Have you ever wondered what is the hardest sport in the world? It is one of those questions that people keep asking, and with the rising popularity of the NFL and NBA leagues, this age-old debate has again raised its ugly head.
You will be surprised to know that neither Rugby nor Football are the hardest sports in the world.
Today, we will check out some of the most unforgiving and brutal sports around, simply counting down to the hardest sport in this world. You can forget about wild claims from fans – it is about time we get down to the facts and take a scientific approach.
After careful observation, we have six categories that can make a sport hard – physicality, skill level, agility, strength, endurance, and speed.
You can simply ignore the whole ‘my sport is harder because get hit more’ debate. Instead, we have a slideshow that features the toughest sports in the world – these are the hardest to play and compete.
Please Note: each of the sports mentioned here has been rated out of ten for all six attributes, and then the digits are added to obtain the final toughness score (out of 60). Naturally, the higher the toughness score, the harder the sport. That way, we will know for sure – Which sport is the toughest in the world?
What you are about to see is real toughness.
So, What Is The Hardest Sport In The World?
So, what is the hardest sport in the world? Sports enthusiasts and athletes have attempted to rank different sports based on their toughness for a long time now, simply to crown one over the other.
But what really makes any one sport harder than another?
Different sports organizations or people use alternative criteria or even very different definitions of ‘toughness’ and ‘difficulty’ since these pertain to specific sporting endeavors, typically sports that are usually harder require relatively more power, endurance, skills, fitness levels, body involvement, strength, and energy.
There are websites that have also taken scientific approaches, assigning numerical scores for each of these factors before combining the total. Even we are about to do the same – but don’t you think it’s a glorified and subjective assessment that masquerades simply as a science that’s objective?
ESPN’s Rankings:
For the longest time, ESPN’s ranking of the ‘most physically demanding sports in the world’ were popular. These were based on standard ratings for ten attributes, where eight panelists scored 60 different sports. The average totals were considered to be the definitive ranking for finding out what is considered the hardest sport in the world.
These sports are as follows,
- Boxing (Hardest),
- Ice Hockey,
- Football,
- Basketball,
- Wrestling,
- Mixed Martial Arts,
- Tennis,
- Gymnastics,
- Softball/Baseball, and
- Soccer.
Sports Virsa’s Rankings:
If you do look up ‘what is the hardest sport in the world 2022,’ then the rankings by Sports Virsa might prove to be a big help to you. The top ten hardest sports in the whole world in 2022, according to the rankings by Sports Virsa, are as follows,
- Boxing (Hardest),
- American Football,
- Mixed Martial Arts,
- Ice hockey,
- Gymnastics,
- Basketball,
- Soccer,
- Wrestling,
- Rugby, and
- Water Polo.
Bleacher Report’s Rankings:
In our quest to find out what is the hardest sport ever, there was another ranking method that kind of aligned with the factual approach we wanted to take initially, as mentioned in the beginning.
One of the most quantitative and super comprehensive approaches to ranking the world’s hardest sports was simply the Bleacher Report’s ranking.
According to the rating given by Bleacher Report for each sport, the hardest sports in the world are as follows,
- Water Polo,
- Aussie Rules,
- Boxing,
- Rugby,
- Ice Hockey,
- American Football,
- Hurling,
- Gymnastics,
- Basketball, and
- Gaelic Football.
The Top 3 Hardest Sports In The World…In No Particular Order:
Clearly, finding out what sport is the hardest is nearly an impossible task. We did do the ratings as promised at the beginning of the article. Based on the different verified rankings and our ratings, here are the hardest sports in the world, in no particular order.
1. Water Polo:
Score: 44/60
Mostly overlooked in discussions, Water Polo is an Olympic sport that is officially the hardest sport in the world. If you ask what is the hardest sport physically, then the first name that pops up inside our heads is Water Polo.
It’s similar to normal football, except players play the sport in the water. There’s so much kicking and grabbing accompanied by sly blows, this game is highly ranked for its physicality, cardiovascular endurance, power, speed, and skill level.
2. Aussie Rules:
Score: 41/60
Popularly known as ‘Footy,’ Aussie Rules is a local sport played in Australia, especially in the Melbourne area. The game is played with a large ball in the shape of a football on a big, oval-shaped field, with two teams aiming to score points by getting the large ball through a number of posts standing tall at the two ends of the field.
The skill levels needed to play this game are insane, accompanied by strength, endurance, and, most importantly, agility. If you ask us what is the hardest sport to play, then it is undoubtedly Aussie Rules.
3. Boxing:
Score: 40/60
If you ask what is the hardest sport to learn, then it has to be Boxing. Plus, Boxing is the hardest sport to play in the world, according to most ranking charts we have mentioned above. Just think about it – boxing is about entering an enclosed area or a ring and attempting to hit your opponent so hard that they fall flat is pretty hard.
And that’s not enough – you have to remember to score while the fight is ongoing. Your strength and physicality are important, but so is your endurance, skill level, and agility in the ring, which makes the sport one of the toughest in the world.
And It’s A Wrap!
Now that you know what is the hardest sport in the world, what are your thoughts? Which of these sports, according to you, is the toughest to learn and, most importantly, play? Feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, and stories related to the toughest sports in the world in the comments below.
