Top 10 Most Dangerous Sports

Some sports are more exciting than others. Some sports make you feel the speed, the thrill, and the rush of pushing your limits. But these sports also come with a price. They can be dangerous, even deadly. You never know when something can go wrong, and when it does, it can be fatal. Injuries and deaths are common in some sports, but not in others.

That's why we asked you to vote for the most dangerous sports in the world. We wanted to know which sports you think are the most risky and why, and we've ranked the top ten most dangerous sports based on your opinions. These are the sports that can give you the ultimate challenge, but also the ultimate risk.
The Top Ten
1 Bull Riding Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To receive a score, the rider must stay atop the bull for eight seconds with the use of one hand gripped on a bull rope tied behind the bull's forelegs.

Per capita and overall, BY FAR the most dangerous. I did this for years and lost 2 friends, with an additional 2 friends in wheelchairs for life. Most of the guys I know have lost teeth and have had multiple concussions. I had to quit and moved on to mixed martial arts because I could not physically continue bull riding. If you consider the X Games a sport, that also needs to be considered. Cheerleading is a joke, and soccer is what we do until puberty happens. I guess if you want a sport that consists of crying all the time, soccer could only be second to basketball. Baseball is barely a sport because a position player could almost take a nap. If Prince Fielder is a major athlete in your sport, I'm just saying. He reminds me of golf's John Daly. Oh, and golf is NOT a sport. It falls somewhere between darts and bowling.

Cheerleading, lacrosse, and horseback riding more dangerous than bull riding? Who is making this list, members of the Harvard Country Club?

There is no sport more dangerous than bull riding. Did anyone see the story they did on HBO's "Real Sports"? Bull riders suffer one "significant injury" for every 15 events. The bull rider they interviewed listed his injuries, which included several concussions, 11 surgeries, broken wrists, collar bones, legs, arms, numerous ribs, and several fractures to his face when a bull stomped on his nose! (I don't remember all of them, but it rivaled the injuries of Evel Knievel.)

My niece rode horses (competition jumping) from 7 years old to 17 and never suffered anything more than a bruise.

2 Horseback Riding Horseback riding (or Equestrian) is one of the most intense sports known to man. Not only because it's physically challenging, but it takes more than athleticism. Horseback riding takes commitment, time, patience, and most importantly building a bond with your horse. If you don't have a good relationship with your horse, you're not going to have a good experience. You need to spend as much time with... read more

And of course, the farm where I work has a couple of donkeys and mules. I have tried riding one of the mules. His name was Roo. He was mostly safe to ride, but when it came to gaits, that's when he became wild. His trot was incredibly bouncy. When you ride both English and Western like I do, you may notice a difference. He straight-up wanted to go faster while cantering. Once, when I was herding sheep, he ran faster than any of the dogs. However, he remained calm, and I was riding bareback the whole time. Quite a feat, I have to say.

Whether you are on a horse or another equine animal, these are things you need to look out for. Not all of them are quick thinkers or have a calm demeanor.

There are so many fatal riding accidents that it's nearly impossible to keep count. Working around and with any living, thinking animal immediately presents obvious risks. Jade South, Jessica Forsyth, and Emma Jonathan are just some names of promising young riders who have lost their lives doing the thing they loved most in the last three years. The first two names were girls of 14 years.

3 Cheerleading Cheerleading is a sport and performance activity that combines elements of dance, gymnastics, and acrobatics. Originating in the United States, it has evolved significantly over the years, moving beyond the traditional role of leading cheers for sports teams to become a highly competitive activity in its own right. Cheerleading squads perform choreographed routines that include stunts, jumps, and... read more

