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Olympic sports
Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2016 Summer Olympics
included 28 sports, with five additional sports due to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics program (which was postponed to
2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic);[1] the 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports.[2] The number and types of events
may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body,
namely an International Federation (IF).[3] The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports,
disciplines, and events.[3] According to this hierarchy, each Olympic sport can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which
are often mistaken as distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo, which are in fact disciplines of the sport of
aquatics (represented by the International Swimming Federation),[4] and figure skating and speed skating, which are both
disciplines of the sport of ice skating (represented by the International Skating Union).[5] In turn, disciplines are subdivided into
events, for which Olympic medals are awarded.[3] A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC
determines it to be widely practiced around the world, that is, the popularity of a given sport or discipline is indicated by the
number of countries that compete in it. The IOC's requirements also reflect participation in the Olympic Games – more
stringent conditions are applied to men's sports/disciplines (as men are represented at the Games in higher numbers than
women) and to summer sports/disciplines (as more nations compete in the Summer Olympics than in the Winter Olympics).

Previous Olympic Games included sports that are no longer included in the current program, such as polo and tug of war.[6]
Known as "discontinued sports", these have been removed due to either a lack of interest or the absence of an appropriate Archery competition held during the
Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.
governing body for the sport.[3] Some sports that were competed at the early Games and later dropped by the IOC, have
Dropped from the Olympic program
managed to return to the Olympic program, for example Archery, which made a comeback in 1972, and tennis, which was
after the 1920 Antwerp games, it
reintroduced in 1988. The Olympics have often included one or more demonstration sports, normally to promote a local sport
was reinstated in 1972.
from the host country or to gauge interest in an entirely new sport.[7] Some such sports, like baseball and curling, were added to
the official Olympic program (in 1992 and 1998, respectively). Baseball was discontinued after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
only to be revived again for the forthcoming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which will see the introduction of new disciplines within a number of existing Summer
Olympics sports as well as several new sports, such as karate and skateboarding, making their Olympic debuts. Breakdancing will make its debut at the 2024 Summer
Olympics in Paris.

Contents
Olympic sports definitions
Changes in Olympic sports
Changes since 2000
Summer Olympics
Current and discontinued summer program
Demonstration summer sports
Classification of Olympic sports for revenue share
Winter Olympics
Current winter program
Demonstration winter sports
Recognized international federations
See also
Notes
References
External links

Olympic sports definitions

The term "sport" in Olympic terminology refers to all events sanctioned by an international sport federation, a definition that may differ from the common meaning of
the word "sport". One sport, by Olympic definition, may comprise several disciplines, which would often be regarded as separate sports in common usage.

For example, aquatics is a summer Olympic sport that includes six disciplines: swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and
high diving (the last of which is a non-Olympic discipline), since all these disciplines are governed at international level by the International Swimming Federation.[2]
Skating is a winter Olympic sport represented by the International Skating Union, and includes four disciplines: figure skating, speed skating (on a traditional long
track), short track speed skating, and synchronized skating (the latter is a non-Olympic discipline).[2] The sport with the largest number of Olympic disciplines is
skiing, with six: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing.

Other notable multi-discipline sports are gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline), cycling (road, track, mountain, and BMX), volleyball (indoors and beach),
wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman), canoeing (flatwater and slalom), and bobsleigh (includes skeleton). The disciplines listed here are only those contested in the
Olympics—gymnastics has two non-Olympic disciplines, while cycling and wrestling have three each.

The IOC definition of a "discipline" may differ from that used by an international federation. For example, the IOC considers artistic gymnastics a single discipline, but
the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) classifies men's and women's artistic gymnastics as separate disciplines.[8] Similarly, the IOC considers freestyle
wrestling to be a single discipline, but United World Wrestling uses "freestyle wrestling" strictly for the men's version, classifying women's freestyle wrestling as the
separate discipline of "female wrestling".[9]

On some occasions, notably in the case of snowboarding, the IOC agreed to add a sport that previously had a separate international federation to the Olympics on
condition that they dissolve their governing body and instead affiliate with an existing Olympic sport federation, therefore not increasing the number of Olympic
sports.

