Introduction to Sport

Any definition of sport can be highly controversial. In practical sense, sport is defined by its most common social interpretation and its strong emotional association with competition, physical exertion, skill measures. Activities undertaken for the purpose of pleasure, health and welfare or purely for the sake of physical activity, sport or exercise, with the main activity involving physical activity, are called sport activities. A sport can also include competitions among organizations or teams.

The object of sporting activities is to derive pleasure, recreation or exercise from a competitive, sporting, artistic or intellectual contest, where the outcome of the competition depends largely on the skill, courage and physical strength of the persons involved. Since ancient times, whenever people want to demonstrate their physical prowess, they organize competitive sports, such as wrestling, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, softball, baseball, sailing, fencing, track and field and swimming. Ancient peoples have shown great enthusiasm for games such as hunting, gambling, fishing, bull fighting, polo, riding and other athletic games. Most people are aware that all these athletic events are essentially sports, however, it has been argued that certain forms of competitive games such as horse racing, tennis and cricket can be considered as different from sports in the broader sense.

The Olympic Sports Organization was created in 1920 to facilitate the development of international sports competitions. Although many international sports were first played locally, the Olympic Sports Organization has enabled sports from around the world to be organized, with an enlarged qualification field, providing better opportunities to athletes. The Olympic Games are a form of sporting competition in which the point system is used and point scoring systems have developed over time. Since the inception of the Olympic Games, several other sporting competitions including swimming, track and field, and golf have become Olympic sports.