There are numerous sports in the world, Mostly all types of games, need some level of physical struggle. These, sports can be entertaining to the massive crowd who happens to be just spectators.
However, certain sports need far greater strength, energy, and physical commitment from the player or participants. Athleticism, speed, and agility are essential, but mental toughness is one of the main component for many other sports. Slow, steady, and patient play is required in several sports.
These tough sports need tremendous physical and mental strength and balance. It also requires endurance and stamina.
So, today we have made a list of some of Hardest sport in the world.
12 .Water Polo
Some people might argue, saying Water Polo is a easy sport and it doesn’t requires much physical strength or endurance.
However, it’s quite the opposite Water polo is one of the most challenging games. It is a water-based team game.
The sport involves two teams aiming to score goals with a floating water ball by throwing the ball into each other’s nets.
It is a physically demanding sport as it requires swimming along with catching and shooting the ball with a single hand. Water polo is one of the hardest Olympic sport.
So it can be concluded that Water Polo is one of the hardest sport in the World.
11. Gaelic Football
Gaelic football, commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is still an amateur sport.
Gaelic Football is somewhere a hybrid between football and rugby, where players can pass the ball with either their feets or hands. The game is basically played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch.
The main objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team’s goals (3 points) or between two upright posts above the goals and over a crossbar 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) above the ground (1 point).
Gaelic Football is one of the hardest sports in the world as it requires constant running while catching and shooting the ball. The sport requires extreme physical fitness level to excel.
10. American Football
American football is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end.
The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense’s advance and to take control of the ball for themselves.
The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive.
The National Football League (NFL), is the most well known American Football League.
American Football is a fast paced sport with high intensity sport, due to it’s high demands of its fast sprints and high contract nature. It is one of the most difficult sports as it requires constant body contact, one should have great endurance and stamina to compete in American Football.
American Football is one of the most physically demanding sports in the world as well as one of the toughest sports.
9. Motocross
Motorcycle trials gave birth to the sport of motocross. It’s a physically demanding sport and requires great mental focus.
Riders must participate in races on off-road circuits that are not conducive to smooth riding, with several route obstacles in the form of abrupt twists and an abundance of sand. They make speeding across several riding jumps and landings nearly difficult for riders.
Motocross is a sport that requires a great deal of skill. Riders do various tricks like leaps, ditches, and trespassing while riding on challenging, winding routes across harsh terrain.
Riders sit on the front and rear seats of the motorbike, controlling speed and direction via the handlebars attached to the two wheels.
It take a lot of experience, endurance, mental focus and physical ability to finish the round.
It is one of the world’s most difficult and physically demanding sports, with high jumps and often risky landings that frequently result in major injuries and accidents.
It can leave a huge mark on one’s life and some riders even face depression. Unsurprisingly, several riders use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to improve their performance in the sport, which is strictly against the law.
Motocross is one of the hardest sports in the world.
8. Bull Riding
If you’ve never seen a bullfight, you’re missing out on one of the world’s most demanding sports. In a ten-second ride on a bucking bull.
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
It may look entertaining from outside to the sports fans, Bull riding is not only one of the most difficult sports to master, but it’s also one of the most difficult sport. It is a equally dangerous and challenging sport.
This sport’s danger may be as close as looking death in the face. Riders must stay on raging wild bulls that try to knock them off. If you’re not a big lover of activities that involve a lot of perspiration and physical exertion, Bull Riding might not be for you.
Bull riding can also cause several life threatening injuries to the riders.
American bull riding has been called “the most dangerous eight seconds in sports.” To receive a score, the rider must stay on top of the bull for eight seconds with the use of one hand gripped on a bull rope tied behind the bull’s forelegs. Touching the bull or themselves with the free hand, or failing to reach the eight-second mark, results in a no-score ride.
Depending on the bull riding organization and the contest, up to four judges might judge the rider and four judge the bull on their performance. In general, most professional riders score in the neighborhood of the mid-70s to the high 80s.
Bull riding is one of the hardest sport in the world.
7. Ironman Triathlon
The name might seem a little odd, but Ironman Triathlon is one of the most challenging sports in the world as it requires tremendous endurance and strength.
