Sports
75 sports have researched rule changes with a cause and a citation apiece, and their laws in force written out. The other 4, drawn from the Olympic, Asian Games and World Games programmes, are status data only and carry none of that authority.
- sports
- 75
- rule changes
- 350
- breaks
- 97
Showing all 75 researched sports
Measured23
Air sports
Its federation ratifies aviation and spaceflight records, and decided where space begins.
3rules1break1series
Archery
Replaced the score with the scoreline in 2011, and made its own results incomparable overnight.
5rules1break1series
Athletics
The sport that redesigned an implement to bring the record book back inside the stadium.
6rules1break1series
Boules sports
Pétanque's founding rule was written in 1907 to let a man with rheumatism keep playing, and it created the sport.
4rules1break1series
Bowling
The lane is dressed with oil in a pattern you cannot see, and it changes as you play on it.
4rules2breaks1series
Canoeing
One federation, two boats, and two disciplines that share nothing but a paddle.
5rules2breaks1series
Cycling
Split its own record in two in 1997, ran both for seventeen years, then put them back together.
6rules2breaks1series
Dragon boat
Twenty-two people in the boat, two of whom are not paddling: a drummer beating time at the bow and a steerer at the stern.
4rules1break1series
Duathlon
Triathlon with the swim taken out — which removes the sport's entry barrier and adds a second run on legs that have already run.
3rules1break1series
Finswimming
The fastest a human can move through water, and a sport that could never ban its equipment because the equipment is the sport.
3rules1break1series
Golf
The only sport on this site with a formal system for making unequal players comparable.
6rules2breaks1series- Li
Lifesaving
The only sport here whose events are a rehearsal for something else, and whose governing body would rather prevent drownings than hold races.
4rules1break1series - Mo
Modern pentathlon
Deleted one of its five disciplines after a single televised minute, and stopped being the sport its founder designed.
4rules2breaks1series - Or
Orienteering
A timed sport that has deliberately made its times incomparable: every course is new terrain, and the course is set to a target time rather than a distance.
5rules2breaks1series - Po
Powerlifting
Constantly mistaken for Olympic weightlifting, and the two sports have almost nothing in common except a barbell.
5rules3breaks1series - Ro
Rowing
Refuses to call its times world records, because it knows they are not comparable.
5rules1break1series - Sa
Sailing
Faced rowing's problem and answered it the other way: no times at all, and a final race worth double.
5rules2breaks1series - Sh
Shooting
Threw away the qualification score before every final, so the sport's own results stop counting at the moment they matter most.
5rules2breaks1series - Sp
Sport climbing
Multiplied three disciplines' ranks together to make one medal, then abandoned it after a single Games.
4rules2breaks1series - Sw
Swimming
Same problem as the javelin. Opposite decision. The records stand.
5rules1break2series - Tr
Triathlon
Legalised drafting in 1995 and turned three time trials into one race.
5rules1break1series - Wa
Water ski and wakeboard
The only sport here where a competitor's performance depends on how well somebody else drives a boat.
5rules1break1series - We
Weightlifting
Annulled every world record it had. Twice.
