Sports Facts for Kids
Fun facts from the world of sports
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar scored 100 international centuries (100 runs in a single innings) across his career — a record that no other cricketer has come close to matching.
The three-point line was added to NBA basketball in the 1979–80 season. It was designed to make long-range shooting more valuable and open up the court for more exciting play.
Table tennis was invented in Victorian Britain in the 1880s as an after-dinner parlour game for the upper classes. It was originally played with a champagne cork as a ball and cigar boxes as bats.
Visually impaired athletes can compete in archery at the Paralympic Games. They use a tactile system with an assistant who gives them verbal directions about their aim and the direction of the target.
The sports bra was invented in 1977 by two American women, Lisa Lindahl and Polly Smith, who sewed two jockstraps together to create a prototype. It revolutionised women's participation in sport.
Luge is the fastest non-motorised sport in the Winter Olympics. Athletes lie flat on a small sled and can reach speeds of up to 145 km/h while racing down an icy track head-first.
Cricket is believed to have been invented by children in the Weald, a forested area between Kent and Sussex in England, sometime in the 16th century. The first definite reference to it as an adult sport dates to 1611.
Water polo was invented in Scotland in the 1870s as a way to attract spectators to public swimming events. It became an Olympic sport in 1900, making it one of the oldest team sports at the Games.
Judo was created by Dr Jigoro Kano in Japan in 1882 as a modern martial art based on jujitsu. The word 'judo' means 'gentle way' in Japanese, reflecting its emphasis on using an opponent's energy against them.
The highest altitude football match ever recorded was played on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2017, at an altitude of 5,895 metres above sea level.