Summer Olympic Sports Ranked

A Casual Fans Ranking of Nearly Every Sport in the Summer Olympic Games

32 sports are in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

Eight sports will be in Milano

The Summer Olympics begin this week, and to celebrate, we spend way too much time looking at what sports are and are not on the docket. A total of 40 sports are in the Olympics, including 32 in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and eight in Milano.

The IOC has divided the Summer Olympic sports into six categories based on popularity, using the following criteria:

• Number of nations participating
• Number of athletes participating
• Television viewership
• Ticket sales
• Media coverage

Using these criteria, the IOC has ranked the sports in the following order:

1. Athletics
2. Aquatics
3. Gymnastics
4. Cycling
5. Basketball
6. Volleyball
7. Football
8. Tennis
9. Handball
10. Hockey
11. Rugby
12. Badminton
13. Boxing
14. Canoeing
15. Equestrian
16. Fencing
17. Golf
18. Judo
19. Karate
20. Modern pentathlon
21. Rowing
22. Sailing
23. Shooting
24. Skateboarding
25. Sport climbing
26. Surfing
27. Table tennis
28. Taekwondo
29. Triathlon
30. Weightlifting
31. Wrestling

So, there you have it. The IOC's official ranking of the Summer Olympic sports. But what do casual fans like us think? We've put together our own ranking of the sports, based on our own criteria. We've considered things like excitement level, watchability, and overall appeal. Here's our list:

1. Athletics
2. Basketball
3. Volleyball
4. Football
5. Tennis
6. Swimming
7. Cycling
8. Gymnastics
9. Handball
10. Hockey