5rules3breaks1series
- Air sportsFédération Aéronautique InternationaleIts federation ratifies aviation and spaceflight records, and decided where space begins.3rules1break
- ArcheryWorld Archery FederationReplaced the score with the scoreline in 2011, and made its own results incomparable overnight.5rules1break
- AthleticsWorld AthleticsThe sport that redesigned an implement to bring the record book back inside the stadium.6rules1break
- Boules sportsConfédération Mondiale des Sports de BoulesPétanque's founding rule was written in 1907 to let a man with rheumatism keep playing, and it created the sport.4rules1break
- BowlingInternational Bowling FederationThe lane is dressed with oil in a pattern you cannot see, and it changes as you play on it.4rules2breaks
- CanoeingInternational Canoe FederationOne federation, two boats, and two disciplines that share nothing but a paddle.5rules2breaks
- CyclingUnion Cycliste InternationaleSplit its own record in two in 1997, ran both for seventeen years, then put them back together.6rules2breaks
- Dragon boatInternational Dragon Boat FederationTwenty-two people in the boat, two of whom are not paddling: a drummer beating time at the bow and a steerer at the stern.4rules1break
- DuathlonWorld TriathlonTriathlon with the swim taken out — which removes the sport's entry barrier and adds a second run on legs that have already run.3rules1break
- FinswimmingCMASThe fastest a human can move through water, and a sport that could never ban its equipment because the equipment is the sport.3rules1break
- GolfR&A and USGA jointly own the Rules; the IGF runs Olympic golf. The only sport on this site with a formal system for making unequal players comparable.6rules2breaks
- LiLifesavingInternational Life Saving FederationThe only sport here whose events are a rehearsal for something else, and whose governing body would rather prevent drownings than hold races.4rules1break
- MoModern pentathlonUnion Internationale de Pentathlon ModerneDeleted one of its five disciplines after a single televised minute, and stopped being the sport its founder designed.4rules2breaks
- OrOrienteeringInternational Orienteering FederationA timed sport that has deliberately made its times incomparable: every course is new terrain, and the course is set to a target time rather than a distance.5rules2breaks
- PoPowerliftingInternational Powerlifting FederationConstantly mistaken for Olympic weightlifting, and the two sports have almost nothing in common except a barbell.5rules3breaks
- RoRowingWorld RowingRefuses to call its times world records, because it knows they are not comparable.5rules1break
- SaSailingWorld SailingFaced rowing's problem and answered it the other way: no times at all, and a final race worth double.5rules2breaks
- ShShootingInternational Shooting Sport FederationThrew away the qualification score before every final, so the sport's own results stop counting at the moment they matter most.5rules2breaks
- SpSport climbingInternational Federation of Sport ClimbingMultiplied three disciplines' ranks together to make one medal, then abandoned it after a single Games.4rules2breaks
- SwSwimmingWorld AquaticsSame problem as the javelin. Opposite decision. The records stand.5rules1break
- TrTriathlonWorld TriathlonLegalised drafting in 1995 and turned three time trials into one race.5rules1break
- WaWater ski and wakeboardInternational Waterski & Wakeboard FederationThe only sport here where a competitor's performance depends on how well somebody else drives a boat.5rules1break
- WeWeightliftingInternational Weightlifting FederationAnnulled every world record it had. Twice.5rules3breaks
Judged8
Breaking
A judging system invented for one Games, used once, and dropped before the next.
4rules1break1series
Cheerleading
Invented to support other sports and became one — and it began as an all-male activity before the war reversed it.
4rules1break1series
DanceSport
Its federation got breaking into the Olympics in 2024. Ballroom, the thing it actually governs, has never been on the programme.
4rules1break1series
Equestrian
The only sport where half the competitors cannot be asked whether they consent.
5rules1break1series
Gymnastics
The sport that abolished its own maximum, and with it any possibility of a continuous series.
5rules1break1series- Ro
Roller sports
Every discipline is the wheeled twin of a Winter Olympic sport, and none of them is Olympic — except the one with no ice equivalent, which got in.
4rules1break1series - Sk
Skateboarding
A judged sport that refuses to publish a difficulty table, because the culture it came from does not agree there is one.
4rules2breaks1series - Su
Surfing
Judged on waves that arrive by chance, and about to be able to standardise them for the first time.
5rules2breaks1series
- BreakingWorld DanceSport FederationA judging system invented for one Games, used once, and dropped before the next.4rules1break
- CheerleadingInternational Cheer UnionInvented to support other sports and became one — and it began as an all-male activity before the war reversed it.4rules1break
- DanceSportWorld DanceSport FederationIts federation got breaking into the Olympics in 2024. Ballroom, the thing it actually governs, has never been on the programme.4rules1break
- EquestrianFédération Equestre InternationaleThe only sport where half the competitors cannot be asked whether they consent.5rules1break
- GymnasticsFédération Internationale de GymnastiqueThe sport that abolished its own maximum, and with it any possibility of a continuous series.5rules1break
- RoRoller sportsWorld SkateEvery discipline is the wheeled twin of a Winter Olympic sport, and none of them is Olympic — except the one with no ice equivalent, which got in.4rules1break
- SkSkateboardingWorld SkateA judged sport that refuses to publish a difficulty table, because the culture it came from does not agree there is one.4rules2breaks
- SuSurfingInternational Surfing AssociationJudged on waves that arrive by chance, and about to be able to standardise them for the first time.5rules2breaks
Decided by score31
Badminton
The racket sport that rewrote its scoring for television and severed its own statistics doing it.
