The term "sport" refers to any kind of physical competition or game that is designed to enhance, maintain, or develop athletic ability and performance as well as provide enjoyment to the participants and, at times entertaining for spectators. Sports can, through either casual or organised participation, improve one's physical health. Hundreds of sports exist with a variety of different types, from sports that involve single contestants, through to those that involve hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, a lot of contestants participate simultaneously or in a series, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two teams, each attempting to exceed the other. Certain sports allow the possibility of a "tie" or "draw" that has no winner. Other sports provide tie-breaking techniques to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be held in a tournament that result in a winner. Many leagues of sports create an annual champion with the help of games in a regular sports season. They are then followed in a few instances by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical dexterity or athleticism, with major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports that are in line with this definition. Other organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude any activities with no physical element from classification as sports. There are however a few competitive, but non-physical, activities are recognized for mind games. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognizes both chess and bridge as legitimate sport, as well as Sport Accord, an international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports that include bridge, chess Draughts (checkers) Go, draughts, and xiangqi. It also limits the number of mind games that can be admitted as sports.
The rules of sport are usually rules or conventions, which provide fair competition, and allow to ensure that the winner is a fair adjudication. Winners can be determined using physical events such as scoring points or crossing a line first. It could also be determined by judges who have the task of scoring the athletic performance, including scores that are objective or subjective, like technical performance or artistic impression.
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he performance records of athletes are frequently maintained, and in the case of popular sports, these records can be announced widely or included in sport news. Sport is also a key source of entertainment and entertainment for those not participating and spectator sports draw huge crowds to sporting venues, and reaching wider audiences via broadcasting. In some cases severely regulated, and, in certain cases, essential to the game.
According to A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the global sports sector is worth $620 billion in 2013. The most widely practiced and accessible sport is running, while association football is the most popular spectator sport.
History
Artifacts and structures suggest sport existed in China beginning as early as 2000 BC. Gymnastics appears to have been commonplace in China's earlier times. Monuments to the Pharaohs show that a variety of sports, including fishing and swimming were well-developed , and were regulated millennia earlier in the era of ancient Egypt. Other Egyptian games included javelin throwing, high-jump, and wrestling. The ancient Persian games like the traditional Iranian martial art of Zoorkhaneh were closely linked to warfare skills. Among other sports that originated in the earliest times of Persia are jousting and polo.
Motorized sports have been around since the advent of the modern age. Swimmers do squats to warm up exercises before entering the swimming pool at the area of a U.S. military base, in 2011.
Many sports were already established by the period in Ancient Greece along with the militaristic culture as well as the growth of sports in Greece have influenced each other in a significant way. The sport became a significant element of their culture that the Greeks invented their own Olympic Games, which in ancient times were held every four years in a small village located in the Peloponnesus named Olympia.
The sport has been organized and regulated since the time of the ancient Olympics until the present century. Industrialisation has led to more recreational time, allowing people attend and follow spectator sports and even participate in sports. This trend continued after the rise of mass media and global communication. Professionalism became more common, leading to an increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans took in the exploits of professional athletes, all while enjoying the workout as well as the competitiveness that comes with the sport of amateurs. Since the beginning into the 20th century there has been a growing controversy over whether transgender persons should be able to compete in events that conform with their post-transition gender identities.
Technology
Technology plays a significant role in modern sports. With it being a necessary component of some activities (such like motorsport) as well as being used for other sports as well to boost performance. Certain sports also make use of it to facilitate off-field decision making.
Sports science is an incredibly popular academic disciplinethat is applicable to areas like athlete performance, for instance as using video analysis to refine techniques, or to the design of equipment that are more efficient, such as running shoes or competitive swimwear. Sports engineering became an academic discipline in 1998, with an increasing focus not just on the design of materials but also on the use of technology in sports which ranges from analytics to big information to technology that wears. To regulate the effect technological advancements on fair playing, governing institutions often have specific rules that are set to limit the impact of technological advantages between athletes. In 2010, for instance, full-body, non-textile swimsuits were removed by FINA since they were enhancing swimmers' performance.
The rise in technology has also allowed many of the decisions during sports games to be made, or reviewed, off-field by another official making instant replays of decisions. In certain games, players can challenge official decisions. In Association football goal-line technology takes the decisions as to whether a ball over the boundary of the field or is not. The technology isn't required and was only used during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and also in for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada as well as within the Premier League from 2013-14, and in the Bundesliga from 2015 to. In the NFL Referees can request a replay from the replay booth, or a head coach can make an order to review the play with replays. The final decision will be made by the referee. Video referees (commonly identified as TV Match Official or TMO) may also utilize replays for aiding decision-making in the field of the sport of rugby (both union and league). For international matches, the umpire may ask the third umpire for a ruling while the third umpire makes the final decision. Since 2008, a decision review system for players to review the decision has been implemented and used for ICC-run tournaments and also in other matches. [51][53] Depending on the broadcaster of the host the host broadcaster, various techniques are utilized during an umpire's review or review of a player for instant replays. These include Hawk-Eye Hot Spot and Real Time Snickometer. Hawk-Eye also is used in tennis to challenge umpiring decisions.
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Education and sport
Research indicates that sports have the capacity for connecting youth with adults who are positive and provide an opportunity for growth and development in addition to facilitating the acquisition and use of life skills. In recent years the use of sports to decrease crime, as well as to combat violent extremism and radicalization, has become more popular, particularly as a way to improve self-esteem and social bonds and give participants a feeling of purpose.
There isn't enough evidence which proves the effectiveness of the interventions designed to increase participation in the community sports , like mass media campaignsor educational sessions, or changes in policy. Also, there are no high-quality research studies to examine the effects of these interventions in promoting healthy behaviors in the community.
Professionals and Amateurs
Women's volleyball team of an U.S. university. Sport can be conducted either on an amateur, professional or semi-professional basis, based on whether participants are incentivised for their participation (usually through the payment of wages or salaries). Sport participation for amateurs at lower levels is usually called "grassroots sport".
The growing popularity of sport for spectators as a leisure activity for non-participants has made sport an important business in its own right. this has incentivised a high earning professional sports culture in which the best athletes receive a salary far higher than the average wage and could reach million dollars.
Some sports, or the individual events within a sport are permitted only amateur competition. In the beginning, Olympic Games started with a basis of amateur competition, with the athletes who competed professionally thought to be having disadvantages over those who played just for fun. Since 1971, Olympic athletes were permitted to be compensated and receive sponsorships, as well as, in 1986, the IOC determined to make any professional athlete eligible to participate in the Olympics, with the exceptions of boxing, and wrestling.
