SPORT. - An English term that has entered the current usage of the language; it derives from the older disport; this, in turn, from Old French desport, akin to Italian diporto (Decameron, VIII, 7); cf. Late Latin disportare, desportare from the classical deportare.
In its primitive meaning it has the value of relaxation, recreation, diversion. And indeed the diffusion of the term, relatively recent (19th century), serves, in a generic sense, to designate games, exercises of strength and dexterity, individual or collective, usually practiced outdoors. With the 20th century, particularly after the First World War, the term took on the most varied aspects, often contrasting with one another, retaining nothing or little in common with the value of its primitive meaning and of the ancient exercises, so that, at present, it is not possible to express it with a single exact definition.
Mosso (Mens sana in corpore sano, Milan 1903, p. 97) had proposed rendering the term "s." with the word "agonistica," of Greek origin, which is undoubtedly closer to the intimate present meaning of s.; but the proposal was not followed up.
Today the "phenomenon" of s. exists in at least a fourfold aspect: a) as a "state of mind." Millions of individuals, of every race, of every religious faith, under every form of government, crowd, as spectators, the sporting gatherings to admire and follow the fortunes of their own "champions," seeing condensed in the struggle of the "athletes" the instinct for primacy so alive in the majority of individuals. A very widespread press and an entire new literature keep this "tendency" alive, which has, if nothing else, the great merit of distracting, in general, millions of men through harmless displays.
b) As "diversion": that is, as a reaction to the ever-increasing affirmation of mechanical civilization and as an antidote to daily work through a systematic practice of gymnastic activities in order to develop muscular capacities and divert the spirit. This is the most widespread category of sportsmen, the healthiest, which includes all social classes, ranging from excursionists to those practicing true and proper gymnastic exercises, without any idea of "affirmation." It is the activity that is recommended to everyone; particularly to those who, having reached maturity, wish to preserve that certain physical well-being so much desired. This physical activity, in order to give those desired benefits, must be chosen according to one's own (biotypological) needs, always taking into account one's "states of health," and not according to one's own tendencies, as commonly happens.
c) As "amateurism": that is, for the affirmation of one's own personality for a higher ideal; to the element of "diversion" is added the "agonistic" character, that is, the "fighting spirit" in sporting contests, the "aspiration to primacy" and "specialization." Amateurism is the purest expression of s., and finds its highest manifestation in the Olympics (v. below). Amateur activity is the one that has the greatest hold on the young, and, provided that the physical and moral integrity of those practicing it is preserved, it should be encouraged and spread, insofar as agonism, when it is "ethical," is an active element in the educational process; and indeed track and field athletics, which is the queen of amateurism, when practiced with bio-psycho-pedagogical criteria, is part of physical education, as are so many other s. (v. EDUCAZIONE, X. L'E. fisica).
d) As "professionalism": it is exasperated agonism, which often generates bold and generous undertakings for the honor of the flag or of other ideals, but which sometimes degenerates into acrobatics for the mirage of large earnings or great fame. These sportsmen practice the art of their exercise utilizing all the qualities of their own body without any regard for it, often exaggerating nature's errors to the detriment of that equilibrium which should be the constant goal of everyone.
The rise of a true and proper sports industry has contributed greatly to the spread of sporting professionalism. Machine and man, technical perfection and human skill and intelligence, fused into a harmonious whole, mark the continuous progress of some important aspects of contemporary civilization.
I. SPORTING ACTIVITIES
The so-called sporting activities are many, and most of them are linked to the manifold traditions of all peoples.
A scheme is given here of the best-known sporting activities in the international field, marking with an asterisk those that are practiced on the occasion of the Olympic Games.
1. Water sports
Canoeing (men's: single kayak 1000 m., two-man kayak 1000 m., single kayak 10,000 m., two-man kayak 10,000 m.; Canadian single canoe 1000 m., Canadian two-man canoe 1000 m., Canadian single canoe 10,000 m., Canadian two-man canoe 10,000 m.; women's: single kayak 500 m.). Rowing (single sculls, double sculls, coxless pair, coxed pair, coxless four, coxed four, eight). Swimming (men's: 100 m. freestyle, 400 m. f., 1500 m. f., 200 m. breaststroke, 100 m. backstroke, 4 × 200 relay; women's: 100 m. f., 400 m. f., 200 m. breaststroke, 100 m. backstroke, relay). Diving (men's and women's: springboard, platform). Water polo. Sailing (classes: 6 m. International, 5.50 m., "Dragons", "Stars", "Finn"). Motorboating (in the various classes). Fishing. Underwater hunting. Water skiing.
2. Air sports
Aeronautical sports (with or without engine) have assumed a remarkable development in recent decades. One need only scan the tables of speed and distance records achieved by modern jet aircraft, and those of altitude achieved by stratospheric balloons, to realize the enormous progress made in the preparation of equipment and men. Parachuting, which together with aerial acrobatics represents a true school of daring, is the most recent recruit of air sports. Model aircraft building has passionate devotees, particularly among the young.
