sport

Activity pursued for exercise or pleasure, performed individually or in a group, often involving the testing of physical capabilities and usually taking the form of a competitive game. There are many different kinds of sport, but most can be grouped into four main categories: athletics, which includes swimming competitions, gymnastics, and a wide range of track and field events; racing sports, which involve the use of transportation, such as horse racing, cycling, and motor racing; combat-based sports, such as judo and wrestling; and ball games, such as baseball, tennis, and football.

The origins of many sports can be traced to ancient Egyptian or Greek times. Coursing, for example, was believed to have taken place in Egypt in 3000 BC, using Saluki dogs; while wrestling took place in what is now Iraq more than 4,000 years ago. A form of hockey was played in Egypt about 2050 BC; and falconry, boxing, track and field athletics, and fencing were all known more than 4,000 years ago. A number of modern ball games may also be derived from games first played on the European continent during the latter part of the Middle Ages. In 12th-century France, for example, the game of la soule was developed, where two teams competed to move a ball into a goal, and was later followed, in the 14th century, by an ancestor form of baseball and cricket, known as stoolball.

The development of the majority of sports as competitions, rather than pastimes, took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, when sports such as baseball, soccer, golf, and tennis became increasingly popular. The traditional sports have changed very little over the years, but televised events have led to more and more competitions within each sport and have also helped to make sport into a major industry in its own right. The main change to have taken place in amateur sports in the USA since the 19th century has been the increasing importance of high-school and college sports.