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An event, by IOC definition, is a competition that leads to the award of medals. Therefore, the sport of aquatics includes a total of 46 Olympic events, of which 32 are
in the discipline of swimming, eight in diving, and two each in synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming. The number of events per sport ranges
from a minimum of two (until 2008, there were sports with only one event) to a maximum of 47 in athletics, which despite its large number of events and its diversity
is not divided into disciplines except on an informal basis - the division between, for example, swimming and diving in aquatics is not replicated within athletics by
divisions between track and field events, or stadium and road events.

Changes in Olympic sports

The list of Olympic sports has changed considerably during the course of Olympic history, and has gradually increased until the
early 2000s, when the IOC decided to cap the number of sports in the Summer Olympics at 28.

The only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program are athletics, aquatics (the discipline of
swimming has been in every Olympics), cycling, fencing, and gymnastics (the discipline of artistic gymnastics has been in
every Olympics).

The only winter sports that were included in all Winter Olympic Games are skiing (only nordic skiing), skating (figure skating
and speed skating), and ice hockey. Figure skating and ice hockey were also included in the Summer Olympics before the
Winter Olympics were introduced in 1924. Curling was promoted to official
Olympic sport at the Nagano 1998
For most of the 20th century, demonstration sports were included in many Olympic Games, usually to promote a non-Olympic Winter Olympics.
sport popular in the host country, or to gauge interest and support for the sport.[7]
The competitions and ceremonies in these
sports were identical to official Olympic sports, except that the medals were not counted in the official record.
Some
demonstration sports, like baseball and curling, were later added to the official Olympic program.
This changed when the International Olympic Committee decided in
1989 to eliminate demonstration sports from Olympics Games after 1992.[10] An exception was made in 2008, when the Beijing Organizing Committee received
permission to organize a wushu tournament.[11][12]

A sport or discipline may be included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines that it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries and
continents that regularly compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence. The requirements for winter sports are considerably lower than for summer
sports since many fewer nations compete in winter sports. The IOC also has lower requirements for inclusion of sports and disciplines for women for the same reason.
Women are still barred from several disciplines; but on the other hand, there are women-only disciplines, such as rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.

Sports that depend primarily on mechanical propulsion, such as motor sports, may not be considered for recognition as Olympic sports, though there were power-
boating events in the early days of the Olympics before this rule was enacted by the IOC.[3][13] Part of the story of the founding of aviation sports' international
governing body, the FAI, originated from an IOC meeting in Brussels, Belgium on June 10, 1905.[14]

These criteria are only a threshold for consideration as Olympic sport. In order to be admitted to the Olympic program, the IOC Session has to approve its inclusion.
There are many sports that easily make the required numbers but are not recognized as Olympic sports, mainly because the IOC has decided to put a limit on the
number of sports, as well as events and athletes, in the Summer Olympics in order not to increase them from the 28 sports, 300 events, and 10,000 athletes of the 2000
Summer Olympics.

No such limits exist in the Winter Olympics and the number of events and athletes continue to increase, but no sport has been added since 1998. The latest winter
sports added to the Winter Olympics were snowboarding and curling in 1998.

Previous Olympic Games included sports which are no longer present on the current program, like polo and tug of war.[2] In the early days of the modern Olympics,
the organizers were able to decide which sports or disciplines were included on the program, until the IOC took control of the program in 1924. As a result, a number
of sports were on the Olympic program for relatively brief periods before 1924.[3] These sports, known as discontinued sports, were removed because of lack of
interest or absence of an appropriate governing body, or because they became fully professional at the time that the Olympic Games were strictly for amateurs, as in the
case of tennis.[3]
Several discontinued sports, such as archery and tennis, were later readmitted to the Olympic program (in 1972 and 1984, respectively). Curling,
which was an official sport in 1924 and then discontinued, was reinstated as Olympic sport in 1998.

The Olympic Charter decrees that Olympic sports for each edition of the Olympic Games should be decided at an IOC Session no later than seven years prior to the
Games.

Changes since 2000

The only sports that have been dropped from the Olympics since 1936 are baseball and softball, which were both voted out by the IOC Session in Singapore on July
11, 2005,[15] a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006,[16] and reversed on August 3, 2016.[17] These sports were last included in 2008, although officially
they remain recognized in the Olympic Charter as a single sport, since both are now governed internationally by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Therefore,
the number of sports in the 2012 Summer Olympics was dropped from 28 to 26.

