Best Watersport

Swimming, cycling and running form the standard sequence of a triathlon, with the clock continuing through the transitions between disciplines. This multisport endurance race tests the ability to sustain effort across different forms of movement. Events range from shorter sprint races to full-distan...

Eight rowers and a coxswain make up the rowing eight, written as 8+ in racing notation. Each athlete uses one oar, placing it within sweep rowing, while the coxswain steers and directs the crew. It is the largest standard Olympic rowing boat class and generally the fastest, because eight athletes pr...

The Vendée Globe is a single-handed, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world yacht race that starts and finishes in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. First held in 1989, the race takes place approximately every four years. Competitors sail IMOCA 60 monohulls through the world's most challenging oceans, maki...

Crews cross oceans in successive offshore legs during The Ocean Race, a round-the-world sailing competition with stopovers in international ports. It began as the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, became the Volvo Ocean Race in 2001 and adopted its present name in 2019. Editions have tradition...

One athlete controls both propulsion and balance in the single scull, a flatwater rowing class using a narrow racing boat and two oars. The rower faces backward on a sliding seat, using leg drive and body movement to extend the stroke. Unlike sweep rowing, where each athlete handles one oar, scullin...

Known historically as the Laser Standard, ILCA 7 is the full-rig version of a single-handed dinghy design developed by Bruce Kirby in 1969. One sailor controls the boat, using an unstayed mast and a standardized sail plan. Strict one-design rules limit equipment differences so that handling and tact...

A fixed platform ten meters above the water provides the starting point for 10m platform diving. Unlike a springboard, the platform does not bend to assist takeoff, so athletes generate the movement needed for their acrobatics from their own approach and push. Dives can incorporate somersaults and t...

Two athletes share a narrow shell in the coxless pair, a sweep rowing class in which each rower uses one oar. There is no coxswain to steer or direct the crew, so those responsibilities remain with the athletes. Racing shells commonly have a rudder controlled through a rower's foot, while difference...

The 49er is a high-performance racing dinghy designed by Julian Bethwaite and recognized as an Olympic class since the 2000 Sydney Games. It is a two-person skiff characterized by a lightweight hull, twin trapezes, and an asymmetric spinnaker. The boat requires a high level of athleticism and techni...

Four athletes propel a coxless four using one oar each, making it a team boat within sweep rowing. Without a coxswain aboard, the crew takes responsibility for direction and race coordination. One rower typically steers through a foot-controlled rudder, allowing the shell to follow its course while...

Wakeboarding is a towed board sport combining elements of water skiing, snowboarding, and surfing, formalized in the late 1980s when Tony Finn's Skurfer and Mike Murphy's Hyperlite board helped define the modern equipment standard.

Kayak slalom K1 is an Olympic whitewater discipline in which a single paddler in a decked kayak navigates a timed course of hanging gates on fast-moving artificial or natural river rapids, with the sport first included in the Olympics in 1972.

The Moth is a single-handed development-class sailing dinghy recognized for its use of hydrofoil technology. In the early 2000s, the class evolved dramatically, with sailors adapting their boats to lift completely out of the water on underwater wings, significantly increasing speed. As a development...

Springboard diving 3m is an Olympic event in which divers perform acrobatic dives from a flexible 3-metre board, with the springboard's recoil enabling greater height and rotation than a fixed platform.

English Channel swimming is a long-distance open-water endurance challenge spanning the English Channel between England and France. The standard route covers approximately 34 kilometers, though swimmers often travel further due to tides and currents. Captain Matthew Webb was the first person to comp...

Water skiing is a towed surface water sport invented in 1922 by American Ralph Samuelson on Lake Pepin, Minnesota, and later became one of the first action sports to gain a formal world championship structure.

The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy designed for children. Created in 1947 by Clark Mills, the boat features a flat-bottomed, pram-style hull and a single mainsail. It is structured as a strict one-design class, ensuring that all boats perform identically to emphasize the skill of...

Open water swimming 10 kilometers is an Olympic endurance race contested in natural bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, or rivers. Debuting at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the event is often referred to as marathon swimming. Athletes compete in mass starts, navigating courses marked by buoys...

The ILCA 6, formerly known as the Laser Radial, is a single-handed sailing dinghy designed for lighter-weight sailors. It utilizes the same hull as the standard ILCA 7 but features a shorter mast and a smaller sail area of 5.76 square meters. It served as the women's Olympic sailing class from the 2...

Surf lifesaving is an Australian-originating competitive and rescue discipline in which athletes perform beach sprints, ocean swims, and board races to develop and demonstrate real-world lifeguard skills.

Artistic swimming, previously known as synchronized swimming, is a hybrid sport combining swimming, dance, and gymnastics performed in the water. Athletes execute highly choreographed routines set to music, demonstrating strength, flexibility, and breath control. It debuted as an Olympic sport at th...

Rowing Double Scull is a competitive flatwater rowing event where two athletes propel a narrow boat using two oars each. Competitors sit facing the stern, with their oars attached to riggers on the port and starboard sides of the shell. The event is governed internationally by World Rowing, formerly...

The Nacra 17 is a mixed-gender, two-person catamaran used in Olympic sailing competition. Designed by Morelli & Melvin, it features curved daggerboards that allow the boat to lift entirely out of the water, a configuration known as hydrofoiling. It was introduced as an Olympic class for the 2016 Rio...

Synchronized diving is an Olympic discipline in which two divers perform identical dives simultaneously from the same height, scored on synchrony as well as individual execution, added to the Olympics in 2000.

Para-triathlon is an adapted multi-sport race for athletes with various physical and visual impairments, consisting of swimming, cycling, and running segments. Competitors are grouped into specific classification categories based on the nature and extent of their impairments, such as wheelchair use,...

Rowing Quad Scull, or quadruple sculls, is a high-speed flatwater rowing event where four athletes propel a narrow shell using two oars each. Each rower operates a pair of sculls attached to riggers on alternating sides of the boat. The event requires immense synchronization and technical precision...

Canoe slalom C1 is an Olympic whitewater event in which a kneeling paddler using a single-bladed paddle manoeuvres a decked canoe through a series of upstream and downstream gates on a rapid course against the clock.

The 49erFX is a high-performance, two-person sailing skiff designed as the women's Olympic equivalent to the standard 49er class. It utilizes the same hull platform but features a smaller mast and a reduced sail plan to accommodate lighter-weight crews effectively. Both crew members utilize trapezes...

The Finn is a single-handed, cat-rigged sailing dinghy designed for heavyweight sailors. Swedish designer Rickard Sarby created the boat in 1949 for a competition to select Finland's Olympic class for the 1952 Helsinki Games. It maintained its status as an Olympic class continuously from 1952 until...