Here's to the people who say cheerleading isn't a sport and that cheerleaders aren't athletes. The very definition of a sport is, and I quote, "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature." We practice just as much as you do: every day of the week for two hours. We condition, we run, we do ab workouts, push-ups, and planks. No, we don't lift weights. We lift our athletes - and we hold them 10-15 feet in the air until our arms shake and our legs quiver. Don't underestimate the flyers either. We have more muscle than you seem to think. The amount of balance, leg muscle, and core strength it takes to stay in the air is unbelievable to someone who has never done it before. We run full speed at nothing, then flip in the air, twist, and land on our feet. We jump. We jump high - without a trampoline. We concentrate on pointed toes, extended legs, tight arms, jump height, facial expressions, and smiling. Ever based a basket toss? You get blood blisters on your hands. Softball-sized bruises start to appear as if by magic. As for the flyers, if you're not tight, expect to have your back jammed into your base's knee. Don't forget about the backspots. We are the lifeguards of cheerleading. We save lives every day. We get concussions, get hit, and get rammed into the ground. Without us, your flyers would be injured. Sprained ankles, broken fingers, and pulled muscles don't slow us down. You practice like it doesn't hurt. Now you have 2.5 minutes on a paneled mat. You have 1,000 people in the crowd every time you go on that floor. Four judges. Two and a half minutes of intense physical activity, and we make it look easy. Perfection doesn't exist, but we strive for it anyway. You hit or you miss. Toes weren't pointed? Deduction. Didn't stick your tumbling? Deduction. Stunt didn't hit? Deduction. You all think we're prissy girls who always have to have perfect hair and makeup. You're wrong. At practice, we have messy buns and running... more

4 Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring strength, flexibility, balance and control.

I was in gymnastics for nine years and had many minor injuries, but also some serious ones. It's a difficult and super dangerous sport. When I was 14, I fractured my wrist so badly that doctors thought they might have to amputate it from my elbow down. Luckily, I managed to undergo three emergency surgeries and came out of my four-day hospital stay with my arm intact! I know a lady who had to have both kneecaps replaced due to all the damage from gymnastics over the years. I have weak wrists and knees now, but I'd do it all over again if I could! I recommend this sport for both males and females. It teaches you discipline, balance, flexibility, coordination, teamwork, and more. It's demanding but well worth it.

Gymnastics should have ranked higher than cheerleading. Sure, you get thrown up in the air, but you have someone to catch you or break your fall. In gymnastics, nobody is there for you. You're crying under the bars or on your neck by the vault, all because you fell as hard and as fast as you could towards the ground. Our practices last for six hours a day and can go up to 40 hours a week. Under the section "Cheerleaders number 3," it says they practice two hours a day. Most of us wish for practices like those we had at the beginning of our careers. The only reason cheerleading was picked is that there are many more participants. In gymnastics, as the levels increase, the number of people decreases drastically. Why? Because it gets extremely difficult. Conditioning isn't fun, but all of us endure the long hours of work for one reason: to win. Some of our requirements are illegal in cheerleading, and those aren't even at our top level. And last time I checked, cheerleaders aren't flipping on four-inch beams. Another reason why cheerleaders may incur a lot of injuries is because everything is performed weakly. In gymnastics, if you're told you tumble like a cheerleader, it's an insult. Yes, I agree it takes skill to do some of the things cheerleaders do, but it doesn't really compare to what we gymnasts go through. I've pushed through so much pain in my career, and I guarantee that most of my injuries will affect me forever. I know a person who reached level eight (TWO levels below the highest level) and can barely walk at fifty years old. Imagine how it is for people like me who reach the highest level! Their injuries were fatal, and you can look it up: people die from gymnastics. Some people ask, "Then why do you do it?" I have a couple of HUGE reasons. The friendships made between people who go through the same grueling training last a lifetime. Along the way, you learn discipline, respect, and how to be strong and reach your limits. I wouldn't trade my extremely... more

5 Football American football is a sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end.

I remember a friend who was in tennis telling me about how everyone in his tennis group was so exhausted after doing a workout. Well, us guys on the football team had that same workout a week or two beforeā€¦in full pads, 90-degree weather, and we did 3 of them! I get that cheer and dance and other sports like that are a lot harder than they look, but none of them are quite like football. You have to either avoid losing the ball while being hit by guys well over six feet and 250 pounds or you have to block and tackle them. There are so many little things you have to get right, in addition to the overall physicality. Try memorizing 5-10 formations, 20-40 plays, dozens of assignments, and that's just at the low level of football I'm at!