Following the addition of women's boxing in 2012, and women's ski jumping in 2014, there are only Greco-Roman wrestling and nordic combined, respectively, that
are only for men in those games.

Two previously discontinued sports, golf and rugby, returned for the 2016 Summer Olympics. On August 13, 2009, the IOC Executive Board proposed that golf and
rugby sevens be added to the Olympic program for the 2016 Games.[18] On 9 October 2009, during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, the IOC voted to admit both
sports as official Olympic sports and to include them in the 2016 Summer Olympics.[19] The IOC voted 81–8 in favor of including rugby sevens and 63–27 in favor of
reinstating golf, thus bringing the number of sports back to 28.[19]

In February 2013, the IOC considered dropping a sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics to make way for a new sport. Modern pentathlon and taekwondo were
thought to be vulnerable, but instead the IOC recommended dismissing wrestling.[20] On September 8, 2013, the IOC added wrestling to the 2020 and 2024 Summer
Games.[21]

On August 3, 2016, the IOC voted to add baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[17]

Summer Olympics
At the first Olympic Games, nine sports were contested.[22] Since then, the number of sports contested at the Summer Olympic Games has gradually risen to twenty-
eight on the program for 2000–2008. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, the number of sports fell back to twenty-six following an IOC decision in 2005 to
remove baseball and softball from the Olympic program. These sports retain their status as Olympic sports with the possibility of a return to the Olympic program in
future games.[15] At the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen on 9 October 2009, the IOC voted to reinstate both golf and rugby to the Olympic program, meaning that
the number of sports to be contested in 2016 was once again 28.[23]

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In order for a sport or discipline to be considered for inclusion in the list of Summer Olympics sports, it must be widely
practiced in at least 75 countries, spread over four continents.

Current and discontinued summer program

The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) make up the current and discontinued Summer Olympic Games official program
and are listed alphabetically according to the name used by the IOC. The discontinued sports were previously part of the
Summer Olympic Games program as official sports, but are no longer on the current program. The figures in each cell indicate Volleyball has been part of the
Summer Olympics since 1964.
the number of events for each sport contested at the respective Games; a bullet (•) denotes that the sport was contested as a
demonstration sport.

Nine of the 34 sports consist of multiple disciplines. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

  Aquatics –
  Basketball –
  Canoeing/Kayaking –
  Cycling –
  Gymnastics –
  Volleyball –
  Equestrian –
  Wrestling –
  Baseball and Softball

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Sport (Discipline) Body 96 00 04 06 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88

 

Current summer sports

 

Diving 2 1 2 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Marathon swimming

Swimming FINA 4 7 9 4 6 9 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 13 15 18 29 29 26 26 29 31

Synchronized swimming 2 2

Water polo 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 

3-on-3 basketball
FIBA
Basketball • • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
 

Canoe/kayak (sprint) • 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 11 11 12 12
ICF
Canoe/kayak (slalom) 4
 

BMX freestyle

BMX racing

Mountain biking UCI

Road cycling 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3

Track cycling 5 3 7 5 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 6
 

Artistic 8 1 11 4 2 4 4 9 8 11 9 9 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14

Rhythmic FIG 1 1

Trampoline
 

Volleyball (beach)
FIVB
Volleyball (indoor) • 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
 

Equestrian / Dressage 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Equestrian / Eventing FEI 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Equestrian / Jumping 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
 

Freestyle wrestling 7 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10
UWW
Greco-Roman wrestling 1 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10
 

Baseball • • • • • • •
WBSC[s 1]
Softball
 

Archery WArch 6 6 3 10 2 2 2 2 4

Athletics WAthle 12 23 25 21 26 30 29 27 27 29 29 33 33 33 34 36 36 38 37 38 41 42

Badminton BWF • •
Boxing AIBA 7 5 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12

Fencing FIE 3 7 5 8 4 5 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

Field hockey FIH 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2

Football FIFA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Golf IGF 2 2

Handball IHF 1 2 2 2 2

Judo IJF 4 6 6 8 8 7

Karate WKF

Modern pentathlon UIPM 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Rowing FISA 5 5 6 4 4 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 14 14 14 14

