Toughest Sports in the World

Rented Mule

What is the toughest sport in the world? It is a question that has been asked for a long time, and with the new NFL season starting and the Rugby World Cup underway, the age-old debate about which sport is the toughest in the world once again rages.

But football and rugby are not the only tough sports out there.

We take at look at the most brutal and unforgiving sports around, counting down to the toughest sport in the world. Forget about wild fan claims; it's time to get scientific.

After careful consideration we have come up with six different categories that make a sport tough: speed, endurance, strength, agility, skill level and physicality.

Forget about the "my sport is tougher because we get hit harder" argument; this slideshow looks at sports that really are the toughest in the world. Toughest to play, toughest to compete, toughest on the body.


I have to agree with #1.

Saila

cycling and boxing no question!

Hank_Jones

Midget tossing.

Those midgets can get vicious.

starbelgrade

Darts.

Samich

Football is soccer, or gaelic, it's not american football, unless you call it american football.

FTA69

Four out of ten for "skill" in boxing? Boxing is one of the most skilled sports out there.

Hande hoche!

That Afghan sport with the dead goat and the horses.

McBauer

Formula 1 is definitely one of the toughest sports and without question should be on that list

Wolfe Tone

Horse racing (over fences) must be up there, I hear Hobbits are pretty tough.

Mr. Rager

Extreme ironing

pablomakaveli

Playing soggy biscuit. The punishment for losing is just too severe.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

How the **** did Gaelic football get in there?

barbarians

6/10 for skill in hurling is ridiculous to be honest.

Ruu_Old

Curling!

astonaidan

As someones whos tried and failed to play hurling without an ounce of skill, Id have to say its the toughest game to play

Samich

McBauer wrote: »

Formula 1 is definitely one of the toughest sports and without question should be on that list

Le Mans 24 hours is tougher.

MungBean

This.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNVkXNdH2mA

DOC09UNAM

Muay thai boxing.

theparish

Surely Ironman triathlon.2.5 mile swim,112 mile cycle and a marathon all to be done under 17 hours.Holy ****.:eek:

Guy:Incognito

FTA69 wrote: »

Four out of ten for "skill" in boxing? Boxing is one of the most skilled sports out there.

Not the way some of them fight.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Of all the sports I've done, including martial arts, the toughest has been Tug 'o War..

Played at a high, competitive level its exceptionally tough and demanding..

Outside of that I'd have to tip my hate at Rugby or Gaelic football & hurling.

We get a lot of guys coming to martial arts from a lot of sporting back grounds, well I've never met anyone tougher than GAA players tbh.

rossie1977

Samich wrote: »

Football is soccer, or gaelic, it's not american football, unless you call it american football.

they don't call it american football in the states they call it football, notice its not called the national american football league, although gridiron would be more appropriate to differenciate it from association football

Samich

rossie1977 wrote: »

they don't call it american football in the states they call it football, notice its not called the national american football league, although gridiron would be more appropriate to differenciate it from association football

But sure we're not in America?

My name is URL

I'm surprised Lacrosse didn't get a mention considering Hurling and Gaelic Football did. Played it (badly) a few times when I lived in the US.. you need a serious amount of skill to play that game well.

The_Thing

Aussie Rules Football

4leto

As mentioned it has to be boxing for the raw blood and guts endurance and the chess playing skill that's involved. It really is a lonely place, that ring.

And Cycling for endurance, they do medically have the biggest hearts, bigger then other endurance sports such as *shudder* rowing, cross country skiing and long distance running. You try cycle up that mountain in the tour de france for 8 hours, no wonder they turn to drugs.

