It is any kind of competition in physical activity or game designed to keep or enhance physical ability and skills and provide fun for participants as well as, in some instances entertainers to the spectators. Sports can, through the casual or organized game enhance one's physical fitness. There are a myriad of sports available that range from single participants, to those that include hundreds of simultaneous participants, either as teams or in a single-person competition. In certain sports , like racing, many contestants may compete simultaneously or sequentially, with one winner; In other sports, the contest (a match) is between two teams with each side trying to outdo the other. Some sports allow the possibility of a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no winner. Other sports provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be played in a competition to create a champion. Many leagues of sports create an annual champion through the arrangement of games throughout the season, followed in some instances by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognized as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity and major competitions like the Olympic Games admitting only sports that meet this definition. Other organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude the activities without a physical element from being classified as sports. But, there are many physically competitive activities claim recognition by the mind as sports. For instance, the International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognizes both chess and bridge as legitimate sports. Sport Accord, the global sports federation's association, recognizes five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers) Go, draughts and xiangqi. It also limits the number of mind games which are allowed to be classified as sports.
Sport is usually governed by regulations or customs, that help ensure an equal playing field and an even adjudication of winners. What counts as winning is determined by physical activities like scoring goal or cross a line first. It can also be judged by the judges who score elements of the performance of the athlete, such as the subjective or objective aspects such as artistic or technical performance.
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Performance records are often kept, and for highly-rated sports, these records can be extensively announced or covered in news articles about sport. Sport can also be a huge source of entertainment for people who don't participate as spectator sports draw large crowds to sports arenas, and reaching broader audience through broadcasting. Sport betting is in some cases strictly regulated and at times, essential to the game.
The report from A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the world's sports industry is worth up to $620 billion by the year 2013. The most easily popular and widely played sport is running. association football is the most awaited spectator sport.
History
Ancient artifacts and architecture suggest sport is popular in China at the time of 2000 BC. Gymnastics was widespread in China's past. The monuments to the Pharaohs demonstrate that a variety of sports, including fishing and swimming, were well-organized and regulated millennia prior to the beginning of the history of Egypt. Other Egyptian sports were javelin throwing, high-jump and wrestling. The oldest Persian games like the traditional Iranian the martial art Zoorkhaneh were closely linked to warfare skills. Among other sports that originated in the ancient Persia include jousting, polo and jousting.
Motorized sports have appeared at the dawn of the modern age. Swimmers perform squats as warm-up exercise before entering the pool at a U.S. military base, 2011,
Numerous sports were already established by the period in Ancient Greece along with the militaristic culture and progress of sport in Greece had a profound impact on each other. Sport became such a prominent part of their lives that the Greeks developed their own Olympic Games, which in early times were held each four years in a tiny village in the Peloponnesus known as Olympia.
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Sports have become more organized and regulated since the days of the early Olympics through the current century. Industrialisation has led to more leisure time, which has allowed people to watch and observe spectator sports and take part in athletic events. These trends were accelerated with the rise of mass media and global communications. Professionalism was more prevalent, leading to an increase in the popularity of sports, as fans took in the exploits of professional athletes, all the while enjoying the fitness as well as the competitiveness that comes with playing sports for amateurs. Since the dawn twenty-first century there has been increasing debate over whether transgender are allowed to take part in sporting events that reflect their post-transition gender persona.
Technology
Technology plays an essential role in modern sport. With it being a necessary part of some sports (such as motorsport) however, it is utilized in others to improve performance. There are sports that use it to allow off-field decision making.
The field of sports science is a broad academic field that can be applied in many different areas which include performance of athletes, such as the use of video analysis to refine techniques, or to the design of equipment, such as improved swimming shoes for runners or even competitive swimmers. The sports engineering field was created as an area of study in 1998. It has an increasing focus not only on design of materials but also the application of technology in sports, from analytics and big information to technology that wears. To regulate the impact technology has on fair play governing bodies frequently have specific guidelines that are in place to limit the impact of technology on the players. For instance, in 2010 all-body, non-textile swimming suits were outlawed by FINA because they were increasing the performance of swimmers.
Technology advancement has also allowed many decisions during sports games to be taken or reviewed off-field, by a second official making instant replays of decisions. In some sports, players can now contest official decisions. In Association football goal-line technology is used to make decisions on whether a ball over the boundary of the field or is not. It isn't a requirement but was used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil as well as during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and in the Premier League from 2013-14, and the Bundesliga between 2015 to. In the NFL there is a possibility for a referee to seek a review through the replay booth, or the head coach could issue an appeal to review the play by replays. The final decision is made by the referee. A video referee (commonly known as TMO or Television Match Official or TMO) can also utilize replays in order to assist in making decisions in the sport of rugby (both league and union). The international game is when an umpire may request the Third umpire to make a choice, and the third umpire decides on the final decision. Since 2008 a decision review process to allow players to go over their the decisions of their peers has been in place and utilized in tournaments run by the ICC, as well as in other games. Based on the broadcaster of the host there are many different methods are employed during an umpire or player review such as instant replays, Hawk-Eye Hot Spot and Real Time Snicko meter. Hawk-Eye is also employed in tennis to challenge umpires' decisions.
Education and sports
Research suggests that sports have the potential in connecting children to positive adult role models and provide positive development opportunities, as well as facilitating the learning and practice knowledge and skills for life. In recent years the use of sport to reduce criminality, and to combat violent extremism and radicalization has become more widely used, specifically for its ability to boost self-esteem, strengthen social bonds as well as provide the participants with motivation.
There is no high-quality evidence to prove the efficacy of programs to boost the participation in the community sports such as mass media campaigns, education sessions, and changes to policies. There are also no high-quality studies that investigate the effect of these interventions in promoting healthy behavior change in the community.
Professionals and amateurs
Women's volleyball team from an U.S. university. The sport can be performed as an amateur, professional, or semi-professional basis, dependent on the degree to which participants are rewarded to participate (usually by paying an income or salary). Sport participation for amateurs at lower levels is usually called "grassroots sport".
The popularity of spectator sports as a pastime for non-participants has made sport an important business in its own right, and this has fueled a high paid professional sports culture where top performers are compensated with a pay rate far beyond the typical wage and could reach thousands of dollars.
Certain sports, as well as individual competitions in a sport keep a strict policy of allowing only amateur athletes. This year's Olympic Games started with a principle of amateur competition with the athletes who competed professionally believed to have an unfair advantage over those who played the sport for pleasure. Since 1971, Olympic athletes were permitted to be paid compensation and to receive sponsorship as well as, in 1986, the IOC determined to make any professional athlete eligible to participate in the Olympics except for the sports of wrestling and boxing.
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