5rules1break1series
Baseball
Ran two different rulebooks inside one sport for forty-nine years, then put a clock on a game that had never had one.
5rules3breaks1series
Basketball
The only sport here invented on purpose, in an afternoon, to solve a stated problem.
6rules1break1series
Basque pelota
One specialty throws a ball at three hundred kilometres an hour; another is played with the bare hand, and ends careers through it.
5rules1break1series
Billiards sports
Three sports that cannot be played on each other's tables — and one of them has no pockets at all.
4rules2breaks1series
Board games
The only sports here a machine plays better than any human — and both know the year it happened.
5rules1break1series
Contract bridge
A partnership game in which telling your partner anything is an offence, and telling your opponents everything is compulsory.
4rules1break1series
Cricket
Three formats of the same sport whose statistics were never meant to be compared, and one rule used once to decide a World Cup and then deleted.
6rules2breaks1series
Croquet
Its club became Wimbledon and the tennis players took the lawns; its one Olympic appearance drew a single paying spectator.
5rules2breaks1series
Esports
The only sport whose field of play is privately owned, and whose rules can be rewritten by a company overnight without asking anybody.
5rules2breaks1series
Fistball
A net sport in which the ball is allowed to hit the ground — once, between every touch.
4rules1break1series
Flag football
American football with the tackle removed — which turns out to change almost everything else.
5rules2breaks1series
Floorball
An indoor stick sport whose goalkeeper has no stick, plays on their knees, and catches the ball with their hands.
4rules0breaks1series
Football
The sport with no central record book, and therefore no way to break one.
6rules1break1series
Handball
Legalised playing without a goalkeeper, and produced the most extreme risk-reward tactic in team sport.
5rules2breaks1series
Hockey
The only major invasion sport to abolish offside outright, and the only one whose surface change priced half the world out.
5rules3breaks1series
Kabaddi
The only sport whose central rule regulates a competitor's breathing: the raider must chant continuously, and when the chant stops, the raid is over.
4rules1break1series- Ko
Korfball
The only team sport whose laws require men and women on the same court, and the only one where you may not shoot when you are being defended.
3rules0breaks1series - La
Lacrosse
Invented a whole new format in 2021 to get into the Games, and is the only sport whose founding nation had to fight for the right to enter.
5rules1break1series - Po
Polo
Played on the largest field in organised sport, with a right of way rule borrowed from navigation and a string of horses rotated through the match like equipment.
7rules2breaks1series - Ra
Racquetball
A wall sport with no out of bounds: the ceiling and every wall are in play, and the only way to lose the ball is to let it bounce twice.
3rules0breaks1series - Ru
Rugby
Left the Olympics as a fifteen-a-side game in 1924 and came back in 2016 as a different one.
5rules1break1series - Se
Sepak takraw
Volleyball with no hands, on a badminton court — and one player may take all three touches, which is the rule that makes it a different sport.
3rules0breaks1series - So
Soft tennis
Japan could not import tennis balls, substituted a rubber one, and the substitution became a different sport.
4rules1break1series - So
Softball
Invented the tie-breaker rule baseball adopted eighty years later, and shares an Olympic listing with the sport it is not.
5rules2breaks1series - Sq
Squash
The fifth sport in the broadcast scoring wave, and the only racket sport where both players stand in the same space.
5rules1break1series - Ta
Table tennis
Changed its ball twice and its scoring once, and every time the reason given was television.
6rules1break1series - Te
Tennis
Invented the tiebreak to stop matches running forever, then took forty-nine years to apply it to the set that needed it.
6rules0breaks0series - Tu
Tug of war
Thrown off the Olympic programme in the 1920s and a fixture of the World Games since it began — the clearest case here of a sport outliving its expulsion.
5rules0breaks1series - Un
Underwater sports
Underwater rugby is played in a five-metre pool with a ball that sinks, and it is the only team sport contested in three dimensions.
3rules1break1series - Vo
Volleyball
The third sport in the broadcast wave, and the only one that invented a new position to fix what its rules had broken.
