What is the oldest sport in the world – Discover some of the first sports in history

Sport is one of the most important elements for humanity since the beginning of civilization. Its origins date back 4,000 years, as there are various archaeological evidences that demonstrate the use of artifacts and utensils for sports.

Swimming, gymnastics and running are some of the longest-lived sports, but there are many more.

In Ancient Greece, an important step was taken to establish a strong sports culture through the organization of the Olympic Games, inaugurated in 777 BC and which are still held every 4 years. Currently, sport is a huge industry with millions of followers and money invested by different competitions. To discover which is the oldest sport in the world and the longest-lived sports disciplines, at OneHOWTO we recommend that you continue reading this article.

Wrestling is considered the oldest sport in the world. One of the main reasons is that it is a very simple discipline : only two people are needed to practice it. The purpose is to knock down the opponent.

In all cultures there have been at least one variant of wrestling. To knock down the opponent, holds and other throwing techniques are allowed. In Ancient Greece, they included this sport in the Olympic Games. One of its variants is Greco-Roman wrestling , in which only attacks on the upper body are allowed and attacks on the opponent’s legs are prohibited.

Running is more than just a sport. It is one of the most useful abilities of the human being. It was included in the celebration of the first editions of the Olympic Games and currently there are several competitions depending on the length of the route (marathons, sprints, hurdles and long jump).

A very popular variety is the marathon, consisting of running a total of 42 km. It is a competition inspired by accounts of the battle of Marathon , during the course of the Medical Wars of the year 490 BC. According to legend, the soldier Phidipides traveled more than 40 km to be able to inform the Spartans of the landing of the Persians in the city of Marathon.

If you want to start running, we recommend this article on How to learn to run.

The javelin throw is closely related to hunting , so it is understandable that it is another of the longest-lived sports in the world. In the past, the prey hunted by humans was large, so hunters were required to demonstrate marksmanship, strength, and ability to feed themselves .

Since the beginning of the Olympic Games in Greece, it has been a must-see sport and is currently also enjoying great popularity .

Polo is a sport in which you compete on horseback on a green field. It is a copy of hockey with the difference that the two teams try to outdo each other on horseback, throwing a wooden ball towards the goal. The first documentary evidence of the pole’s existence dates back to AD 316 in the Persian Empire .

The modern rules of polo were developed in India during the existence of the British Empire and the first polo club was founded in 1833 in India.

Boxing has a long recent history, but it is a sport that has existed since the second and third years BC . Despite everything, it is believed that it already existed long before, up to 1500 BC. During the Roman Empire, boxing was considered a life or death fight , that is, it was strange to call it a sport, since the life of the opponents was in danger. play.

If you want to get started in boxing, we recommend this other OneHOWTO article on How to train boxing at home.

Originating in Ancient Greece, gymnastics arose in military training . Even so, little is known about the historical evidence of this sport since ancient times. Modern gymnastics appears at the end of the 18th century from the use of equipment to train children by two sports teachers in Germany.

Soccer arose between 200 and 300 BC . according to FIFA. Sheffield Football Club, founded in 1857, is the oldest football club. The FA Cup is the longest running championship in the world of this sport, which is currently one of the most popular and followed on the entire planet.

If you want to know more curiosities about soccer, we recommend the articles on How long is a soccer field and How long is the goal in soccer.

Throwing, or hurling , as it is known in English, is an Irish national sport with a long history, dating back over 3,000 years. It is a team game in which players use a stick to try to hit the ball into the opposing team’s goal post.

It is a sport similar to hockey , but with different stick sizes and rules. Throwing is very popular in Ireland and has a recorded history, unlike other sports on this list.

Despite being a national sport in India, the origin of hockey dates back to Ancient Greece, a time when archaeological carvings of people using sticks, curved horns and balls similar to this discipline have been found.

However, the modern rules of hockey were invented in England at the Middlesex Cricket Club in the late 19th century . They spread to British colonies in Australia and Africa. In 1908, ice hockey was introduced for the first time at the Olympic Games.

Rugby union developed at the Warwickshire rugby school . It is one of the many forms in which football was played during the 19th century in British public schools. In practice, it is a sport of evasion and contact in which two teams face each other on a rectangular grass playing field with an oval ball.