3. Athletic sports
Track and field athletics*: men's (races: 100 m., 200 m., 400 m., 110 m. hurdles, 400 m. hurdles, 4 × 100 and 4 × 400 relay, 800 m., 1500 m., 3000 m. steeplechase, 5000 m., 10,000 m., marathon; jumps: high jump, long jump, pole vault, triple jump; throws: discus, shot put, javelin, hammer; walking: 10 km., 50 km.; decathlon); women's: (races: 100 m., 200 m., 80 m. hurdles, 4 × 100 relay; jumps: high jump and long jump; throws: discus, shot put, javelin).
Heavy athletics. - Freestyle wrestling (classes: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight); Greco-Roman wrestling (classes: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight); weightlifting* (classes: bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight). Other exercises of heavy athletics are: Japanese wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu; Irish wrestling (Glima); Swiss wrestling (Schwingen); Turkish wrestling (Türk Güreschi).
Gymnastics*: men's (rings, pommel horse, floor exercise, parallel bars, vault, horizontal bar, individual all-around and team competition); women's (small apparatus, floor exercise, parallel bars, vault, balance beam, individual all-around and team competitions).
Modern pentathlon* (equestrian race with 15 obstacles, fencing, pistol shooting at a man-shaped target, 300 m. freestyle swimming, cross-country run of about 4000 m.).
4. Combat sports
Boxing (classes: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, heavy welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, heavyweight). Fencing (men's: foil, sabre and épée, individual and team; women's: foil). French boxing (savate). Shooting* (free pistol, artificial pigeon, free rifle, target shooting, running deer, small rifle, small-bore rifle). Archery. Clay pigeon shooting. Hunting. Bullfighting (corrida).
5. Equestrian sports
Horse races include competitions of horses in harness or mounted (gallop, trot, show jumping* etc.). Polo.
6. Winter sports
Ice hockey (Hockey). Bobsleigh (bob): skeleton, two-man, four-man. Skating: men's, women's, pairs, speed 500 m., 1500 m., 5000 m., 10,000 m. Skiing: cross-country, long-distance, jumping, downhill, women's downhill, women's slalom, women's alpine combined.
7. Mechanical sports
Automobile racing (on road and on track) in the various classes. Cycling*: cycling races can be road races, track races, pursuit, time trial, stage races (Giro d'Italia, "Tour de France", etc.). The Olympic events are: sprint, team pursuit, 1000 m. time trial, 2000 m. tandem, road race. A combination of cycling and foot racing is cycle-cross. Motorcycle racing (on roads and on track) in the various classes.
8. Tourism sports
Mountaineering (hiking, climbing, rock climbing, etc.). Camping.
9. Sporting games
Bowls. Football (Foot-ball Association). Golf. Field hockey. Baseball (Base-ball). Basketball* (Basket-ball). Lawn tennis (Lawn-tennis). Handball (Hazená). Croquet (Croquet). Palla a sfratto. Cricket (Cricket). Rugby (Foot-ball Rugby). Volleyball (Volley-ball). Tamburello. Table tennis (Ping-pong). Tug of war. Volata, etc.
II. THE OLYMPICS
In antiquity the highest expression of athletic exercises was given by the ethical-religious celebrations of the games: particularly famous were the Olympic Games (v. GIUOCHI).
In the modern era, on the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), the idea of restoring the Olympic Games as the greatest modern sporting event of world amateurism was launched in 1892. The initiative was successful, and in 1896 in Athens, with 13 participating nations, the first modern Olympiad was held. From that date, except for the interruptions of 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to reasons of war, the event has been repeated every four years: in 1900 (Paris), 1904 (St. Louis), 1908 (London), 1912 (Stockholm), 1920 (Antwerp), 1924 (Paris), 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles), 1936 (Berlin), 1948 (London), and the last, the XVth (the chronological numbering also counts those not held), took place in 1952 in Helsinki with the participation of representatives of 70 nations. Since 1924 (Chamonix), following the initiative taken in 1921 at Lausanne on the occasion of the Congress of the Winter Olympic Committee, the "winter games" have also been contested, which have been repeated every four years in 1928 (St. Moritz), 1932 (Lake Placid), 1936 (Garmisch), 1948 (St. Moritz), 1952 (Oslo). The events admitted to the Olympic competitions are listed above, marked with an asterisk.
III. THE ORGANIZATION
Almost all sporting activities are organized into national federations which, in general, in turn belong to international federations, and this for the purpose of better coordinating and developing the problems inherent in the individual sporting activities. In Italy the Italian National Olympic Committee (C.O.N.I.) arose, through the work of a group of enthusiasts, in the year 1908, on the occasion of the IV Olympiad (London), in order to coordinate the activities of the sports federations with a view to each Olympiad, and in 1927 it underwent a substantial reform, becoming "the Federation of Federations". By the law of 16 Feb. 1942 no. 426 and the subsequent amendments made by the R.D.L. [Royal Decree-Law] of 2 Aug. 1943 no. 704 and by the D.L. [Decree-Law] of 11 May 1947 no. 362, the C.O.N.I., through the "Olympic" and "non-Olympic" sports federations, provides for the preservation, the supervision and the increase of the national sporting heritage; it coordinates and regulates sporting activity however and by whomever carried on; it has the power of supervision and protection over all organizations that devote themselves to sport and ratifies their statutes and regulations, directly or through the national sports federations; it prepares the athletes and the suitable means for the Olympics and for all other national or international sporting events, with regard to Olympic preparation or for the attainment of other aims. For the Catholic sporting movement in Italy v. CENTRO SPORTIVO ITALIANO (C.S.I.); FEDERAZIONE ASSOCIAZIONI SPORTIVE CATTOLICHE ITALIANE (F.A.S.C.I.).