Now for other sports on the list. Hockey? Please. You get put in the time-out corner if you commit a penalty, whereas in football, you could get penalized, ejected, suspended, or fined (possibly all four). I do have to give respect to their players because they are pretty tough guys. Cheer? You kidding me? Granted, it is harder than it might seem, but it is nowhere near as taxing or difficult as football. Half the cheerleaders I've seen just stand around and wave their pompoms. It's similar with dance. Gymnastics? I know several gymnasts who have never shown or spoken of any injuries. Stay in good condition and it will be a lot safer (this is from a friend who is a gymnast). How did lacrosse and skydiving make the list? Lacrosse players don't suffer injuries half as frequently or as severe as football players. With skydiving, injuries are very easily preventable and I have never heard of too many fatalities from it.

Football is one of the hardest sports to play. Injuries are frequent and sometimes deadly, and you have to have a lot of brainpower to play the game. It's not for the faint of heart.

6 Boxing Boxing is a martial art and combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring..

If you don't respect boxers, get a life or maybe a brain. These are guys who wear no protective gear and punch each other's lights out. You have to be tough or crazy to be a boxer. They put their lives on the line every time they step into the ring. Easily one of the most dangerous sports ever.

Unlike most sports that require pads, boxing and MMA are pretty much raw fighting with just gloves and shorts. Unlike other sports where causing someone injury isn't always intentional, boxing and MMA are sports where people are really trying to hurt their opponent. I think purposely trying to hurt someone is worse than doing it by accident. Motocross, bull riding, and horse riding are things that I do not consider to be sports, only because they require little to no actual physical activity. Cheerleaders don't wear pads either, so they can have that, but most of the injuries caused are unintentional. That's why I think boxing and MMA are the most dangerous sports.

7 Hockey

Alright, I've been playing hockey for 3 years (now midget), and each year I went to the hospital at least once: broken bones, fractures, sprains. I'm lucky! I could have had some bad concussions or had my throat slit by a blade. It's rough, and some people go out to hurt people. On ice, it's hard. Look what happened just the other week: Habs vs. Bruins, Chara. That happens more often than you think. That was just serious. You never know what can happen. Horseback riding is dangerous too. I do it. Maybe not as dangerous, but soccer? Come on, seriously? Put some hockey players on the ice with just shin pads, and you'll see what happens then! We've broken the glass three times this year with pucks - a midget team! They're hard rubber and go fast. Maybe not number 1, but ahead of soccer? I think so.

Hockey is definitely way more dangerous than cheerleading. All your flyers are light, so it's easy. I can yell too. Let me see all of you cheerleaders try to skate on not even a 1-inch blade on a sheet of ice. Yeah, you may say it's easy, but step on the ice and play an actual game. On the ice, rotating shifts for an hour. Bet you couldn't do it. You're at risk for a blade to the neck that could slit your neck, and after that, you're done. I play ice hockey and I'm a goalie. I mean, let's see someone else go stand in a little net and get shots at their body all over. When someone is coming full throttle at you, you never know what could go wrong. Yeah, we work out and train hard too. Cheerleading isn't nearly as dangerous and tough as ice hockey.

8 Rugby

I come from a small province in New Zealand with fewer than 100,000 people living in it. In the last year, two people died and one was paralyzed playing rugby just in my province. That's not including the countless broken bones, concussions, and other injuries. In rugby, if you run straight at someone and have a head knock, you're going to have a bad time. If you are in the middle of a ruck and the other team starts stomping with cleats, you're going to have a bad time. If you're in a maul and it collapses on you, you're going to have a bad time. Rugby is bad if you want to be safe. This list irritates me because people vote for their favorite sport, not the most dangerous one. My favorite sport is cricket, which is pretty dangerous but not as bad as rugby. So, don't vote for sports like soccer. Vote for rugby because it's dangerous.

(Ex-South African here) I played rugby for many years and started playing American football just this past year. I never realized it before, but if you think a helmet and pads make it easier, you have no idea. That helmet becomes a weapon, and it can really hurt getting hit by it. The shoulder pads really aren't as cushioning as I thought they would be.

Additionally, tackling in the air is permitted, as is shoulder barging. Heck, you can get hit to kingdom come even if you're on the other side of the field from the ball. And you most likely won't see it coming, either.

Now, rugby is a great sport and it is tough, but unless you've played both like myself, you can't talk about the pads.

9 Motocross

It's the hardest sport to do because of the tracks themselves. Several competitors have died due to a single fatal error: slipping and then falling, taking seven others along with them. I jumped high over the crash and then crashed into the border of the track, sustaining fractures in my arms due to the walls and in my left leg due to the dirt bike's weight. About 30 people were in the race, and over half were involved in the crash. Although I was the eighth person to crash, I don't remember anything after the incident. I was told that 19 people crashed and five died. Most were injured, but it's unclear who was critically injured. Eleven people were in the back and were stopped before reaching the crash site. Those people saw the whole thing after they stopped, but they didn't see how it happened - just what it looked like when 19 of us were on the ground moaning, screaming, or knocked out. The race was canceled, but the five people who died were awarded the winnings for nearing the end and for being excellent in the sport. It was a sad day. Though now that I'm older, I can't recall the date, but I still remember the accident. So, motocross is dangerous, but for those who don't believe it, please do me a favor and try the damn thing.

10 Wrestling Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds.

My brother has wrestled ever since he was 4 years old. He is 11 now and has had many injuries. He had to get a staple in the back of his head because he was thrown head-first into a table. He has also popped his elbow out of place when someone was arm-barring/chicken-winging him. I have wrestled for 4.5 to 5 years, and even though I am a female wrestler, I have popped my knee out of place, gotten a few bloody noses, black eyes, and been thrown so hard I couldn't breathe. Wrestling is a tough sport for anyone. A wrestler has to remember all the moves they have learned and know when to execute them. They also have to persevere through the three matches they have, whether or not they are winning, because there is always a chance. I believe that wrestling should be in the top 3, but that's just my opinion.

Wrestling should be number one. I've played many sports: baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, football, and hockey. But in wrestling, you sustain far more injuries. I've wrestled for 4 years, played baseball for 9 years, basketball for 5, lacrosse for 6, soccer for 5, football for 4, and hockey for 3 years. Wrestling has become my favorite sport, even though I still love football, lacrosse, and baseball, which are the sports I currently play. I think wrestling is the toughest. Its practices are a hundred times harder, and I've been injured more in wrestling than in any other sport in my life. I've torn my ACL, sprained my knee, broken my hand, had 2 concussions, contracted MRSA (which is worse than a staph infection), sprained and broken fingers, twisted ankles, and suffered a broken nose, all while wrestling.

The Contenders
11 Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick.

Every lacrosse game, you're nearly guaranteed to have at least one serious injury. In our last game, we had to stop 12 seconds early when one of the kids on the other team got sandwiched hard. Concussion. Dislocated shoulder. The whole shebang. We called in the ambulance, and the kid didn't remember half of it the next day. The best part: it was a completely legal hit. Today, our goalie got knocked unconscious by a hit. A guy got hit in the throat with a cross-check. Have you ever been hit in the throat by a guy sprinting at you? All we could do was watch him squirm on the ground, struggling for air. Meanwhile, one of the guys on the other team took a shot on goal and hit our teammate straight in the head. That knocked him out for a little bit too.

Cheerleading number 1? Laugh out loud! Base jumping and caving should be numbers 1 and 2, no question. Lacrosse is probably where it should be, at number 3. Our coach tore his rotator cuff playing college lax, which is pretty bad. It ruined his career permanently. Two friends have broken their legs playing lacrosse in ground ball scuffles just this last season, and our goalie ended up coughing up blood after taking a hard hit. Personally, I haven't had it too bad, but I have taken a 90 mph solid rubber ball to the... well, balls. I was on the sidelines moaning and puking for a good hour. Also, I've temporarily lost feeling in my arms after being checked, I've been knocked out, and have taken some VERY uncomfortable checks to the stomach. In 2004, a player for Cornell was killed after being hit by a shot.

12 Parkour

Someone explain how falling off a horse, getting tackled by a big buff guy, doing a flip two meters from the ground, doing an acrobatic move like a handstand on a gymnastics floor, AND fighting a big bruiser is more dangerous than jumping between buildings over 10 stories high (plus doing acrobatics on solid concrete like a rolling front flip or a wall flip). If you don't think parkour is dangerous, you're pretty (by pretty I mean the definition of) stupid. I barely started training for parkour/freerunning a few weeks ago (plus I watch a lot of professional parkour videos), and I already know I'm bound to fall on my back or bleed worse than that time my scooter's brakes failed, making that the worst bleeding of my life so far. If you knew what it feels like to climb really thin fences with little to no support to step on or jumping between quite large gaps, parkour would be number one. Please, tell me of a hobby that's more dangerous than doing stunts that, if messed up the slightest bit, could lead to, at the very least, extremely severe and life-altering injuries.

13 Skydiving

It's extremely rare for a parachute to just "not open," and it is usually the result of careless packing when it happens. You also have a reserve that has to be packed by an FAA-certified rigger. Not to mention your AAD that automatically fires if you become incapacitated. Non-jumpers don't realize that almost everyone who is killed or injured skydiving does so underneath a fully open and functional parachute. People don't die from equipment malfunction. People die when they get careless, complacent, or cocky and do something stupid underneath their canopy.

Check out group tracking. Two people head-to-head at 100 mph+. Myself and two friends in wingsuits did a head-to-head with vertical distance between us just to see the reaction time needed to spot and veer. No chance. From spot to passing each other was a couple of seconds. Seriously deadly.

Out of 3,000,000 made last year, there were 31 fatalities. That is 1 per 100,000 jumps. Sixty percent of those were under a perfectly good canopy but made low, dangerous turns or collided with another jumper. A couple were suspected suicides. So, actually, it is relatively safe. If your parachute malfunctions, your second chute can deploy extremely fast. This is why we train.

14 Mixed Martial Arts Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of other combat sports and martial arts.

Let's compare a small horse-riding jockey to a lightweight MMA fighter. The MMA fighter would have enough strength to hold on to and control a horse, while the jockey would stand no chance in a fight. They're fragile compared to any MMA fighter and would get smashed! MMA fighters can take a hit and would have more than three times as much chance of surviving a fall from a horse as any jockey. MMA fighters can kill with their bare hands! First, let's see if any MMA fighter can ride a horse on a track without falling off. Then let's pit any jockey against an MMA fighter in a full-fledged match and see how long the jockey lasts. Jockeys can't beat MMA fighters!

I've participated in a lot of sports, mostly martial arts, throughout my life (I'm 38 now), and currently, I practice MMA. It is incredibly dangerous! It's not just the punches, locks, and chokes that are risky - these mostly result in minor injuries like facial, muscle, or bone damage. The other techniques are extremely brutal as well. A suplex throw can cripple or even kill you. A single elbow punch or knee kick can break your facial bones or even damage your brain. During training, wearing protectors is crucial, but in competitions, injuries are almost inevitable. It's unfortunate, but it's part of the sport.

15 Free Climbing

Rock climbing is easily one of the most dangerous sports out there. When you're on belay, you're relying on your equipment and abilities to stay alive, along with other people, especially your belayer, who literally has your life in their hands. If a piece of equipment breaks, or a rope snaps, you're dead. Free soloing is even more dangerous, without any equipment to break your fall. Many companies such as Cliff don't even sponsor many free climbers anymore, though many have amazing skills such as Alex Honnold. If you rate it out of 1/3 between climbing and other sports measuring how dangerous they are, climbing will be sure to surpass the other sports by far. I love climbing and am extremely passionate about it, but it is extremely risky.

Easily the most dangerous sport on this list, free climbing should be at number one. Bouldering in the climbing gym has led to finger injuries, neck injuries, back injuries, and most of all, foot injuries. That, however, is probably the safest category in this extremely variable sport. Even in the gym, lead climbing has resulted in permanent paralysis and broken bones in various places, like the arm or leg. With the next clip right at your chest and the previous one six feet down, you're looking at a fall that could easily give you whiplash. But these circumstances don't even come close to outdoor free climbing. On a multi-pitch route, you rely on your skills and equipment to keep you alive. Bolts may not be drilled in correctly, carabiners may be poorly designed, and rockfall or loose holds may be extremely common. Any of these factors could lead to death. Not only is this sport one of the most physically demanding, but it is also one of the most mentally challenging. You might be at a rest stop, thousands of feet in the air, shaking uncontrollably as you look down to your belayer to ask if it's safe to continue. One wrong move, one tiny slip-up, and you could be sent careening across the mountain, your rope chafing against sharp rocks. For free soloists, who don't use any safety equipment, one wrong move means death. If you're skeptical, look up an Alex Honnold video.

16 Base Jumping

Much harder than it looks, easily #1. You must make a jump, and then steering is extremely difficult to control. If you don't steer well, you will run into the edge of the cliff and die.

You must open the parachute at the right angle, time, and place if you want to stay alive. Then, you must control your para-suit so that you land in the correct spot.

The landing is also very dangerous. You could get seriously injured.

Famed base jumpers like Steve Sutton died only one year ago from a miscalculation in his wingsuit, striking an alpine ridge at approximately 150 mph. His body was so severely damaged that DNA tests needed to be executed to determine it was his body.

More people than you think have met their demise through base jumping. It's an incredibly dangerous sport and profession. Anyone is susceptible.

BASE jumping is much more dangerous than any other sport on this list. How is cheerleading on this list? First of all, it isn't even a sport, and second, more people have died from BASE jumping than from cheerleading. Actually, more people have died from BASE jumping than from almost any sport.

17 Rugby League Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, league, rugby or football , is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field.

In rugby, people are intentionally trying to bring you down, plus you have no protection. Getting stepped on by a 180-pound man with cleats doesn't feel good. Yes, sports like motocross are dangerous, but in motocross, people aren't trying to hurt you. For every rugby game you play, there is a guarantee that you will be sore, and if you're lucky, you won't be injured. Imagine running at full speed and then having another person running full speed tackle you from the side. The impact on your spine and ribs is brutal. It knocks the breath out of you and makes you feel like throwing up, but you have to keep running and keep tackling. Rugby is not for the weak, and it is dangerous, no doubt. Not as dangerous as skydiving, but certainly more dangerous than soccer, cheerleading, and motocross!

Scrums can be pretty dangerous if they fall apart. I was in the second row of the scrum. Once the scrum fell apart, my left arm got jammed between two people and was forced up while the rest of my body continued downwards. I very nearly broke my arm that day. I also had a scare when, after a hard tackle, I felt my neck pop and could have sworn right then that I had broken my neck. Luckily, that was not the case, but it still cost me the rest of the game. I have seen someone's leg broken during a game before. The thing is, this game can be safer if North American players learn to love the sport of Rugby for the game and not the hitting. Communicate with your team, work together, and if you're going to hit, hit smart.

18 Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer towards the shore.

I've never been surfing, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be dangerous. Like, what if you didn't find the right spot to surf and big waves rush up to you and you drown? There might also be dangerous creatures if you go too far into the ocean.

Anything could happen to you when surfing. It could be a normal day and you go for a wave and fall, and this time you hit your head on a rock or sandbar. It is unpredictable. Just the slightest shift in the wind can decide whether you'll come out the way you went in. Your board could pop up and hit you. You can cut your face, foot, leg, etc. You can get held underwater and drown. And then, of course, there are sharks and other fish in the water that could mistake you for a meal. Surfing is so unpredictable, which makes it such a dangerous sport.

I recently watched the film Soul Surfer on my DVD player. The film features a professional championship surfer, Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb), who had her right arm bitten off by a massive tiger shark, but that didn't stop her from achieving her dream of becoming a surfer. Inspired by a true story, Soul Surfer is based on the book of the same name by Bethany Hamilton, published by Gallery Books but produced by MTV Books, a sublabel of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International. You can find this book in the children's section at Barnes & Noble.

19 Mountaineering

How is this not at #1 or close to that? Okay, cheerleaders, see you on the mountain. Let's really put you to the test. So basically, to start out, you save up a few thousand just to start. Then you fly 5,000 miles or so to your destination. Then you take a never-ending hike up the mountains and through all the villages with 30 pounds on your back the entire way. Finally, you make it to the mountain, out of breath and sweaty but cold. As time goes on, air becomes more and more of a need until you're taking 20 steps with one breath. You can't even enjoy yourself once you get to the top because you have to rush back down due to the lack of oxygen. This may sound like it's a two- or three-day trip. Try two or three weeks, or even months depending on the weather. You stick to your competitions. We will stick to our goals to survive.

Okay, first of all, we have to set some boundaries here. What defines dangerous, and what defines sport? Do we conclude that it's the number of deaths that makes it dangerous, or the number of injuries? It would be almost impossible to account for the number of injuries in any sport, so let's go with fatalities. Now, horseback riding is a hobby, whereas horseback racing is a sport. Yet both have had numerous fatalities. Horseback racing has had 26 documented deaths that happened during a race. Boxing has had 57 documented deaths during or shortly after a bout due to the punishment received in the match. As someone pointed out below, there have been over 290 deaths while climbing Mount Everest. And that's just one of the nine 8,000-meter mountains that are climbed on a regular basis. Now add in some of the smaller peaks that have claimed lives, and we're probably looking at over a thousand fatalities due to mountain climbing. And yet, if I had to choose a sport, hobby, or profession that I would consider the most dangerous, I would have to say fishing is probably number one. When you consider that fishing has been going on long before any sport listed here, and that usually a disaster ends up taking out a whole crew, the fatalities from fishing probably can't be measured.

20 Cliff Diving

Cliff diving is quite dangerous if you know how to land, but at the same time, it's quite fun. I've been cliff diving before and it was amazing. People should just be aware of their surroundings: rocks, shallow waters - you get the point.

Diving in general is dangerous. If you do it wrong, you can get seriously hurt!

Jumping from a high cliff can give you a thrill... or a heart attack.

21 Racing

Of course it's a sport. It's in the sports pages, not the real estate pages. The brainless "not a sport" claim is actually meant to suggest that it's not an athletic endeavor. And it is a brainless claim to say that maintaining forceful yet precise and lightning-fast control of the car for over an hour, when g-forces are peeling the muscles off your bones at all times and the engine is roasting you, doesn't require superb fitness. Anyway, the American College of Sports Medicine studied this argument and put it to bed, saying that top race drivers are in fact "elite athletes."

I know lots of people consider motorsports not a real sport because you are just turning a wheel or riding a bike. The physical aspect is more hidden than in other sports, but it's definitely there. These guys have to be super fit in order to endure a race. For example, a Formula 1 race takes up to two hours - two hours where you have to perform at the absolute limit. I mean, they have to hold their bodies up to 6g. Normal people wouldn't last two laps around a circuit. And the mental part? Would you head straight for a wall at over 300 kph? Most people are afraid to go over 200. But that's car racing. Motorbike racing is, at least in my opinion, even more dangerous. They have a little bit of protection against the tarmac, but have you ever seen a high side? They are flying through the air at over 100 kph and land on solid ground. The sole reason the injury rates aren't that high is the limited spots in a race. In the average season, about 24 riders take part, and at least 2 or so will injure themselves in a crash during the season. That's 2 in 24, which is way more than what other sports have. And has anyone here heard of Irish Road Racing, the Macau GP, or the Isle of Man TT? These are the most dangerous sporting events in the world. These guys are the last gladiators, not some silly NFL players. For example, in the 2017 TT, approximately 100 competitors entered the races, and three of them didn't survive. And that's just this year. In the 110 years of its running, over 250 people have died, forty of them since 2001. And that's just one race. Similar races are all over Ireland, where dozens of people die every year. So tell me what you want, but this is the most dangerous sport on earth.

22 Dance

Besides the twelve-hour practices, dancers are constantly working. We have six-day weeks most weeks, all year round. Dancers never stop training. Injuries are common. Most will work through broken toes or torn muscles. I'm not going to compare dance to cheer, gymnastics, or figure skating because I believe we all deserve the top of the list. Dance is both an art and a sport. Bodies are destroyed by dance for the greatest reason: passion. Dancers are incredibly flexible and have incredible core and leg strength. Most other sports have padding or only operate for one season, but not dance. Our work is without protection, all day, every year round.

As a dancer, I can tell you exactly how dangerous and painful it is. Flexibility is a small part of the pain a dancer encounters. Shin splints are so common, yet you still dance. I know people who dance on broken toes or feet and with torn calf muscles. Pointe takes an incredible amount of strength. You also have to have an extreme amount of coordination to dance around people. You constantly risk running into someone. Eight-hour rehearsals are regular for non-professionals, not to mention professionals who work twelve-hour days six days a week. Yet, we smile through the pain to give an incredible performance.

23 Mountain Biking

Not just specifically mountain biking but DOWNHILL/FREERIDE. It's the most intense sport I do and definitely the most exhilarating. Snowboarding does not produce the same amount of adrenaline (yes, not just groomers but the terrain park). One slip-up and it's very easy to get injured. Even more dangerous than motocross, in my opinion. DH is a growing sport and you will definitely hear about it in the future.

Should be number one. Obviously, people haven't been stupid enough to try it, eh guys? That moment when you do a jump off a small cliff and you fall, you stand up with your hand feeling bruised. You brush it off, ride down the hill with your bike, and later the next day find out you broke your hand. We pretend we are not hurt on MTB, unlike football where they cry over a graze.

Why is this right at the bottom?! I do downhill biking, and honestly, most of my mates have had a broken bone or two in the past two years. Combine 20+ mph speeds with incredibly steep, incredibly rocky terrain, then ride a mountain bike down it, and this is the sport you get! How is football more dangerous than this?!

24 Free Diving

Whoever thinks freediving isn't dangerous, think again! Holding your breath for 5 minutes while swimming down to 70+ meters on a single breath of air in shark-infested waters! For starters, an average human will pass out after 3 minutes with no oxygen to the brain. A depth of 70 meters is a very long way down and requires as much mental strength as physical strength to reach it. "Horses are an unpredictable animal." Do you know what else is an unpredictable animal that is much more dangerous than a horse? Sharks. Consider this: what would you rather do - be 50 meters underwater with a great white shark swimming up to you, or racing a horse?

My dad is a free diver and he loves the sport. It takes a lot of training and patience. My dad has taken courses in Florida and trains at least four times a week. The deepest he has dived is 190 feet. A lot of people aren't aware of this sport. Not long ago, one of my dad's friends had a blackout while diving and died. It is extremely important that you never go free diving alone. Always have a buddy with you.

25 Luge

Wow, luge is after walking? This is one of the most dangerous sports ever! If you flip over, have fun scraping your face off, and God knows what else. You go incredibly fast and you have little handholds to grab onto. If you slip, there go your fingers! If you do flip and go sailing through the air, no one knows if you'll land without busting your head wide open, or worse, death! How is walking more dangerous?!

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