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCoQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fallhealthmedinfo.com%2Ftour-de-france-cyclists-have-the-biggest-hearts%2F&ei=54B3TsqYKcfChAeIvICiDA&usg=AFQjCNGWDr1iJgapUN7wyiAgPIp7SwSZfA

My name is URL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

4leto

My name is URL wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

Now that is a sport I would watch:D cool

Richard Hillman

I remember gaa heads used to bang on about how tough they were etc until the Aussies got a hold of them and absolutely battered them. They even had to change the rules to stop them getting hurt :pac:

Guy:Incognito

My name is URL wrote: »

If the chess game reaches a stalemate, the scores from the boxing rounds are used to determine the winner. If the boxing score is also a tie, the player with the black pieces wins

Harsh

Chuck Stone

Mixed Martial Arts fighters I reckon.

af_thefragile

F1.

You're heart is racing at 180bpm peaking upto 220 and 230bpm, you're sitting in a 40c carbonfiber box with your arse less than two inches above the ground. You need to pay 100% concentration throughout and can barely blink a couple of times per lap. Put your body through forces of upto 6G (sometimes even greater) constantly (every time you break, you feel like your head's about to get ripped off your body). And you've got to do this continuously for 2 hours.

I doubt there is a sport tougher than that unless you count in some of those ultra-marathons where you've got to like run for 300miles in 6 days through the desert.

Samich wrote: »

Le Mans 24 hours is tougher.

Its not actually. Firstly the cars aren't as fast as F1 cars so you're subjected to lesser G-Forces and because its an endurance race, you're not going at 100% all the time so it requires lesser degree of concentration and commitment.

Kevin Duffy

Basketball tough? Me shíte. It shoulda been heaved out of the top 10 in favour of MMA, or maybe rockclimbing - constant concentration, huge skill, have to be very, very fit to take it to a high level, have to make potentially life or death decisions, work well with a partner and understand the mechanics of protecting yourself v pressing on when that's not possible. Like chess with the possibility of falling off the board and breaking your bollix.

af_thefragile

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Basketball tough? Me shíte. It shoulda been heaved out of the top 10 in favour of MMA, or maybe rockclimbing - constant concentration, huge skill, have to be very, very fit to take it to a high level, have to make potentially life or death decisions, work well with a partner and understand the mechanics of protecting yourself v pressing on when that's not possible. Like chess with the possibility of falling off the board and breaking your bollix.

Tbh, rockclimbing is not that though, just requires a lot of upper body strength. Its pretty safe too now with all the safety harnesses and ropes and all... Unless you're this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZpmngOFxOc

Kevin Duffy

af_thefragile wrote: »

Tbh, rockclimbing is not that though, just requires a lot of upper body strength. Its pretty safe too now with all the safety harnesses and ropes and all... Unless you're this guy:

Dan Osman, who is dead now, 'cos the ropes you so wildly incorrectly say make it safe failed on him. It actually doesn't "just require a lot of upper body strength" as you put it. You don't know jack about climbing just 'cos you've seen a vid on youtube.

cocoshovel

E-sports.

kfallon

Horse racing, the only sport where an ambulance follows you around as you perform!

summerskin

Can't believe rugby union is on the list! I started playing union when after 20 years of rugby league my knees were fcucked and my fitness was shiite, and still played for 8 years!

Its a fun game and great to play but my god it's nowhere near as physical or as tough as league

Da Shins Kelly

Hurling has got to be up there. It's amazingly skillfull, and requires a great level of fitness. Those lads are well able to take a hit too.

Cycling and boxing both seem incredibly tough too.

af_thefragile

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Dan Osman, who is dead now, 'cos the ropes you so wildly incorrectly say make it safe failed on him. It actually doesn't "just require a lot of upper body strength" as you put it. You don't know jack about climbing just 'cos you've seen a vid on youtube.

Sorry, I do climb and I know what it takes. It does take concentration but I wouldn't consider it to be the toughest sport out there. It can be a bit like playing chess at times planning your route and such but once you've gotten over the fear that you're hanging in mid air suspended with just a rope, you learn to trust the equipment and your belay partner and its pretty safe. Just wrecks your hands pretty quick but as I mentioned, it about upper body strength. The stronger your arms and fingers are, the better holds you can get and the longer you can go before you wreck yourself.

