This list features 44 sports, ranging alphabetically from “Sailing” to “Synchronized Swimming.” They span water, land, air, snow, and ice, drawing on skills like speed, precision, strength, and coordination. Many appear in the Olympics or Paralympics, while others thrive as niche competitive pursuits or popular recreational activities around the world.
Sports are organized physical activities that test skill, strength, or endurance, usually within a set of rules and often played in competition against others. Some, like sumo wrestling, trace their roots back centuries as part of a nation’s cultural identity, while others, like skateboarding and sport climbing, only joined the Olympic program at Tokyo 2020.
Below you’ll find the table with the sport name and a description.
Sport: the name of each sport in the list, arranged alphabetically so you can browse or search with ease.
Description: a short explanation of how the sport is played, where it comes from, and what makes it distinct.
Sports
| Sport |
|---|
| Sailing |
| Sand Volleyball |
| Sculling |
| Sepak Takraw |
| Shooting |
| Shot Put |
| Show Jumping |
| Sidecar Racing |
| Sitting Volleyball |
| Skateboarding |
| Skeleton |
| Ski Jumping |
| Skiing |
| Skijoring |
| Skydiving |
| Sled Dog Racing |
| Sled Hockey |
| Slalom Canoeing |
| Snooker |
| Snowboarding |
| Snowkiting |
| Snowmobile Racing |
| Snowshoeing |
| Soaring |
| Soccer |
| Softball |
| Speed Climbing |
| Speed Skating |
| Speed Skiing |
| Speedway |
| Spearfishing |
| Sport Climbing |
| Sport Stacking |
| Squash |
| Stand-Up Paddleboarding |
| Steeplechase |
| Street Luge |
| Strongman |
| Sumo Wrestling |
| Surf Lifesaving |
| Surfing |
| Swimming |
| Synchronized Diving |
| Synchronized Swimming |
Descriptions
Sailing
A wind-powered watersport in which competitors race boats around a course, using sail trim and tactics to harness the wind. It’s been part of the Olympics since 1900 and ranges from small dinghies to large keelboats.
Sand Volleyball
Also called beach volleyball, this two-a-side game is played on sand courts with teams hitting a ball over a net. It demands quick footwork and strong serving, and is a fixture of the Summer Olympics.
Sculling
A rowing discipline where each athlete holds two oars, one in each hand, unlike sweep rowing where rowers use a single oar. Sculling boats include singles, doubles, and quadruples raced on flat water.
Sepak Takraw
A Southeast Asian sport resembling volleyball but played with the feet, head, and chest instead of hands. Players use acrobatic kicks to send a woven rattan ball over a net.
Shooting
A precision sport testing accuracy and control with pistols, rifles, or shotguns at fixed or moving targets. Olympic shooting includes events like trap, skeet, and 10-meter air rifle.
Shot Put
A track and field throwing event where athletes heave a heavy metal ball as far as possible from a marked circle. Technique and explosive strength both matter for distance.
Show Jumping
An equestrian discipline where horse and rider navigate a course of obstacles, aiming to clear every jump without knocking down rails or exceeding the time allowed. It’s a popular Olympic equestrian event.
Sidecar Racing
A motorsport where a three-wheeled motorcycle and sidecar are raced as a pair, with the passenger shifting weight dramatically through corners to keep the rig balanced at speed.
Sitting Volleyball
A Paralympic sport adapted from standard volleyball, played on a smaller court with a lower net while seated. It requires strong upper-body power and fast reactions.
Skateboarding
An action sport where riders perform tricks, jumps, and grinds on a skateboard, often in skate parks or on street terrain. It debuted as an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2020.
Skeleton
A winter sliding sport in which athletes lie face-down on a small sled and hurtle head-first down an icy track, reaching speeds over 130 km/h. It’s one of the fastest sports on ice.
Ski Jumping
A winter sport where competitors ski down a take-off ramp and launch themselves into the air, scored on distance and style of landing. It’s a signature event of the Winter Olympics.
Skiing
A winter sport involving gliding over snow on skis, spanning disciplines from downhill alpine racing to cross-country endurance events. It’s one of the oldest and most widespread winter sports.
Skijoring
A sport where a skier is pulled by a horse, dog, or motor vehicle across snow or ice. It combines elements of skiing with animal or vehicle-powered speed.
