Squash

Squash, formerly called squash racquets, is a racket and ball sport played by two players in a four-walled court, with a small, hollow rubber ball. Squash was developed from the older game of racquets in England, in the 19th century. About 1830, boys at the Harrow School modified the game when they noticed that a punctured ball, which “squashed” on impact with the wall, offered more variety to the sport.

World Squash (WSF) is the international federation for the sport, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The organization was formed as the International Squash Rackets Federation (IFRS) in January 1967, and rebranded to the World Squash Federation (WSF) in 1992. In early 2025, the organization changed its name to simply World Squash, although it still uses the WSF acronym. As of January 2026, the WSF has 93 full members and 20 associate members.

The sport first appeared at the World Games’ programme in 1997, with singles events for men and women, and their presence in the global competition has been continuous since 2005.

Squash has been bidding to be on the Olympic Programme for many years, and the WSF has formed a commission specifically tasked with obtaining IOC approval of squash as an Olympic sport. A mixed exhibition tournament was first held at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. In August 2022, the Los Angeles 2028 Organizing Committee shortlisted nine proposed sports for consideration as optional events for those Olympics, with one of those sports being squash. At the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, India, the IOC approved squash as an optional sport for the 2028 Olympics, along with four other sports.