How many different sports are currently played in the Summer Olympics?
22576#53
The Olympic Games programme consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and 408 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for women, each representing a different weight class. The Summer Olympics programme includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics programme features 15 sports. Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic programme. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics programme since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the programme as demonstration sports, and were later promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the programme.
Olympic Games
650360#0
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; the 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports. 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). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events. 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), and figure skating and speed skating, which are both disciplines of the sport of ice skating (represented by the International Skating Union). In turn, disciplines are subdivided into events, for which Olympic medals are awarded. A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines it to be widely practised 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).
Olympic sports
988407#7
Seven team sports are currently on the program of the Summer Olympics. Cricket's inclusion in the 2024 Summer Olympics depends on the decision of the International Cricket Council and its members. A cricket tournament formed part of the Summer Olympics in 1900, although only one match was played, between teams representing Great Britain and France. However, the British team was effectively a club touring side and the French players were drawn partly from expatriates living in Paris.
Team sport
46192507#1
The Angolan Olympic Committee () selected a total of 25 athletes, 8 men and 17 women, for the Games, competing in seven different sports. The nation's team size was roughly ten athletes smaller than the team sent to London four years earlier, and had the second largest share of women in its Summer Olympic history. Women's handball was the only team-based sport in which Angola had its representation at these Games, unable to send any of the nation's basketball teams to the Olympics for the first time since 1988. Among the sports played by the athletes, Angola marked its debut in rowing and a return in sailing and shooting from a two-decade absence.
Angola at the 2016 Summer Olympics
46949527#1
The Barbados Olympic Association registered a total of 12 athletes, 7 men and 5 women, to compete in five different sports at these Games, doubling the nation's roster size from London 2012. Among the sports played by the athletes, Barbados marked its Olympic debut in tennis and triathlon, and the return of females to the team for the first time after sending only men to the previous Games.
Barbados at the 2016 Summer Olympics
82757#21
The 1988 Summer Olympics featured 23 different sports encompassing 31 disciplines, and medals were awarded in 237 events. In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.These were the demonstration sports in the games:
1988 Summer Olympics
47080228#1
Syrian Olympic Committee sent a team of seven athletes, four men and three women, to compete in five different sports at the Games, matching the nation's roster size with Beijing 2008 and Atlanta 1996. This was also the youngest delegation in Syria's Olympic history, with about half the team under the age of 25, and many of them were expected to reach their peak in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Among the sports represented by the athletes, Syria made its Olympic debut in table tennis, as well as its return to judo after a twelve-year absence.
Syria at the 2016 Summer Olympics
48037537#1
The Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee () confirmed a team of 22 athletes, 6 men and 16 women, to compete in seven different sports at the Games. The nation's full roster in Rio de Janeiro was roughly nine athletes smaller than those sent to the London Games, and also featured more female athletes than male for the third time in its Summer Olympic history. Women's basketball was the only team-based sport in which Senegal had representatives at the Games, returning to the Olympic scene for the first time since 2000.
Senegal at the 2016 Summer Olympics
8351239#7
In 2007, the IOC established the concept of Olympics including 28 sports: 25 permanent 'core' sports with 3 additional sports selected for each individual Games. On 8 September 2013, IOC added wrestling to the Olympic programme for the 2020 and 2024 Games, representing one of these additional sports. FILA (now known as United World Wrestling) changed freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling weight classes for men and decreased to 6 categories in order to add more weights for women. However, in August 2016, the IOC added five sports to the 2020 Olympics, with plans to separately evaluate the existing 28 sports. No indication was given how this would affect the number of sports in 2024.
2024 Summer Olympics
43880633#4
The Swiss Olympic Association selected a roster of 104 athletes, 59 men and 45 women, to compete across seventeen different sports at these Games; it was the nation's largest delegation ever sent to the Summer Olympics since 1984, without any association to the traditional team-based sports. Moreover, the Swiss team featured the largest share of women in its Summer Olympic history, constituting about 43 percent of the total. Roughly three quarters of the nation's roster made their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, with the remainder having attended at least a single edition.
Switzerland at the 2016 Summer Olympics
650360#3
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. 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). 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.
Olympic sports
650360#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.
Olympic sports
650360#32
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. 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.
Olympic sports
650360#39
Many sports are not recognized as Olympic sports although their governing bodies are recognized by the IOC. 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. 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 Games) or Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF, for sports not contested in the Olympic Games). A number of recognized sports are included in the program of the World Games, a multi-sport event run by the 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 all subsequently been incorporated into the Olympic program.
Olympic sports