Rugby sevens WR

Sailing ISAF 13 4 4 14 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 8

Shooting ISSF 5 9 16 15 18 21 10 2 3 4 7 7 6 6 7 8 7 7 11 13

Skateboarding WS[s 2]
Sport climbing IFSC

Surfing ISA

Table tennis ITTF 4

Taekwondo WT •
Tennis ITF 2 4 2 4 6 8 5 5 • • 4

Triathlon ITU

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Weightlifting IWF 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 10 10 10
 

Discontinued summer sports

 

Equestrian / Vaulting FEI 2

 

Handball / Field Handball IHF 1 •

Rugby / Rugby union WR 1 1 1 1
 

Basque pelota FIPV 1 • •

Cricket ICC 1

Croquet WCF 3

Lacrosse FIL 1 1 • • •
Jeu de paume • 1 •
Polo FIP 1 1 1 1 1

Rackets 2

Roque 1

Tug of war TWIF 1 1 1 1 1 1

Water motorsports UIM • 3

 

Figure skating ISU 4 3

Rescheduled during winter games
Ice hockey IIHF 1
 

Total events 43 95 94 78 110 102 156 126 109 117 129 136 149 151 150 163 172 195 198 203 221 237
Total Sports 10 21 17 14 25 18 29 23 20 20 25 23 23 23 23 25 24 28 27 27 29 31
Sport (Discipline) Body 96 00 04 06 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88

1. The World Baseball Softball Confederation, which currently governs both baseball and softball, was created by a 2013 merger of two former
governing bodies—the International Baseball Federation and the International Softball Federation, thus at the Olympic games until 2012 baseball
and softball were presented as two different sports.
2. At the time skateboarding was announced as part of the 2020 Summer Games, the sport was governed by the International Skateboarding
Federation. That body merged with Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports in September 2017 to form the current World Skate.

Demonstration summer sports

The following sports or disciplines have been demonstrated at the Summer Olympic Games for the years shown, but have never been included on the official Olympic
program. Organizers of the 1900 and 1904 Olympic Games, which were staged in conjunction with world's fairs, included numerous sporting events on an equal
footing under their programmes. Historians generally regard many of these as not satisfying retrospective inclusion criteria to qualify as "official."[24] However, the
IOC has never made a determination regarding which events were official and which were not.[25] Designation of official demonstration sports began with the 1912
Olympic Games.

American football (1932) Kaatsen (1928)

Australian football (1956) Korfball (1920 and 1928)
Tenpin Bowling (1988) La canne (1924)
Budō (1964) Roller hockey (1992)
Pesäpallo (1952) Savate (1924)
Gaelic football (1904) Swedish (Ling) gymnastics (1948)
Glima (1912) Weight training with dumbbells (1904)
Gliding (1936) Water skiing (1972)
Hurling (1904)

Like all the 1900 Olympic events widely regarded today as official, there were other events conducted during the 1900 World's Fair.[25][26][27]

Angling Surf lifesaving

Ballooning (hydrogen-filled, non-fueled[28]) Longue paume
Boules Motor racing
Cannon shooting Motorcycle racing
Fire fighting Pigeon racing
Kite flying Water motorsports

Gliding was promoted from demonstration sport to an official Olympic sport in 1936 in time for the 1940 Summer Olympics, but the Games were cancelled due to the
outbreak of World War II.[29][30]

Tenpin bowling, demonstrated separately from the Olympics in 1936 in Germany (alongside forms of ninepin bowling), but part of the demonstration sports at Seoul in
1988, has been a regular medal sport of the World Games since 1981 and the Pan American Games since 1991.

Classification of Olympic sports for revenue share

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Summer Olympic sports are divided into categories based on popularity, gauged by: television viewers (40%), internet popularity (20%), public surveys (15%), ticket
requests (10%), press coverage (10%), and number of national federations (5%). The category determines the share the sport's International Federation receives of
Olympic revenue.[31][32]

The current categories, as of 2013, are as follows, with the pre-2013 categorizations also being available.[33] Category A represents the most popular sports; category E
lists either the sports that are the least popular or that are new to the Olympics (golf and rugby).

