I did a background check on chess, if it had ever featured as an Olympic sport and why it has not been considered so far. The frequently recurring opinion raised was that Chess involved little or no physical activity and hence could not be considered an actual sport, much less an Olympic worthy one.

This two edged swords of competitiveness and physical exertion make up the bane of what any sporting activity should feel like. In a professional sense, there seems to be a lot more balance in this regard as even sports not previously known for too much physical exertion such as Golf have evolved with participants realizing that their physicality may be related to their performance.

Physical exertion is perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when asked to define sports from an ordinary perspective. Anything that can get the Heart pumping, lungs breathing, blood flowing in quick, rhythmic motion certainly carries with it a sense of sport. In the same vein where activities like Golf and Fishing are excluded from physical activity, exertion may as well ignore the need for competition such as solo runs.

The competitive spirit is what pushes people beyond their limits and likewise keep audiences interested. When you consider for instance just how much athletes put into improving their performances, it is clear that the modern day athlete is a competitor before any other thing. What this means is that full time careers can/have been made from people testing the limits of their physical capabilities.

But How Well do They Stand Alone?

Can one survive without the other? Generally speaking, it is very difficult to have these two words (competition and exertion) used exclusively from one another in Today's World. However, there are rare cases such as the chess scenario which begs the question if an activity can survive independently as a sport without a combination of these two factors.

Originally, I had put into consideration the huge mental energy put into competitions such as chess. One may argue that this should be sufficient to count as a sport. However, a holistic introspection into such a consideration would bring out a few loopholes. For instance, one can also argue in the same vein a Chemistry exam to be categorized as such owing to its high level of competitiveness and mental drain.

For Physical activities such as solo running, it is a lot easier to see circumstances of independence. But as an active runner over the last few years I have observed that we are always in competition with someone or something in every given activity performed, even if that something is indeed ourselves. We always want to get better and improve whether the goal is a short term event or a long term one such as physical health.

The true spirit of sports comes alive when we manage to blend these two unique traits into one named event with perfect synergy. As the Olympic games draw near, with a slew of sporting events lined up we will be reminded of simply how much of a gift sport actually is.