And that was more than 10yrs ago. Also he had left the ropes out exposed to the weather for a couple of weeks which degraded their quality. Modern ropes and devices are pretty safe. Millions of people climb all the time and you rarely hear of someone dying or getting injured due to an equipment failure.

Littlehorny

The reason boxing is third is because they gave it only 5/10 for agility and 4/10 for skill. To hit and not get hit takes great skill and a lot more agility than this reporter thinks, also boxing is one on one with no where to hide and no sub to take over. The training thats covers every aspect of fitness and the fact you have to make weight and then ther is a guy waiting to pummel the ****e out of you!! Boxing defo no.1 imo.

El_Drago

They include mixed martial arts,cycling,competitive bodybuilding and professional wrestling.

mikemac

American football

Some of the best athletes in the world and the game is intense, it's like a game of chess on a field with designed plays, trick plays, attempts to find mismatches and deception

kincsem

The title says Toughest but then everyone talks about skill.

I thought cross-country skiing was the toughest - long distance at peak effort. Cycling must be tough as there is a RAAM race each year (Race Across America) that is about 3,000 miles and is continuous (no sleep or sleep if you can't continue.)

I was very surprised to see American Football listed. There is big physical contact, but the players have body armour and helmets with faceguards. And about 50% of the game is ad breaks.

Motorsport requires concentration and skill. G forces are big but their necks are supported in F1. They don't suffer from Shermer's neck.

Kevin Duffy

af_thefragile wrote: »

Millions of people climb all the time and you rarely hear of someone dying or getting injured due to an equipment failure.

#5 here and that's without discounting no's 1 and 4 which are elevated because of their poularity with older participants rather than the inherent danger. You still know jack about climbing.

af_thefragile

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

#5 here and that's without discounting no's 1 and 4 which are elevated because of their poularity with older participants rather than the inherent danger. You still know jack about climbing.

That list put Golf at no.3 sorry...

Also we're talking about the toughest sport, not the most dangerous sport.
BASE jumping is usually considered the most dangerous sport cuz a lot of people die doing it. But its definitely not the toughest as it usually doesn't take a lot of physical effort to jump off a building and pull a cord to deploy your parachute.

summerskin

mikemac wrote: »

American football

Some of the best athletes in the world and the game is intense, it's like a game of chess on a field with designed plays, trick plays, attempts to find mismatches and deception

Rubbish! Only cornerbacks, rb's wide receivers, tight ends have ANY fitness level that could be classed as near to that of many other sports. 60 mins of action spread over 3 hours, of which time is split between offense and defence!

An offensive tackle in NFL has about 10% the fitness of your average union prop!

And a union prop is about as fit as Pauline quirk.

summerskin

mikemac wrote: »

American football

Some of the best athletes in the world and the game is intense, it's like a game of chess on a field with designed plays, trick plays, attempts to find mismatches and deception

Rubbish! Only cornerbacks, rb's wide receivers, tight ends have ANY fitness level that could be classed as near to that of many other sports. 60 mins of action spread over 3 hours, of which time is split between offense and defence!

An offensive tackle in NFL has about 10% the fitness of your average union prop!

And a union prop is about as fit as Pauline quirke

kincsem

^
so true it was worth saying twice. :pac:

Kevin Duffy

af_thefragile wrote: »

That list put Golf at no.3 sorry...

Also we're talking about the toughest sport, not the most dangerous sport.
BASE jumping is usually considered the most dangerous sport cuz a lot of people die doing it. But its definitely not the toughest as it usually doesn't take a lot of physical effort to jump off a building and pull a cord to deploy your parachute.

It put it at no. 4, not 3, which is why I mentioned discounting 1 and 4. I know the thread is about toughest sports, you're the one who chipped in with the nonsense about climbing being safe, which was only part of why I suggested it as a tough sport.

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