Category Sport
A athletics, aquatics, gymnastics
B cycling, tennis, basketball, football, volleyball
C archery, badminton, boxing, judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting
D canoe/kayaking, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, sailing, taekwondo, triathlon, wrestling
E modern pentathlon, golf, rugby

Winter Olympics
Before 1924, when the first Winter Olympic Games were celebrated, sports held on ice, like figure skating and ice hockey, were
held at the Summer Olympics.[34] These two sports made their debuts at the 1908 and the 1920 Summer Olympics,
respectively, but were permanently integrated in the Winter Olympics program as of the first edition. The International Winter
Sports Week, later dubbed the I  Olympic Winter Games and retroactively recognized as such by the IOC, consisted of nine
sports. The number of sports contested at the Winter Olympics has since been decreased to seven, comprising a total of fifteen
disciplines.[35]

A sport or discipline must be widely practiced in at least 25 countries on three continents in order to be included on the Winter
Olympics program.[3] Ice hockey was first introduced at
the 1920 Summer Olympics and
later transferred to the Winter
Current winter program Games in 1924.

The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) make up the current Winter Olympic Games official program and are listed
alphabetically, according to the name used by the IOC. The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport that were contested at the respective Games
(the red cells indicate that those sports were held at the Summer Games); a bullet (•) denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport. On some occasions,
both official medal events and demonstration events were contested in the same sport at the same Games.

Three out of the seven sports consist of multiple disciplines. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

  Skating –
  Skiing –
  Bobsleigh

Sport (Discipline) Body 08 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18

 

Figure skating 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5

Speed skating   5 4 4 4 4 4 4 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 12 12 12 14
ISU
Short track
speed skating
  • 4 6 6 8 8 8 8 8
 

Ice hockey IIHF   1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2

 

Curling WCF   1 • • • 2 2 2 2 2 3
 

Cross-country
  2 2 2 3 3 4 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 12
skiing
Alpine skiing   2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11

Ski jumping   1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4

Nordic FIS
  1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
combined
Freestyle
skiing
  • 2 4 4 4 4 6 10 10

Snowboarding   4 4 6 6 10 10
 

Biathlon IBU   1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 6 6 6 8 10 10 11 11
 

Luge FIL   3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4
 

Bobsleigh   1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
IBSF
Skeleton   1 1 2 2 2 2 2
 

Discontinued winter sports

 

Biathlon /
Military Patrol
IBU   1 • • •

Total events 16 14 14 17 22 22 24 27 34 35 35 37 38 39 46 57 61 68 78 84 86 98 102

Total Sports 9 8 7 8 9 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 15 15 15 15 15

The official website of the Olympic Movement designates men's military patrol at the 1924 Games as an event within the sport of biathlon.[36][37] The Official Report
of the 1924 Games regards it as an event within the sport of skiing.[38][39]

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Demonstration winter sports

The following sports have been demonstrated at the Winter Olympic Games for the years shown, but have never been included on the official Olympic program:

Bandy (1952) Skijoring (1928)

Disabled skiing (1984 and 1988) Sled-dog racing (1932)
Ice stock sport (1936, 1964) Speed skiing (1992)
Ski ballet (acroski) (1988 and 1992) Winter pentathlon (1948)

Ice climbing was showcased at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, was on the non-competition program at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, and aims to
become an official competition sport.[40] Ski ballet was a demonstration event under the scope of freestyle skiing. Disabled sports are now part of the Winter
Paralympic Games.

Recognized international federations

Many sports are not recognized as Olympic sports although their governing bodies are recognized by the IOC.[41] Such sports,
if eligible under the terms of the Olympic Charter, may apply for inclusion in the program of future Games, through a
recommendation by the IOC Olympic Programme Commission, followed by a decision of the IOC Executive Board and a vote
of the IOC Session. When Olympic demonstration sports were allowed, a sport usually appeared as such before being officially
admitted.[7] An International Sport Federation (IF) is responsible for ensuring that the sport's activities follow the Olympic
Charter. When a sport is recognized the IF become an official Olympic sport federation and can assemble with other Olympic
IFs in the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF, for summer sports contested in the Olympic
Games), Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWS, for winter sports contested in the Olympic Tug of war was contested at the
1904 Summer Olympics. It was later
Games) or Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF, for sports not contested in the Olympic
dropped from the Olympic program
Games).[2] A number of recognized sports are included in the program of the World Games, a multi-sport event run by the
but remains a recognized sport.
International World Games Association, an organization that operates under the patronage of the IOC. Since the start of the
World Games in 1981, a number of sports, including badminton, taekwondo, and triathlon have subsequently been incorporated
into the Olympic program.