5rules1break1series
- BadmintonBadminton World FederationThe racket sport that rewrote its scoring for television and severed its own statistics doing it.5rules1break
- BaseballWBSC internationally; Major League Baseball keeps the rulebook that matters for this site's purposes. Ran two different rulebooks inside one sport for forty-nine years, then put a clock on a game that had never had one.5rules3breaks
- BasketballFIBA, with the NBA keeping its own rulebookThe only sport here invented on purpose, in an afternoon, to solve a stated problem.6rules1break
- Basque pelotaFederación Internacional de Pelota VascaOne specialty throws a ball at three hundred kilometres an hour; another is played with the bare hand, and ends careers through it.5rules1break
- Billiards sportsWorld Confederation of Billiards SportsThree sports that cannot be played on each other's tables — and one of them has no pockets at all.4rules2breaks
- Board gamesFIDE, the International Go Federation and the World Xiangqi FederationThe only sports here a machine plays better than any human — and both know the year it happened.5rules1break
- Contract bridgeWorld Bridge FederationA partnership game in which telling your partner anything is an offence, and telling your opponents everything is compulsory.4rules1break
- CricketMarylebone Cricket Club owns the Laws; the International Cricket Council runs the international game. Three formats of the same sport whose statistics were never meant to be compared, and one rule used once to decide a World Cup and then deleted.6rules2breaks
- CroquetWorld Croquet FederationIts club became Wimbledon and the tennis players took the lawns; its one Olympic appearance drew a single paying spectator.5rules2breaks
- EsportsInternational Esports Federation, and the publishers who own the gamesThe only sport whose field of play is privately owned, and whose rules can be rewritten by a company overnight without asking anybody.5rules2breaks
- FistballInternational Fistball AssociationA net sport in which the ball is allowed to hit the ground — once, between every touch.4rules1break
- Flag footballIFAFAmerican football with the tackle removed — which turns out to change almost everything else.5rules2breaks
- FloorballInternational Floorball FederationAn indoor stick sport whose goalkeeper has no stick, plays on their knees, and catches the ball with their hands.4rules0breaks
- FootballFIFA, with the Laws held by the International Football Association BoardThe sport with no central record book, and therefore no way to break one.6rules1break
- HandballInternational Handball FederationLegalised playing without a goalkeeper, and produced the most extreme risk-reward tactic in team sport.5rules2breaks
- HockeyInternational Hockey FederationThe only major invasion sport to abolish offside outright, and the only one whose surface change priced half the world out.5rules3breaks
- KabaddiInternational Kabaddi FederationThe only sport whose central rule regulates a competitor's breathing: the raider must chant continuously, and when the chant stops, the raid is over.4rules1break
- KoKorfballInternational Korfball FederationThe only team sport whose laws require men and women on the same court, and the only one where you may not shoot when you are being defended.3rules0breaks
- LaLacrosseWorld LacrosseInvented a whole new format in 2021 to get into the Games, and is the only sport whose founding nation had to fight for the right to enter.5rules1break
- PoPoloFederation of International PoloPlayed on the largest field in organised sport, with a right of way rule borrowed from navigation and a string of horses rotated through the match like equipment.7rules2breaks
- RaRacquetballInternational Racquetball FederationA wall sport with no out of bounds: the ceiling and every wall are in play, and the only way to lose the ball is to let it bounce twice.3rules0breaks
- RuRugbyWorld RugbyLeft the Olympics as a fifteen-a-side game in 1924 and came back in 2016 as a different one.5rules1break
- SeSepak takrawInternational Sepaktakraw FederationVolleyball with no hands, on a badminton court — and one player may take all three touches, which is the rule that makes it a different sport.3rules0breaks
- SoSoft tennisInternational Soft Tennis FederationJapan could not import tennis balls, substituted a rubber one, and the substitution became a different sport.4rules1break
- SoSoftballWorld Baseball Softball ConfederationInvented the tie-breaker rule baseball adopted eighty years later, and shares an Olympic listing with the sport it is not.5rules2breaks
- SqSquashWorld Squash FederationThe fifth sport in the broadcast scoring wave, and the only racket sport where both players stand in the same space.5rules1break
- TaTable tennisInternational Table Tennis FederationChanged its ball twice and its scoring once, and every time the reason given was television.6rules1break
- TeTennisInternational Tennis Federation, with the four Grand Slams setting their own conditionsInvented the tiebreak to stop matches running forever, then took forty-nine years to apply it to the set that needed it.6rules0breaks
- TuTug of warTug of War International FederationThrown off the Olympic programme in the 1920s and a fixture of the World Games since it began — the clearest case here of a sport outliving its expulsion.5rules0breaks
- UnUnderwater sportsCMASUnderwater rugby is played in a five-metre pool with a ball that sinks, and it is the only team sport contested in three dimensions.3rules1break
- VoVolleyballFIVBThe third sport in the broadcast wave, and the only one that invented a new position to fix what its rules had broken.5rules1break
Combat12
Boxing
Removed its headguards on safety grounds, and lost its governing body altogether.
