Sport - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopediahjkyi

Sport in childhood. Association football, shown

above, is a team sport which also provides

opportunities to nurture physical fitness and social

interaction skills.

SportFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sport (or sports) is all forms of usually competitive physical

activity which,[1] through casual or organised participation,

aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills

while providing entertainment to participants, and in some

cases, spectators.[2] Hundreds of sports exist, from those

requiring only two participants, through to those with

hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or

competing as individuals.

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in

physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest

major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting

only sports meeting this definition,[3] and other organisations

such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding

activities without a physical element from classification as

sports.[2] However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The

International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and

SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports,[4][5] although limits

the amount of mind games which can be admitted as sports.[1]

Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow

consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or

crossing a line first, or by the determination of judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance,

including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.

In organised sport, records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely

announced or reported in sport news. In addition, sport is a major source of entertainment for non-participants,

with spectator sports drawing large crowds to venues, and reaching wider audiences through sports broadcasting.

According to A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the global sporting industry is worth up to $620 billion as of 2013.[6]

Contents

1 Meaning and usage

1.1 Etymology

1.2 Nomenclature

1.3 Definition

1.4 Competition

2 History

3 Fair play

3.1 Sportsmanship

3.2 Cheating

3/23/2014 Sport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport 1/10

3.3 Doping and drugs

3.4 Violence

4 Participation

4.1 Gender participation

4.2 Youth participation

4.3 Spectator involvement

5 Issues and considerations

5.1 Amateur and professional

5.2 Technology

5.3 Politics

6 See also

7 References

8 Further reading

9 External links

Meaning and usage

Etymology

"Sport" comes from the Old French desport meaning "leisure", with the oldest definition in English from around

1300 being "anything humans find amusing or entertaining".[7]

Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions,

including ones that require exercise.[8] Roget's defines the noun sport as an "activity engaged in for relaxation and

amusement" with synonyms including diversion and recreation.[9]

Nomenclature

The singular term "sport" is used in most English dialects to describe the overall concept (e.g. "children taking part in

sport"), with "sports" used to describe multiple activities (e.g. "football and rugby are the most popular sports in

England"). American English uses "sports" for both terms.

Definition

See also: Game#Definitions



Show Jumping, an equestrian

sport

The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities

varies between sources. The closest to an international agreement on a

definition is provided by SportAccord, which is the association for all the

largest international sports federations (including association football,

athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports and more), and is therefore the de

facto representative of international sport.

SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:[1]

have an element of competition

be in no way harmful to any living creature

not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding

proprietary games such as arena football)

not rely on any "luck" element specifically designed into the sport

They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess

or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard

sports), or primarily animal-supported (such as equestrian sport).[1]

There has been an increase in the application of the term "sport" to a wider set of non-physical challenges such as

electronic sports, especially due to the large scale of participation and organised competition, but these are not

widely recognised by mainstream sports organisations.

Competition

There are opposing views on the necessity of competition as a defining element of a sport, with almost all

professional sport involving competition, and governing bodies requiring competition as a prerequisite of recognition

by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) or SportAccord.[1]

Other bodies advocate widening the definition of sport to include all physical activity. For instance, the Council of

Europe include all forms of physical exercise, including those completed just for fun.

In order to widen participation, and reduce the impact of losing on less able participants, there has been an

introduction of non-competitive physical activity to traditionally competitive events such as school sports days,

although moves like this are often controversial.[10][11]

In competitive events, participants are graded or classified based on their "result" and often divided into groups of

comparable performance, (e.g. gender, weight and age). For each group, the first in the list will usually be the

"winner". The measurement of the result may be objective or subjective, and corrected with "handicaps" or

penalties. In a race, for example, the time to complete the course is an objective measurement. In gymnastics or

diving the result is decided by a panel of judges, and therefore subjective. There are many shades in between, like

boxing or mixed martial arts, where victory is assigned by judges if neither competitor has lost at the end of the

match time.

History

Main article: History of sport



Roman bronze reduction

of Myron's Discobolos,

2nd century AD.Motorized sports have appeared

since the advent of the modern

age

There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting

activities as early as 2000 BC.[12] Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport

in China's ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports,

including swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands

of years ago in ancient Egypt.[13] Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing,

high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional Iranian martial

art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to the warfare skills.[14] Among other

sports that originate in ancient Persia are polo and jousting.

