Top 10 Most Dangerous Sports In The World
- About 20,000 injuries a year happen in the world of cheerleading.
- Base jumpers seek their adrenaline rush by jumping off buildings, antennas, spans, and earth.
- In British Columbia, Canada, you can enjoy the wonders of skiing while being pulled by a helicopter.
Competition in different types of sports, even if you are not directly facing your opponents, is always accompanied by a risk of injury. In water, air, or on the ground, wherever the athletes choose to prove their athleticism, sport can be a dangerous thing.
10. Helicopter Skiing
Yes, you read this right - skiing with a little help from a helicopter, what could go wrong? A lot of things, if the athletes are not careful: vast numbers of muscular and skeletal types of injuries are standard in this sport. If you wish to try this for yourself, you can do so in the helicopter skiing country of origin - Canada. In British Columbia, you can enjoy 11 meters of dry snow while being pulled by a helicopter.
9. Cheerleading
Cheerleaders like to throw their members into the air or create human pyramids, as a way to support their local sports team. All of this is followed by cheerful chants and songs that boost the morale of both the audience and their local club. However, cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, with close to 20,000 injuries related to cheerleading every year.
8. Luge
Going 90+ mph is dangerous in any vehicle. But imagine people doing so on a frozen track, that looks like a long halfpipe. Athletes lie down on their backs and throw themselves down the lane, fighting every moment not to be catapulted off the halfpipe.
This sport has had its share in the deaths category, taking its last victim in the 2010 Olympics, when Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luge athlete from Georgia, died on the opening day of the Winter Olympics held in Canada.
7. Racing
It does not matter, a race car or a superbike - anything that can go around racetracks with 200+ mph is surely life-threatening. Although the level of security in this sport has grown like in no other, with the introduction of construction materials that can withstand high-speed crashes, racing is still one of the deadliest sports in the world.
In the last 20 years, there have been more than 40 deaths related to car racing: Indy 500, Nascar, even the Dakar Rally, where there is nothing but sand dunes around you, these are all legendary, but dangerous events that take victims. Same goes for the people that fly around on just two wheels - if you have not seen any of the Isle of Man races, we suggest you do. Blood-freezing!
6. Gymnastics
Very few sports are as impressive gymnastics is. People compete in various disciplines that test how well they control their bodies. It is a combination of strength, flexibility, and balance. The amount of injuries that follow this sport is quite scary - bone and wrist fractures are a frequent appearance in gymnastics competition, and this sport has witnessed some of the worst falls and spinal fractures ever.
5. Bull-Riding
Similar to Jallikattu, this sport also involves a bull, and bulls are big and scary, no matter where you face them. This rodeo sport is quite simple - you have to survive as long as you can on top of a raging bull. Neck and head injuries, along with bone fractures, are common in bull-riding. Watch out, cowboys!
4. Soccer
The frequency of injuries in soccer is rather high. People chasing just one ball, and often lunging with one or two feet to tackle their opponents is an activity that often goes wrong. Practically every soccer match is interrupted by the medic team, rushing on the field to help an injured player off the pitch. Leg muscles and ligament injuries are very often. Still, all of this does not keep players competing fiercely in soccer leagues around the globe.
3. Boxing
Are you sure you do not want to get hit in the head by a 220 pounds boxer heavyweight athlete? Yes, yes you are.
As much as the protective gear has developed in the last few decades (softer gloves, better helmets), boxing is a hazardous sport. It is estimated that close to 90% of all people that choose boxing as their careers suffer some brain damage and injury in their careers. Boxers are also prone to developing severe neural problems later in their life, like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.
2. Jallikattu
Tamil Nadu is one of the states in India. During the event of Pongal, which is a way the people say thanks to the harvests that feed them, they participate in bull-taming. Jallikattu is a sport that caused numerous reactions from animal activists, as it is dangerous to both animals and humans. In a nutshell, the game of Jallikattu is organized in a way that a bull is released into an open field, and many participants try to catch him and subdue him. In the last 20 years, more than 200 people have died participating in this dangerous sport.
1. Base Jumping
You have all probably seen people jumping out of planes with parachutes, and thought - man, I could never do this!
Well, some people do not even need a plane to throw themselves down buildings or mountains. Base jumpers also use a parachute, but they, as the word suggests, actually jump from different objects. The BASE stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth. In this adrenaline-packed activity, people run off high towers or buildings and throw the parachute that they are holding in their hands.
