Ranking The 20 Toughest Sports In The World

When it comes to assessing toughness and difficulty, ranking one sport against another can be challenging. It is never apples to apples. So the more measures used to assess the overall toughest sports in the world, the better.

Some time recently, someone at ESPN got it in their head they wanted to rank the toughest sports in the world. Sadly, it got relegated to ESPN’s Page 2 on the website, a part of ESPN that is virtually nonexistent these days but still has plenty of interesting content such as this.

Ranking The 20 Toughest Sports In The World

Like most American boys, I competed in/participated in a ton of different sports growing up. In high school I was on the crew team, golf team, soccer, baseball, and managed a few other sports in the off-seasons. One thing that will always stick with me was how adamant our head coach on the rowing team was that the only sport that required more cardiovascular fitness than crew was water polo… These rankings below of the toughest sports in the world do not reflect that same sentiment as Water Polo is ranked #11 and Rowing is 39th.

Each sport was ranked by ESPN’s Page 2 on 10 criteria: Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Nerve, Durability, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Analytic Aptitude. Just looking at those 10 items I could’ve told you what would rank #1 overall despite not believing it is the toughest sport in the world, but the rankings are the rankings! So let’s check ’em out.

t20. Cycling: Distance

Total score: 54.375

If we were ranking VO2 Max, Cycling would be top 3 for sure. It requires an endurance strength that is not found in many other sports. There’s a reason Cycling is one of the three legs in an IronMan race and triathlons of all levels. It requires elite physical fitness that cannot be faked.

t20. Volleyball

Total score: 54.375

Volleyball at #20 feels suspect. I’m calling it like I see it. Cycling is tougher. Look at what goes in to competing in the Tour de France and compare it to the highest levels of Volleyball and they are night and day.

19. Figure Skating

Total score: 54.750

Figure Skating is incredibly challenging. They practice as much as if not more than any other athletes I can think of. It requires nonstop training. The mental toughness is unmatched for the skill.

t17. Speed Skating

Total score: 54.875

Speed Skating is an incredible show of athleticism. They pick up speed in an instant while balancing on literal knives strapped to their feet. Often times they go careening into the walls. But is it tougher than most of the other sports in the world? I’m not so sure.

t17. Field Hockey

Total score: 54.875

Field hockey is a full body onslaught. It requires endurance, strength, and mental toughness. As a sport, Field Hockey isn’t nearly as high profile as others on this list but that doesn’t make it any less tough.

16. Track and Field: Pole Vault

Pole Vault is challenging, to be sure. It requires an elite skill set of strength and timing. Explosive speed is a must. But it is not what I would consider traditionally ‘tough’ compared to other sports.

Total score: 55.875

15. Rodeo: Steer Wrestling

Total score: 56.500

Why Steer Wrestling in Rodeo was included in the rankings of the world’s toughest sports is a little confusing to me because comparatively it has a small audience. That said, obviously wrestling cattle is as tough as it gets. How is this not #1?!?

14. Lacrosse

Total score: 60.375

Lacrosse is fast paced, physical, and requires extreme precision. It is amongst the ‘most bro’ sports in the world but it is certainly among the toughest. Physicality and Athleticism are at the forefront of Lax and so is the ability to constantly absorb getting checked and hit.

13. Rugby

Total score: 60.500

Rugby has considerably more popularity worldwide than in the United States but that doesn’t make it any less tough of a sport, we just prefer Football here in America. That said, nobody in their right mind would argue Rugby athletes aren’t amongst the toughest on earth. They put their bodies on the line every match. Absolute savages.

t11. Water Polo

Total score: 60.625

Water Polo requires a combination of elite endurance and speed, in the water. You must have lungs of steel for the moments you are held underwater against your will. They have to be prepared to catch a stray limb in the face at any given time. It is a constant barrage of physicality and endurance that truly cannot be compared to other sports.

t11. Skiing: Alpine

Total score: 60.625

For my money, Alpine Skiing should be top 3. You have to be deranged in the head to stand on two razor sharp projectiles and go careening down a mountain at 80MPH, and often compete while injured. They are amongst the most underrated athletes on earth, in my humble opinion.

10. Soccer

Total score: 61.500

Soccer is grueling. A typical Premier League star runs between 6-8 miles in a match with plenty of stretches in an all out sprint. It is a test of endurance and speed, and putting yourself in the right position at all times to make key plays. But is any of that really a measure of ‘toughness’? I’m not so sure.

9. Baseball/Softball

Total score: 62.250

This just feels wrong. Sure, Baseball/Softball requires strength to get the ball out of the park and to make key throws. It also requires immense power from the pitcher and I would rank it #1 in hand-eye coordination. But ‘toughest sports,’ really? Bartolo Colon and CC Sabathia are tough athletes and not just huge dudes who can hit a baseball?

8. Gymnastics

Total score: 62.500

Gymnasts are among the toughest athletes on earth. They spend their entire careers building muscle, tearing those muscles, working through the pain, and competing. All while living their lives in 4-year cycles hoping to peak for the Summer Olympics. I wouldn’t wish the life of an elite gymnast on my worst enemy.

7. Tennis

Total score: 62.750

At Wimbledon in 2018, a match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner lasted a grueling 6 hours and 36 minutes. Tennis is low key one of the most endurance-heavy sports around. It requires peak physical condition and mastery of one’s body and limbs at all times. Tennis seems very appropriately ranked here though I would’ve put it in the top 5 if we were simply using the eye test.

6. Martial Arts

Total score: 63.375

We are talking about Mixed Martial Arts here in addition to traditional Martial Arts. Hand to hand combat, including UFC and other popular organizations, pit the toughest of the tough against each other like modern day gladiators.

5. Wrestling

Total score: 63.500

Wrestling is, by all measures, one of the toughest sports on earth. Nobody could take an objective measurement of wrestling and decide ‘nope, that’s not tough.’

4. Basketball

Total score: 67.875

Hard? Absolutely. There’s a reason that NBA stars are among the highest paid individuals on planet earth. But is it really among the top-4 ‘toughest sports’ on earth? Can we not think of plenty of sports that would be ‘tougher’ than basketball??

3. Football

Total score: 68.375

It is hard to argue that (American) Football is not one of the absolute toughest sports on earth. It requires such an array of specialized skills to compete at any level. Football has a total score of 68.375, just edging out Basketball. The highest scores for Football came in Strength, Power, and Durability.

2. Ice Hockey

Total score: 71.750

With a total score of 71.750, Ice Hockey is considered the second toughest sport in the world based on the 10 categories. Ice Hockey received its highest marks for Durability, Speed, Power, and Agility.

1. Boxing

Total score: 72.375

Boxing ranks as the #1 toughest sport in the world with a total score of 72.375. The 8.88 ‘Nerve’ score, 8.50 Durability, 8.63 Endurance, and 8.13 Strength scores all ranked high among those categories.

All of those seem mostly valid, but if you think it takes more Endurance in Boxing over Tennis or Ice Hockey you are crazy. Nordic Skiing does have a higher Endurance score, as does Distance Swimming and Cycling. But I feel like those numbers for Boxing are wonky.

Disagree? Let me know in the Facebook comments. Or you can shoot me an email anytime to cass@brobible.com, my inbox is always open. And for those curious, the ‘least tough’ sport in the rankings is Fishing. Which I wholeheartedly agree with. I once battled a blue marlin in Costa Rica for nearly 3 hours and though my legs were going to disintegrate during the fight.