Sports Facts for Kids
Fun facts from the world of sports
The offside rule in football has been modified many times since 1863. The current rule states that an attacker must not be nearer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-last defender when the ball is played.
For most of human history, people ran completely barefoot or in minimal sandals. The first running shoes with cushioned soles were not developed until the 1970s, and they transformed how millions of people run.
Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. Athletes must ski at high intensity and then steady their breathing and heartbeat enough to accurately shoot at targets just 50 millimetres wide.
Beach volleyball began on the shores of California in the 1920s and became an Olympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Teams of just two players must cover the entire court on sand, making it extremely demanding.
Modern boxing gloves were introduced to protect a boxer's hands rather than their opponent's face. Bare-knuckle boxing was common before gloves, and fights could last for hundreds of rounds with no time limit.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology was used at a FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2018 in Russia. It allows referees to review potential match-changing decisions on video replays to correct clear and obvious errors.
Orienteering is a sport in which participants navigate between control points using a map and compass, often through woodland or rough terrain. It was developed in Scandinavia in the early 20th century.
Florence Griffith-Joyner (known as Flo-Jo) set the women's 100 metres world record of 10.49 seconds at the 1988 US Olympic Trials — a record that has stood for over 35 years.
Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1975. She later became the first woman to climb the highest peak on every continent.
The revolutionary 'Fosbury Flop' technique in high jump — going over the bar head-first and back-down — was invented by American Dick Fosbury at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He won gold and changed the sport forever.