In 2020, the IOC altered the way it plans the Olympic Games from one based around a maximum number of sports, to taking total events into account, opening the
schedule up for the inclusion on a Games by Games basis of additional sports to the 25 "core" sports. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, the local organizing committee
was thus permitted to add a total of five sports to the programme in addition to the existing 28, taking the total to 33.[17][42] Baseball and softball have been treated by
the IOC as a single sport since governing bodies for baseball and softball merged into a single international federation in 2013 (with male athletes competing in
baseball and females athletes competing in softball).

The governing bodies of the following sports, though not contested in the Olympic Games, are recognized by the IOC:[43]

Air sports1,3 Flying disc1 [45] Powerboating3

American football (provisional)[44] Ice stock sport Racquetball1
Auto racing3 Kickboxing (provisional)1 Roller sports1, 4
Bandy Korfball1 Sambo
Billiard sports1 Lacrosse1 Ski mountaineering
Boules1 Life Saving1 Squash1
Bowling1 Motorcycle racing3 Sumo1
Bridge Mountaineering and Climbing Tug of war1,2
Cheerleading (provisional) Muaythai1 Underwater sports1
Chess Netball Water skiing1,3,5
Cricket2 Orienteering1 Wakeboarding1,3,5
Dancesport1 Pelota Vasca Wushu
Floorball1 Polo2

1 Official sport at the World Games

2 Discontinued Olympic sport

3 The Olympic Charter no longer forbids motorized sports from being included in the Olympic program, but environmental impact is now considered when deciding

whether to adopt new sports making the inclusion of motorized sports unlikely.[46]
4 Skateboarding, a discipline within roller sports, was included at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Inline and roller skating has never been contested.
5 Waterski and wakeboard share the same governing body. Cable waterskiing and cable wakeboarding have been proposed as sports that do not rely on motorboats.

See also
Association of Summer Olympic International Federations
Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations
Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations

Notes

References
1. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the 2. "Olympic Sports" (http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/).
Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee" (https://www.olympic.org/news/join International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
t-statement-from-the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-tokyo-20
20-organising-committee). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved
24 March 2020.

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3. "Olympic Sports, Disciplines & Events" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
070418084050/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olsports.shtml).
HickokSports.com. 2005-02-04. Archived from the original (http://www.
hickoksports.com/history/olsports.shtml) on 2007-04-18. Retrieved
2007-03-18.
4. "Aquatics" (http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.as
p?SportCode=AQ). Sports. International Olympic Committee.
Retrieved 2007-04-06.
5. "Skating" (http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/index_uk.asp?
SportCode=SK). Sports. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved
2007-04-06.
6. "Olympic sports of the past" (http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/past/ind
ex_uk.asp). Sports. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved
2007-04-06.
7. "Demonstration Sports at the Olympic Games" (http://www.topendsport
s.com/events/discontinued/demo.htm). Top End Sports. 2007-01-26.
Retrieved 2007-03-18.
8. "Disciplines" (http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/site/). International
Federation of Gymnastics. Retrieved 3 October 2015. Clicking on the
"Disciplines" tab in the main menu bar brings up a list of FIG
disciplines; men's and women's artistic gymnastics are listed
separately.
9. "Disciplines" (http://unitedworldwrestling.org/disciplines). United World
Wrestling. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
10. "Albertville 1992" (http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/
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8/9/2021 Olympic sports - Wikipedia

External links
International Olympic Committee - Sports (http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/index_uk.asp)
IOC Olympic Programme Commission (http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/commissions/programme/index_uk.asp)
International Sports Federations (http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/if/index_uk.asp)

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