Disciplines

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes three levels of competition – sports, disciplines, and events. Sports are well-known and relatively self-explanatory. Events are any competition at which final results occur and medals are awarded at the Olympic Games. Disciplines are considered a sub-category of sports. Prior to recent revisions, the Olympic Charter defined a discipline as essentially a branch of a sport, although in the most recent version of the Olympic Charter (in effect December 2014), discipline is not strictly defined. The standards of admission to the Olympic Program are the same for a discipline as they are for a sport. Most sports, such as track & field athletics, or shooting, do not have disciplines, but consider all events part of one sport. There are seven summer Olympic sports that recognize disciplines, as follows:

There are three winter Olympic sports that recognize disciplines, as follows: