Specialty Digest

Global English editionLearners’ Study Dashboard — in development
The Knowledge Library for All
Encyclopedia

Sports

Games, sports, and athletic competitions around the world.

Historic photograph of a rugby league Test match between England and Australia in Sydney

Rugby league

Rugby league is a team sport for two sides of 13 players, which split from rugby union in 1895 when northern English clubs broke away over payments to players. A match normally lasts 80 minutes, and a try is worth four points. The sport is governed worldwide by International Rugby League (IRL). History of rugby

Rugby league Read More »

A 13-a-side team sport that split from rugby union in 1895, governed internationally by International Rugby League.

New Zealand player scoring a try against Tonga at the 2015 Rugby World Cup

Rugby union

Rugby union is a team sport in which two teams of 15 players try to score by carrying, passing and kicking an oval ball and grounding it in the opponents’ in-goal area. A match lasts up to 80 minutes in two halves, and a try is worth five points. The sport is governed worldwide by

Rugby union Read More »

A team sport for two sides of 15 played with an oval ball, where a try scores five points, governed by World Rugby.

Small sailing dinghies racing close together on open water at a youth championship

Sailing

Sailing is the sport of racing boats that are driven by the wind, and it is governed worldwide by World Sailing. Races are sailed around marked courses, and at the Olympic Games the winner is decided by a points system that rewards consistency across many races. Sailing first appeared at the Olympics in Paris in

Sailing Read More »

Sailing is the sport of racing wind-driven boats around marked courses, governed worldwide by World Sailing since 1907.

A skier racing through slalom gates on a snowy slope at the Lauberhorn races in Wengen

Skiing

Skiing is the sport of traveling and racing over snow on long, narrow runners attached to the feet. As a competitive sport it covers several disciplines governed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, known as FIS: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined and freestyle skiing. The federation was founded in 1924 at

Skiing Read More »

Skiing is the sport of racing or performing on skis over snow, governed internationally by FIS, which was founded at Chamonix in 1924.

A snowboarder performing a trick above the halfpipe wall during a qualification run

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a winter sport in which a rider stands sideways on a single board and slides down snow-covered slopes, courses and constructed features. It began in the United States in the 1960s and made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. Today it is governed internationally by the same federation

Snowboarding Read More »

Snowboarding is a winter sport in which riders slide down snow on a single board, and it joined the Olympics at Nagano in 1998.

A softball pitcher delivering a pitch during a college game

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball team sport that developed from baseball and is played on a diamond with a larger ball. Games usually last seven innings, and the team with more runs wins. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the highest international governing body, and women’s fast pitch softball has been an Olympic sport since

Softball Read More »

Softball is a bat-and-ball team sport developed from baseball, played on a diamond with a larger ball.

Olympic speed skating oval at Lake Placid, New York

Speed skating

Speed skating is a winter sport in which athletes race on ice skates over fixed distances. It has two main forms: long track, where skaters race in pairs against the clock on a 400-meter oval, and short track, where several skaters race each other on a much smaller oval. The International Skating Union (ISU) governs

Speed skating Read More »

Speed skating is a winter sport in which athletes race on ice over set distances, in two forms: long track and short track.

Climber on a lead wall at the 2019 Climbing World Cup in Chamonix

Sport climbing

Sport climbing is a competitive form of climbing on artificial walls in which athletes are judged in three disciplines: boulder, lead and speed. It made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and has appeared at the Games since. The sport is governed internationally by the International Federation of Sport Climbing, known as the IFSC. History

Sport climbing Read More »

A competitive form of climbing on artificial walls, contested in boulder, lead and speed disciplines and part of the Olympic program.

Glass show court used at the 2011 US Open squash championship at Drexel University

Squash

Squash is a racquet sport in which two players, or four in doubles, take turns hitting a small hollow rubber ball against the front wall of an enclosed court. It was devised at Harrow School in England around 1830 and is now played in more than 185 countries. The International Olympic Committee approved squash in

Squash Read More »

A racquet sport in which players hit a small rubber ball against the walls of an enclosed court, set to debut at the 2028 Olympics.

Makuuchi division sumo wrestlers performing the ring-entering ceremony at a grand tournament in Tokyo

Sumo

Sumo is a Japanese form of wrestling in which two wrestlers, called rikishi, try to force each other out of a clay ring or make the other touch the ground with anything but the soles of the feet. It is about 1,500 years old by the Japan Sumo Association’s account, and it keeps close ties

Sumo Read More »

A Japanese form of wrestling in which a rikishi wins by forcing his opponent out of a clay ring or onto the ground.