According to injury rates requiring medical care, boxing was the most painful Olympic sport at the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
While the perception of "painful" can be subjective and vary from athlete to athlete, objective measures like injury rates provide a valuable metric for comparison. Jonathan Finnoff, chief medical officer of the USOPC, highlights the data collected at the Tokyo Olympics regarding sports injury rates.
Here's a breakdown of the top sports based on injury rate during the Tokyo Summer Olympics:
| Sport | Injury Rate |
|---|---|
| Boxing | ~14% |
| Sport Climbing | 12.5% |
| Skateboarding | 11% |
It's important to note that this data only reflects injuries that required medical attention during the Games. Many athletes compete through pain and minor injuries that are not officially recorded. Furthermore, different sports have different inherent risks; contact sports like boxing naturally lead to a higher probability of physical trauma. Other sports, like gymnastics, may have lower overall injury rates but still pose a risk of severe, career-altering injuries. Therefore, while boxing shows the highest reported injury rate, the severity and long-term consequences of injuries in other sports might be equally significant, if not more so.