Bibliography25 works
Michele Di Donato
IV. RELIGIOUS AND MORAL PROBLEMS
The many gymnastic-sporting activities described above, having as their object no small part of man's education, pose, in addition to the problems assessed by the various positive sciences, also other problems of a religious and moral nature, whose solution is necessary for a right orientation and for the attainment of an end worthy of the human person, considered under its twofold aspect, natural and supernatural. Now, the solution and suitable norms are offered by the fine analysis of the subject contained in the address of His Holiness Pius XII to the "National Scientific Congress of Sport and Physical Education" delivered on 8 Nov. 1952 (AAS, 44 [1952], pp. 868-76).
The elements that contribute to the exercise of an art - and sporting activity may excellently be compared to an art - are three: the instrument, the artist, the use of the instrument; these must, as in every other activity, conform in their exercise to the end or ends to be attained.
Now, the proximate end of sport is to educate and strengthen the body on the static and dynamic side; a more remote end is the use that the soul must be able to make of the body for outward and inward development and therefore for the perfecting of the person; the supreme end, which belongs to the human person and is therefore common to every activity of his, is to bring man closer to God and to procure for him eternal happiness. In our case, moreover, the instrument is the body; the artist is the soul joined to it in unity of nature; the use is the exercise of gymnastics and of sport. From this there logically follows a whole series of precious teachings.
a) The body. - To the marvels of structure and of forms, of functions, of instincts and of energies, which make it an enchanting masterpiece of beauty, harmony and vitality, religious and moral thought adds yet another sacred character. Formed, indeed, from the slime of the earth, vivified by the spiritual and immortal soul, it was raised by the Creator to the dignity of a temple of God himself, present in the soul with a wholly particular presence, through supernatural Grace, and destined definitively to share in the eternal happiness of the soul, to which it was united on earth (I Cor. 6, 13-20; 15, 42-43). Nevertheless, in the human composite it does not hold the first but the last place, primacy belonging to the soul. It must therefore be esteemed, respected, cared for and invigorated, but not divinized, just as neither race, nor blood, nor any other somatic presupposition or element is to be divinized.
Furthermore, as a consequence of original sin, the instincts and forces of the body tend to prevail over right reason, dragging one to evil. Now, if there are forms of sport which by their severity help to curb the instincts, there are others besides which arouse them with violent force and with the seductions of sensuality. And there are also environmental circumstances, a nudism neither necessary nor fitting, an exhibitionism of gestures and poses, which inject the poison. For which reason the religious and moral sense sets its veto against such a manner of practicing sport.
b) The soul. - Without the soul, sport would be only a vain agitation of limbs, a display of fleeting beauties and an ephemeral satisfaction; the soul is the principal and determining factor in the movements of the limbs, in the various agile and prudent shifts, in the contractions of the muscles. Therefore the religious and moral spirit imports and demands: 1) that in the estimation of sport, in the judgments about the person of athletes, in the admiration of their feats, the hierarchy of values be observed and therefore the greater worth not be given to the muscles of the person, but to the person who best knows how to master them and subject them to the empire of the spirit; 2) that in case of conflict, the superior and intangible interests of the soul not be sacrificed to the advantage of the body (probity, justice and equity, moral integrity and natural modesty, due care of life, of health, of the interests of the family and of one's profession, of reputation and honor); 3) that the joy of possessing robust strength and capacity for success and victory be esteemed neither the only nor the principal element of action and therefore that neither gymnastics nor sport be elevated to the supreme purpose of life.
c) Practice. - For the practical exercise of sport it will be necessary to remember that, like any other activity, it must submit to and respect the natural law and the positive laws of the Church and of the competent authority; consequently: 1) the day of the Lord must be sanctified, fulfilling one's religious obligations; 2) one must remember and not neglect family obligations, which must be put before the supposed demands of sport and of sporting associations; 3) one must not recklessly expose one's own or others' life and health to serious dangers. Which, if it holds for all sporting forms, must all the more hold for competitive sport, especially professional, which can easily degenerate into brutality.
Once the religious and moral content of sport has thus been carefully respected, it will be inserted into life as an element of balance, of harmony and of perfection, as a valid aid in the fulfillment of other duties, as well as a flourishing of physical and psychic health in the service of the spirit. - See pl. LXXVII.
BIBL. see under the entry GINNASTICA.