A wide range of sports were already

established by the time of Ancient Greece and

the military culture and the development of

sports in Greece influenced one another

considerably. Sports became such a

prominent part of their culture that the Greeks

created the Olympic Games, which in ancient

times were held every four years in a small

village in the Peloponnesus called Olympia.[15]

Sports have been increasingly organised and regulated from the time of the ancient Olympics up to the present

century. Industrialisation has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries,

leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and

increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication.

Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans began

following the exploits of professional athletes through radio, television, and the internet — all while enjoying the

exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

Fair play

Sportsmanship

Main article: Sportsmanship

See also: Gamesmanship and Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing

Sportsmanship is an attitude that strives for fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, ethical behaviour

and integrity, and grace in victory or defeat.[16][17][18]

Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. The well-known

sentiment by sports journalist Grantland Rice, that it's "not that you won or lost but how you played the game", and

the modern Olympic creed expressed by its founder Pierre de Coubertin: "The most important thing... is not winning

but taking part" are typical expressions of this sentiment.

Cheating

See also: Match fixing and cheating

Key principles of sport include that the result should not be predetermined, and that both sides should have equal



opportunity to win. Rules are in place to ensure that fair play to occur, but participants can break these rules in

order to gain advantage.

Participants may choose to cheat in order to satisfy their desire to win, or in order to achieve an ulterior motive. The

widespread existence of gambling on the results of sports fixtures creates the motivation for match fixing, where a

participant or participants deliberately work to ensure a given outcome.

Doping and drugs

Main article: Use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport

The competitive nature of sport encourages some participants to attempt to enhance their performance through the

use of medicines, or through other means such as increasing the volume of blood in their bodies through artificial

means.

All sports recognised by the IOC or SportAccord are required to implement a testing programme, looking for a list

of banned drugs, with suspensions or bans being placed on participants who test positive for banned substances.

Violence

Violence in sports involves crossing the line between fair competition and intentional aggressive violence. Athletes,

coaches, fans, and parents sometimes unleash violent behaviour on people or property, in misguided shows of

loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration. Rioting or hooliganism are common and ongoing problems at national and

international sporting contests.

Participation

Gender participation

See also: Women's sports

Female participation continues to rise alongside the opportunity for involvement and the value of sports for child

development and physical fitness. Despite gains during the last three decades, a gap persists in the enrollment figures

between male and female players. Female players account for 39% of the total participation in US interscholastic

athletics. Gender balance has been accelerating from a 32% increase in 1973–74 to a 63% increase in 1994–95.

Hessel (2000).

Youth participation

Youth sports present children with opportunities for fun, socialization, forming peer relationships, physical fitness,

and athletic scholarships. Activists for education and the war on drugs encourage youth sports as a means to

increase educational participation and to fight the illegal drug trade. According to the Center for Injury Research

and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the biggest risk for youth sports is death or serious injury including

concussion, with the highest risk coming from running, basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, and gymnastics.[19]

Spectator involvement

Main article: Spectator sport



Spectators at the 1906 unofficial

Olympic Games

Modern sports have complex rules

and are highly organized.

Main article: Spectator sport

The competition element of sport, along with the aesthetic appeal of some

sports, result in the popularity of people attending to watch sport being

played. This has led to the specific phenomenon of spectator sport.

Both amateur and professional sports attract spectators, both in person at

the sport venue, and through broadcast mediums including radio,

television and internet broadcast. Both attendance in person and viewing

remotely can incur a sometimes substantial charge, such as an entrance

ticket, or pay-per-view television broadcast.

It is common for popular sports to attract large broadcast audiences, leading to rival broadcasters bidding large

amounts of money for the rights to show certain fixtures. The football World Cup attracts a global television

audience of hundreds of millions; the 2006 final alone attracted an estimated worldwide audience of well over 700

million and the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final attracted an estimated audience of 135 million in India alone .[20]

In the United States, the championship game of the NFL, the Super Bowl, has become one of the most watched

television broadcasts of the year.[citation needed] Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto national holiday in America; the

viewership being so great that in 2007 advertising space was reported as being sold at $2.6m for a 30 second

slot.[citation needed]

Issues and considerations

Amateur and professional

See also: professional sport and amateur sport

Sport can be undertaken on an amateur, professional or semi-professional

basis, depending on whether participants are incentivised for participation

(usually through payment of a wage or salary).