Skydiving
An extreme sport where participants jump from an aircraft and free-fall before deploying a parachute, sometimes performing formations or acrobatics in the air. Competitive skydiving includes accuracy and style events.
Sled Dog Racing
A winter sport where a team of dogs pulls a sled and musher across snow-covered courses, ranging from short sprints to multi-day endurance races like the Iditarod.
Sled Hockey
A Paralympic version of ice hockey played by athletes with lower-body impairments, who sit on sleds and use two short sticks to both propel themselves and handle the puck.
Slalom Canoeing
A whitewater paddling sport where competitors steer a canoe or kayak through a series of hanging gates on a fast-moving river course, aiming for speed and precision.
Snooker
A cue sport played on a large table with 15 red and 6 colored balls, where players pot balls in a specific sequence to score points. It originated in 19th-century British India.
Snowboarding
A winter sport where riders descend snow-covered slopes standing sideways on a single board, performing runs, jumps, and tricks. It joined the Winter Olympics program in 1998.
Snowkiting
A winter sport combining snowboarding or skiing with a large controllable kite that pulls the rider across snow or ice, allowing high speeds and jumps.
Snowmobile Racing
A motorsport where riders race snowmobiles on snow or ice tracks, competing in disciplines like cross-country, oval racing, and drag racing for speed and endurance.
Snowshoeing
A winter activity and competitive sport where participants walk or run across snow using wide, webbed footwear that prevents sinking, with organized races held on snowy trails.
Soaring
Also known as gliding, this sport involves flying engineless aircraft called gliders, using rising air currents to stay aloft and cover long distances or perform aerobatics.
Soccer
Known as football outside North America, this is the world’s most popular team sport, played between two teams of eleven trying to score by getting a ball into the opposing goal.
Softball
A bat-and-ball sport derived from baseball, played with a larger ball on a smaller field, popular at the amateur, collegiate, and Olympic levels for both men’s and women’s teams.
Speed Climbing
A discipline of competitive climbing where two athletes race side by side up an identical vertical wall, with top competitors finishing in under six seconds.
Speed Skating
A winter sport where skaters race around an oval ice track over set distances, competing individually or in team pursuit formats for the fastest time.
Speed Skiing
An extreme winter sport where skiers descend a straight, steep course to reach the highest possible speed, with elite athletes exceeding 200 km/h.
Speedway
A motorsport featuring lightweight motorcycles without brakes racing anticlockwise around a short oval dirt track, with riders sliding through corners at high speed.
Spearfishing
An underwater sport and fishing method where divers use a speargun or pole spear to catch fish, often practiced competitively while free-diving without scuba gear.
Sport Climbing
A discipline combining lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing on artificial walls, testing strength, technique, and endurance. It made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
Sport Stacking
A timed sport where competitors stack and unstack specialized cups in specific sequences as quickly as possible, testing hand speed and coordination.
Squash
An indoor racquet sport played in a four-walled court, where two players take turns hitting a small rubber ball against the front wall while trying to keep it in play.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
A watersport where the athlete stands on a large board and uses a single paddle to move across the water, practiced recreationally and in racing and surfing formats.
Steeplechase
A track and field distance race featuring hurdles and a water jump, requiring runners to combine endurance with obstacle-clearing technique over roughly 3,000 meters.
Street Luge
An extreme sport where riders lie feet-first on a low-riding skateboard-like sled and race down paved roads or hills at high speeds, steering with body weight.
Strongman
A strength sport in which competitors perform feats like lifting Atlas stones, carrying heavy objects, and pulling vehicles, testing raw power across varied events.
Sumo Wrestling
A traditional Japanese combat sport where two wrestlers try to force each other out of a circular ring or force any body part besides the feet to touch the ground.
Surf Lifesaving
A competitive sport rooted in beach rescue skills, featuring events like ocean swimming, board paddling, and surf ski racing to test speed and water rescue ability.
Surfing
A wave-riding sport where surfers stand on a board and ride the face of breaking ocean waves, judged in competition on style, power, and maneuvers. It debuted at the Tokyo Olympics.
Swimming
An aquatic sport in which competitors race across set distances using strokes like freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, one of the core disciplines of the Summer Olympics.
Synchronized Diving
An Olympic diving discipline where two divers perform identical dives in unison from the same height, judged on both individual execution and synchronization.
Synchronized Swimming
Also called artistic swimming, this sport blends swimming, dance, and gymnastics, with athletes performing choreographed routines in water, often to music.