taking into account different elements.
We count a total of 26 types of sports if we take into account the subcategories (if there are any, we do not count the higher category that encompasses them.
1. Olympic Sports
Includes all sports recognized as such. They add up to a total of 26 sports ( At the moment).Among the sports that they are thinking of including in future editions are the famous eSports that we will see
later.1.1.Summer Olympic sportsAmong
the types of sports we find a distinction: those of summer and those of winter. This is done, in the first place, due to the large number of sports and disciplines that exist, which make it impossible to contain them all in the same event.
On the other hand, the resources needed between the Summer and Winter Olympics are different, so at practical levels, there are also advantages when we make this distinction.
1.2. Winter Olympic
sports We find sports such as curling, freestyle skiing and short track speed skating. Others like the bandy were only incorporated as an exhibition and not competitively .
2. Sports according to the number of participants
There are several types of sports depending on the number of people who can participate in it.
2.1. Individual sports
Each participant must achieve the best possible mark.
2.2. Sports 1 against 1
The meetings are held in batches of one against one , normally the winner of each batch faces the rest of the winners, thus forming a hierarchy. 23.
Sports in pairs
They are called sports of two against two. One of the best known is tennis in pairs.
2.4. Team sports
Among all types of sports this is one of the most viewed. Soccer and rugby are two of the most famous .
3. Sports according to their official status
This classification is somewhat arbitrary because it depends on the registration and bureaucratic systems of each country. Although it is easy to find official sports such as soccer that are internationally regulated, more folkloric sports do not have this characteristic.
3.1. Unofficial sports
They are usually minority sports with a small number of participants . It can also occur in very new sports.
3.2. Official sports
Whether at a national or global level, the most practiced sports have regulatory bodies that ensure that there are standards that are respected.
4. Adventure sports
This type of sports is characterized by those sports practices that involve intense physical activity in the natural environment, such as rivers, forests or mountains.
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5. Extreme or risk
sports Among all types of extreme sports, a large number are adventure sports, given the qualities that certain natural environments usually have.
Rappelling, skydiving, motorcycling and paragliding are some examples.
6. Ball sports
As the name suggests, they are all those sports that require a mobile object (ball or ball) for your enjoyment.
Within this type of sports we find basketball, rugby, soccer, tennis, etc.
7. Water sports
There are three types of water sports:
7.1 In the water
The clearest examples are: swimming, water polo, jumping, etc. In all of them people are “in the water”. Being able to vary the level of depth.
7.2 On the water
Some sports of this subtype are: water skiing, sailing or surfing. The goal is to be on the water. In most of them, “falling” into the water implies losing.
7.3 Underwater
Diving, underwater hockey or freediving are classic underwater sports.
8. Aeronautical sports
All those types of sports that take place in the air. For example: paramotor, paragliding, gliding, free flight, aerobatics, hang gliding, skydiving…
9. Snow sports
They are all those sports that require an environment with snow (natural or artificial) to be practiced. On some occasions, ice is usually included within these sports, although technically they are not the same.
Snowmobiles, board sports and downhill sports (skiing, sledding, etc.) are the most famous.
10. Mountain sports
As the name suggests, they are all the sports that are practiced in the mountains. Within this type of sports we find: mountain biking, climbing, mountaineering, trail running, hiking…
11. Strength sports
If we focus now on the types of sports according to the necessary skills, instead of the environment in which they are practiced, we find the following within the force:weightlifting, arm wrestling, tug-of-war, stone lifting, shot put…
12. Contact/wrestling
sports Most of the time these sports are 1v1 types of sports. Some examples are: judo, taekwondo, karate, kickboxing, wushu , kendo or fencing. We can differentiate two subtypes of sports within this category:
12.1. Sports with weapons
Among them we find the aforementioned fencing , Krav Maga (in which weapons can sometimes be used) and Aikido, which is the same as in Krav Maga.
12.2. Sports without weapons
They are all those modalities in which only the body can be used, or at most,some protection like boxing gloves.
13. Motor
sports Many of these sports are among the most dangerous in the world due to the speeds reached. We find an extensive classification of subtypes:
13.1. Motorsport
Some examples are rally, mountain motorsport, karting, rallycross or autoslalom.
13.2. Motorcycling
It is together with the previous motorsport, the widest category. Examples of this type of sports: motocross, enduro, speedway, supermoto, raid and freestyle (or freestyle motorcycling).
13.3. Motonautica
The two main subtypes are: motorboats and jet skis.
13.4. Aeronautics
The most widespread sport is acrobatic sports with light aircraft .
14. Shooting sports
Weapons or devices are used that allow projectiles to be launched at targets. Archery, propeller shooting, skeet shooting and sports shooting are the most common.
15. eSports
It is the type of sports that is on the rise. They are usually first-person games (Call of Duty, for example) or in “multiplayer online battle arena” mode, also known as MOBA, for its acronym in English.
Although there are also other video games known as eSports, such as fighting video games (Virtua Fighter) or motor racing (F1 2011/2012),the most popular are MOBAs and shooting games (Counter Strike: Global Offensive).
For a video game to be considered an eSport, it must have some standards in terms of rules and functionality, which ensure that the game is suitable for competition.
There are not a few games that are competing to win this label because they are undoubtedly the future of the sport, since, at the moment, they move immense amounts of money. Quantities that do not stop increasing .
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