The popularity of spectator sport as a recreation for non-participants has led

to sport becoming a major business in its own right, and this has incentivised

a high paying professional sport culture, where high performing participants

are rewarded with pay far in excess of average wages, which can run into

millions of dollars.[21]

Some sports, or individual competitions within a sport, retain a policy of allowing only amateur sport. The Olympic

Games started with a principle of amateur competition with those who practiced a sport professionally considered

to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a hobby.[22] Following the 1988 games, the IOC

decided to make all professional athletes eligible for the Olympics, with only boxing and wrestling still competed on

an "amateur" basis, although this revolves around rules, and not payment.

Grassroots sport is a popular phrase which covers the amateur participation in sport at lower levels, normally

without pretension towards higher achievement, and is in line with the "sport for all" mentality, where enjoyment is

the primary reason for participation.[2][23]



Technology

Technology plays an important part in modern sport, with it being a necessary part of some sports (such as

motorsport), and used in others to improve performance.

Sports science is a widespread academic discipline, and can be applied to areas including athlete performance, such

as the use of video analysis to fine tune technique, or to equipment, such as improved running shoes or competitive

swimwear.

Sports engineering emerged as a discipline in 1998 with an increasing focus not just on materials design but also the

use of technology in sport.

In order to control the impact of technology on fair play, governing bodies frequently have specific rules that are set

to control the impact of technical advantage between participants.

Politics

Main article: Politics and sports

Sports and politics can influence each other greatly.

The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognised in retrospect, where an

ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda. Berlin Olympics

August 1936 is a classical example of the symbiosis of the politics and sports. Berlin Olympics propaganda value to

the Nazi Germany was high. The Berlin Olympics August 1936 smoothed the way to the racist anti-Semitism and

the war. Germany wanted to give of itself in the world and nationally a peaceful image while it was very actively

preparing the war. The games were used as shield to the aggressive military goals. . The lack of human rights was a

dark shadow. The fascist were in power: In February 1933 10,000 work activists were taken in prison. In April

1933 was the first holocaust. The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was opened in 12.7.1936 near the Olympic

stadium. In total there were 200,000 persons in prison during its operations.[24]

When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sports people, particularly in rugby union, adopted the

conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective

contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and

reinforced its worst effects.[25]

In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural nationalism. Until the mid 20th century a person

could have been banned from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by the Gaelic Athletic

Association (GAA) if she/he played or supported football, or other games seen to be of British origin. Until recently

the GAA continued to ban the playing of football and rugby union at Gaelic venues. This ban is still enforced, but

was modified to allow football and rugby to be played in Croke Park while Lansdowne Road was redeveloped into

Aviva Stadium. Until recently, under Rule 21, the GAA also banned members of the British security forces and

members of the RUC from playing Gaelic games, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 led to the

eventual removal of the ban.

Nationalism is often evident in the pursuit of sports, or in its reporting: people compete in national teams, or

commentators and audiences can adopt a partisan view. On occasion, such tensions can lead to violent

confrontation among players or spectators within and beyond the sporting venue, as in the Football War. These

trends are seen by many as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sports being carried on for its own sake and for the



enjoyment of its participants.

A very famous case when sports and politics collided was the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Masked men entered the

hotel of the Israeli olympic team and killed many of their men. This was known as the Munich massacre.

A study of US elections has shown that the result of sports events can affect the results. A study published in the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science showed that when the home team wins the game before the

election, the incumbent candidates can increase their share of the vote by 1.5 percent. A loss had the opposite

effect, and the effect is greater for higher-profile teams or unexpected wins and losses. The study authors concluded

that the win made voters feel better about society, boosting votes for the incumbent, while losses made voters feel

worse, sending votes to the challenger.[26]

See also

Outline of sports

List of sports

List of sportspeople

List of sports attendance figures

List of professional sports leagues

New Media and Sports

Related topics

Athletic sports

Combat sport

Disabled sports

Electronic sports

Handedness#Advantage in sports

Mind sport

Most popular sport by country

Motor sports

Multi-sport events

National sport

Nationalism and sports

Olympic Games

Paralympic Games

Sponsorship

Sport in film

Sport governing bodies

Sport Psychology

Sports club

Sports coaching

Sports commentator

Sports equipment

Sports fan

Sports injuries



Sports league attendances

Sports marketing

Sports terms named after people

Sports trainer

Sportsperson

Underwater sports

Women's sports

Water sports

References

1. ̂a b c d e "Definition of sport" (http://www.sportaccord.com/en/members/index.php?

idIndex=32&idContent=14881). SportAccord.

