Sports (or sporting) is any form of typically competitive physical activity that, through organised or casual competition, attempt to utilize, improve or maintain certain physical aptitude and abilities while providing amusement to participants, and sometimes, spectators as well. Though originally developed for Olympic Games, sports have since developed into an international event by the inclusion of smaller games such as beach volleyball and baseball; though, even these games are now an Olympic sport. Though many sports may be classified as a type of game, they are not always; for example, gymnastics, swimming, fencing and badminton are all considered games but also motor sports and, therefore, a type of game.
The International Olympic committee has attempted to standardise the definition of a sport, in order to reduce the number of games and thus, the number of competitors, from the indeed excessively large number of different sports, which is a criteria used to define a sport by most countries. The I Olympics committee has chosen to standardise the definition of a sport whereby it has stipulated that matches are played no more than 45 minutes, with breaks in between. In addition to this, the games are played for each respective disciplines, with each discipline being separated by at least five meters. Also, the matches played are subject to a strict time limit, with the games being over after only two hours. These time limits are not seen to interfere with the enjoyment of the games; however, the definition of the term, as a whole, makes it entirely possible for a game to be enjoyed beyond its competitive aspect.
The I Olympics committee has sought to create a more universally acceptable definition of a sport, one which will reduce the number of disputes about whether a sport meets the necessary criteria to be called a sport or not. Many have criticized the standardisation of a sport’s definition and the exclusion of certain sports from the Olympic games, especially sports such as cricket and American football, from Olympic qualification and the Olympic Games. However, the committee has remained determined to maintain the criteria set out within its own guidelines and to provide an accurate and definitive definition of what a sport is, irrespective of whether it meets the other criteria.