6rules2breaks1series
Fencing
Made a judged sport measurable in three instalments across fifty-two years, one weapon at a time.
5rules3breaks1series
Ju-jitsu
A combat sport that legislates the sequence of ranges — strike, throw, ground — and another event where two athletes from the same team fight nobody at all.
4rules1break1series
Judo
Rewrote its scoring three times in twenty years, and banned a whole class of technique to stop looking like wrestling.
6rules0breaks0series- Ka
Karate
Waited a century for the Olympics, was contested once at a Games held in the country that invented it, and dropped.
5rules1break1series - Ki
Kickboxing
Has a rule requiring a minimum number of kicks per round, because without one the sport turns back into boxing.
4rules1break1series - Ku
Kurash
Jacket wrestling with no groundwork and no grabbing below the waist — everything judo has spent fifteen years removing, absent from the start.
3rules0breaks1series - Mu
Muaythai
Eight striking surfaces, a clinch you are allowed to hit from, and a mandatory ritual dance before the bell.
4rules1break1series - Su
Sumo
The only combat sport here with no weight classes — except in the international version, which has them, and which the best wrestlers in the world do not enter.
5rules0breaks1series - Ta
Taekwondo
Installed sensors in 2009 and stopped being a judged sport.
5rules2breaks1series - Wr
Wrestling
Voted off the Olympic programme in 2013, and rewrote its rules and its governance in seven months to get back on.
5rules2breaks1series - Wu
Wushu
A sport designed by a state, contesting two disciplines with nothing in common — and the only one to be held at an Olympic Games without being on the programme.
5rules1break1series
- BoxingWorld Boxing, recognised by the IOC in 2025. The previous body, AIBA and later IBA, was suspended in 2019 and expelled in 2023. Removed its headguards on safety grounds, and lost its governing body altogether.6rules2breaks
- FencingFédération Internationale d'EscrimeMade a judged sport measurable in three instalments across fifty-two years, one weapon at a time.5rules3breaks
- Ju-jitsuJu-Jitsu International FederationA combat sport that legislates the sequence of ranges — strike, throw, ground — and another event where two athletes from the same team fight nobody at all.4rules1break
- JudoInternational Judo FederationRewrote its scoring three times in twenty years, and banned a whole class of technique to stop looking like wrestling.6rules0breaks
- KaKarateWorld Karate FederationWaited a century for the Olympics, was contested once at a Games held in the country that invented it, and dropped.5rules1break
- KiKickboxingWAKOHas a rule requiring a minimum number of kicks per round, because without one the sport turns back into boxing.4rules1break
- KuKurashInternational Kurash AssociationJacket wrestling with no groundwork and no grabbing below the waist — everything judo has spent fifteen years removing, absent from the start.3rules0breaks
- MuMuaythaiInternational Federation of Muaythai AssociationsEight striking surfaces, a clinch you are allowed to hit from, and a mandatory ritual dance before the bell.4rules1break
- SuSumoInternational Sumo FederationThe only combat sport here with no weight classes — except in the international version, which has them, and which the best wrestlers in the world do not enter.5rules0breaks
- TaTaekwondoWorld TaekwondoInstalled sensors in 2009 and stopped being a judged sport.5rules2breaks
- WrWrestlingUnited World WrestlingVoted off the Olympic programme in 2013, and rewrote its rules and its governance in seven months to get back on.5rules2breaks
- WuWushuInternational Wushu FederationA sport designed by a state, contesting two disciplines with nothing in common — and the only one to be held at an Olympic Games without being on the programme.5rules1break
Self-officiated1
Not yet covered4
Status and classification only. No rule research has been done on these, and nothing here should be read as though it had. Beside each is the programme that lists it.