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km).
It is widely regarded as one of the toughest sports in the world.
6 .Rugby
Rugby is another team sport that involves a great deal of physical exertion, stamina, and energy. ESPN has ranked it as one of the world’s toughest sports.
The sport requires extreme mental and physical demands. It basically requires, Two teams of 15 players each play Rugby or Rugby Union, it’s main objective is to score a goal while running with the ball in hand towards the opponents goal.
The sport is played with an oval shaped ball on a rectangular shaped field, both sides of the field has H-shaped goalposts.
5. Cross Country Running
Cross-country running is a sport that challenges both your physical and mental endurance to the test.
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles.
Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter.
To begin with, the lengthy distances might be a difficult challenge. Runners frequently abandon the race before completing it. Then there’s the possibility of long-distance running-related health problems, such as a sudden discomfort, sore feet, cloudy eyesight, or a strained muscle.
Cross Country Running is one of the most physically demanding sports as it requires tremendous mental strength and endurance for one to flourish successfully. It is considered as on of the hardest sport in the world.
4. Ice Hockey
When it comes to winter sports, Ice Hockey is one of the most popular sports of all time. Ice Hockey is generally played in Canada and other cold countries around the world.
Ice Hockey can look easy but it is one of the most toughest sport in the world. The brutality of the sport has even left some hockey players with broken teeths and numerous injuries.
The sport requires tremendous energy, endurance, balance a powerful physique, and power to hit the disc whole balancing yourself. It is one of the hardest sports in the world.
Ice hockey is similar to Lacrosse but the only difference is that it is played on ice rinks rather than grassy field.
3. Gymnastics
Since its inception in the twentieth century, contemporary gymnastics has grown in popularity as a competitive activity for both men and women.
Gymnastics gained modernity in the nineteenth century thanks to the efforts of three physical educators who taught it as a series of equipment exercises
Gymnastics is a competitive sport that requires lots of strength and flexibility. In addition, the tough sport also requires enormous agility, stamina, balance, discipline, mental acuity, body control, and coordination to become a core master in the sport. One should be in their top physical shape, just like in many other sports in the world to perform well in Gymnastics.
Therefore, it is one of the hardest sports in the new century.
2. Boxing
Boxing is a ring sport in which two opponents compete by throwing punches at each other to collect points. Boxing is not an easy sport, rather it is one of the most demanding sport in the world.
Boxing requires tremendous stamina and endurance along with great physical fitness. The risk of life-threatening injuries in boxing is quite great.
Boxing needs lightning-quick footwork and sharp movements along with great physical strength as well as the ability to deliver fast, hard, and precise blows to one’s opponents.
Boxing is generally across 12 three-minute rounds it is played in a square boxing ring. Many well-known boxers who dominated the sport and subsequently retired have had major health problems years later.
In the recent years, professional women’s boxing is also becoming more common to the world, however their strength and endurance is still way behind compared to their male counterparts.
1. Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts, like boxing, is one of the hardest sports in the world for the same reasons as many others on the list. It is also one of the best combat sports in the world.
MMA requires a strong body and along with great flexibility, all of which are fundamental requirements for a professional mixed martial artist.
The sport is basically a two player combat sport with both of them fighting inside a steel octagon. MMA is one of the hardest sports in the world as it requires an unimaginable skill level and fitness to reach a certain level.
Mixed Martial Arts is a mixture of different fighting techniques like, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, Takewondo, Karate and many more fighting styles. One must need to master all of them to become of the best MMA fighters.
Unlike certain sports, which have weekly training, MMA requires numerous months of hard preparation and hours of mental and physical strengthing that no spectator could ever envision confronting professionally.
A single blunder can result in a devastating knockout, fighters need to have quick movements and fast thinking along with great concentration.
During a fight, the participants are constantly reading one another’s actions and reacting to a range of unexpected situations. The physical exchange of blows and kicks is compared to a chess match.
It can be easily said that Mixed Martial Arts is one of the hardest sports in the world.
Also check out the list of top 10 Highest Paid sports.