2. ̂a b c Council of Europe. "The Europien sport charter" (https://wcd.coe.int/wcd/ViewDoc.jsp?id=206451).

Retrieved 2012-03-05.

3. ^ "List of Summer and Winter Olympic Sports and Events" (http://www.olympic.org/sports). The Olympic

Movement.

4. ^ "World Mind Games" (http://www.sportaccord.com/en/multi-sports-games/index.php?

idIndex=35&idContent=658). SportAccord.

5. ^ "Members" (http://www.sportaccord.com/en/members/index.php?idContent=644&idIndex=32). SportAccord.

6. ^ http://www.economist.com/news/international/21585012-sportswomen-are-beginning-score-more-commercial-

goalsbut-they-still-have-lot-ground Women in sport: Game, sex and match

7. ^ Harper, Douglas. "sport (n.)" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sport&searchmode=none). Online

Etymological Dictionary. Retrieved 20 April 2008.

8. ^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Springfield, MA: G&C

Merriam Company. 1967. p. 2206.

9. ^ Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition (http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/sport). Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt. 1995. ISBN 0-618-25414-5.

10. ^ front, Rebecca (2011-07-17). "A little competition"

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/17/school-sport-competitive-children-achievement-ambition).

The Guardian.

11. ^ Scrimgeour, Heidi (2011-06-17). "Why parents hate school sports day"

(http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/06/17/why-parents-hate-school-sports-day/). ParentDish.

12. ^ "Sports History in China" (http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa032301a.htm).

13. ^ "Mr Ahmed D. Touny (EGY), IOC Member" (http://www.ioa.leeds.ac.uk/1980s/84085.htm).

14. ^ "Persian warriors" (http://www.kuwait-info.com/newsnew/NewsDetails1.asp?

id=78319&dt=10/13/2006&ntype=World).

15. ^ "Ancient Olympic Games" (http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/ancient/index_uk.asp).

16. ^ "Sportsmanship" (http://www.merriam.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=sportsmanship). Merriam-Webster.

17. ^ Fish, Joel; Magee, Susan (2003). 101 Ways to Be a Terrific Sports Parent. Fireside. p. 168.

18. ^ Lacey, David (2007-11-10). "It takes a bad loser to become a good winner"

(http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/11/10/it_takes_a_bad_loser_to_become.html). The Guardian.

19. ^ "Gym class injuries up 150% between 1997 and 2007" (http://healthland.time.com/2009/08/04/why-are-more-

kids-getting-hurt-in-gym-class/), Time, 4 August 2009

20. ^ "135 mn saw World Cup final: TAM" (http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/CorporateNews/135-mn-

saw-World-Cup-final-TAM/Article1-683623.aspx). Hindustan Times. April 10, 2011. Retrieved August 1 , 2013.

21. ^ Freedman, Jonah. "Fortunate 50 2011" (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2011/index.html).

Sports Illustrated.

22. ^ Eassom, Simon (1994). Critical Reflections on Olympic Ideology. Ontario: The Centre for Olympic Studies.

pp. 120–123. ISBN 0-7714-1697-0.



23. ^ European Commission. "The White Paper on Sport" (http://ec.europa.eu/sport/white-paper/index_en.htm).

Retrieved 11.7.2007.

24. ^ Kulttuurivihkot 1 2009 Berliinin olympialaiset 1936 Poliittisen viattomuuden menetys Jouko Jokisalo 28-

29(Finnish)

25. ^ "Sport and apartheid" (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2005.00165.x).

26. ^ Tyler Cowen; Kevin Grier (October 24, 2012). "Will Ohio State’s Football Team Decide Who Wins the White

House?"

(http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/10/how_the_presidential_race_between_barack_ob

ama_and_mitt_romney_could_be.html). Slate.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013.

European Commission (2007), The White Paper on Sport.

Council of Europe (2001), The Europien sport charter.

Further reading

The Meaning of Sports by Michael Mandel (PublicAffairs, ISBN 1-58648-252-1).

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport (http://journals.humankinetics.com/jps)

Sullivan, George. The Complete Sports Dictionary. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1979. 199 p.

ISBN 0-590-05731-6

External links

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Categories: Sports

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