In this article, we are going to discover which are the most difficult sports in the world. Many will argue that the most difficult sport is the one they practice, but the truth is that research shows there are significant differences between some sports and others.
Of course, this is a ranking of the most difficult sports and not the best, most fun, or most important ones.
Variables of difficult sports
The data we are going to work with is provided by a study conducted by ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network). This company is one of the media groups based in the USA that owns several books, magazines, radio stations, and television channels. It is currently owned by The Walt Disney Company.
The study analyzed 60 different sports around the following variables identified by a team of researchers and scientists for each sport, taking into account the following variables:
Endurance
Endurance is the ability of a person to perform a physical (or mental) activity for a certain period of time. The sport that scored the highest is distance cycling. Undoubtedly, one of the basic variables that make any sport one of the most difficult in the world.
Strength
The ability to lift a heavy object, either once or repeatedly. Weightlifting scored the highest in this variable, making it quite a difficult sport.
Power
Although it may seem the same as strength, power emphasizes having to exert a certain amount of force in a short period of time. Again, weightlifting is the winner.
Speed
Sprinting athletics is the sport that most requires this quality. This variable did not score very high in most of the world's most difficult sports.
Agility
In this variable, the two sports that scored the highest were, in descending order: soccer and basketball. Sports that are within our ranking of the world's most difficult sports.
Flexibility
The ability to stretch our muscles and joints is very important; most notably in gymnastics.
Nerve
The tension and pressure felt during the performance of the sport stand out especially in car racing and bull rodeos. That is, by "nerve" we mean the person's ability to overcome fear and maintain control.
Duration
The sports that scored the highest in duration were boxing and soccer (tie).
Hand-eye coordination
With a score of 9.25 out of 10, the most difficult sport in this regard was baseball/softball; just ahead of ping-pong.
Analytical aptitude
The ability to analyze the situation and act based on the data has been especially difficult in ice hockey, which tied with soccer and car racing.
The 10 most difficult sports
Now, let's discover the list of the most difficult sports in the world. To compile it, as we said, 60 different sports were considered, their scores in the variables already described, and the average was calculated.
10. Soccer
Opening the list of the most difficult sports, we have one of the most practiced sports in the world. Notable for its high demand for agility and strategic analysis.
9. Baseball/Softball
Despite being a sport that requires little endurance and agility, it is one of the most complex sports in terms of hand-eye coordination. It also demands great power capacity due to sudden sprints and batting.
8. Gymnastics
By far the most difficult sport in terms of flexibility (scoring a 10, compared to 8.5 in second place for swimming diving) is also one of the most difficult sports in the world.
7. Tennis
With notable scores in most variables, tennis is a difficult, complete, and complex sport. The only low score it received was in "nerve."
6. Martial Arts
Reaching the midpoint of the list of the most difficult sports, we have a conglomerate of sports such as martial arts. Here, disciplines like Taekwondo, Judo, or Karate are grouped, presenting themselves as one of the most balanced sports in terms of analyzed variables.
5. Wrestling
With a remarkable use of strength and power, wrestling is one of the most difficult sports.
4. Basketball
Just shy of the podium, we have the much-acclaimed basketball. A sport that scores low in nerve and flexibility but with very high scores in agility, duration, and hand-eye coordination.
3. American Football
Entering the top 3 with American football. Strength, agility, duration, analysis... A large number of factors make it the third most difficult sport in the world.
2. Ice Hockey
Just shy of being number one, with a total score of 71.75, we have ice hockey as the second most difficult sport in the world, excelling in duration, coordination, analytical capacity, and endurance.
1. Boxing
We finally reach the most difficult sport in the world; number one. With a score of 72.375, boxing wins the gold medal as the most complex sport with very high scores in endurance, strength, power, agility, nerve, duration, and coordination.
It only slightly decreases its score in terms of flexibility and analysis.
Special mention: chessboxing
Known in English as chessboxing, this hybrid sport arises, as we can imagine, from the combination of chess and boxing.
Being a little-known sport, the aforementioned study did not take it into account, but to perform well, one must master boxing technique (like any boxer) while having the necessary skills to play (and win) a game of chess, with the added challenge of being fatigued and in pain.
Its practice began thanks to Iepe Rubingh, who launched it for the first time in 2005, although the idea came from a comic book artist (Enki Bilal) in 1992.
In a competition, participants can win by knockout, checkmate, or by judges' decision after the 12 minutes of chess have elapsed (which are distributed in several moments interspersed with boxing rounds).
Should chessboxing then be the most difficult sport in the world?