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SafetyScorer

Ranking

Safest Sports 2026

Every team sport and individual sport we rate, from football, rugby and basketball to tennis, running, gymnastics and boxing, with the safest first. Adventure and extreme activities such as climbing, diving and skydiving are left out. Each score combines the chance of dying in micromorts with serious injury risk, how much training and gear reduce the risk, and how close help is.

Updated · Scores update with each page

The ranking

  1. Individual sports

    Golf

    Golf is a low-risk sport. The main cause of death on the course is cardiac arrest in older men, at roughly 0.3 micromorts per round in the US. Lightning kills fewer golfers than people think, and golf carts are behind a large share of golf injuries treated in emergency rooms.

    Score 87, grade A

  2. Team sports

    Baseball

    Baseball is one of the safer team sports, at about 0.04 micromorts per high-school session on our estimate. Rare deaths come from a ball to the chest or head and from heart conditions; softball is similar or lower. Overuse injuries of the throwing arm are the common problem.

    Score 86, grade A

  3. Team sports

    Cheerleading

    Cheerleading has a low death rate, about 0.01 to 0.03 micromorts per session on our estimate, and one of the lowest everyday injury rates in US school sport. The concern is the rare catastrophic fall from a stunt onto the head or neck. Rules on basket tosses and dismounts have measurably cut these.

    Score 86, grade A

  4. Team sports

    Cricket

    Cricket is low-risk for staying alive. Helmets have almost ended deaths from head blows, and Australian records suggest about 0.03 to 0.05 micromorts per club match on our estimate, now mostly from balls to the chest or neck. Hamstring strains and fast bowlers' back stress fractures are the common injuries.

    Score 86, grade A

  5. Individual sports

    Swimming

    For a swimmer who can swim, a session in a supervised pool is one of the safest forms of exercise. The UK average is about a quarter of a micromort per swim, and most adult deaths happen in open water. The serious risk is to young children near unfenced pools and water at home.

    Score 86, grade A

  6. Team sports

    Volleyball

    Volleyball is one of the safest team sports. The net keeps opponents apart, US records show no traumatic deaths in 43 years, and medical deaths run at about 0.1 micromorts per session or less for young players on our estimate. Ankle sprains, finger injuries and worn knees and shoulders are the usual problems.

    Score 86, grade A

  7. Individual sports

    Tennis

    Tennis is one of the safer sports you can play. Deaths on court are almost always cardiac events in older players, and the risk in one session is well under one micromort. Injuries are common but mostly minor sprains, strains and overuse problems.

    Score 85, grade A

  8. Individual sports

    Pickleball

    Pickleball is one of the safer sports to take up, with a risk of death well under one micromort per game. The real risk is a fall. US emergency departments treat tens of thousands of pickleball injuries a year, three-quarters in players aged 60 to 79, and fractures of the wrist and hip are common.

    Score 83, grade B

  9. Individual sports

    Running

    An ordinary recreational run carries well under one micromort, about 0.6 per 5 km in UK parkrun data. The rare deaths are mostly heart attacks in older men with hidden heart disease. Overuse injuries are common but seldom need a hospital, and cars are the risk runners can most easily reduce.

    Score 83, grade B

  10. Team sports

    Field hockey

    Death in field hockey is very rare. US school and college records show no traumatic deaths in 43 years and about 0.02 micromorts per high-school session for girls on our estimate. The hard ball and sticks are the problem, causing fractures, facial injuries and concussions; eye protection clearly helps.

    Score 82, grade B

  11. Team sports

    Basketball

    Basketball almost never kills through injury. The death risk is the heart, and young male players have the highest rate of sudden cardiac death of any US college sport, still well under one micromort per session on our estimate. Ankle sprains, knee injuries and concussions are the everyday cost.

    Score 81, grade B

  12. Team sports

    Lacrosse

    Lacrosse deaths are rare and have fallen by about 95% since 2007 for cardiac causes, helped by defibrillators and chest protectors. On our estimate a high-school boy faces under 0.1 micromorts per session. Concussion is the leading game injury for boys and girls, mostly from sticks, balls and body checks.

    Score 81, grade B

  13. Team sports

    Football (soccer)

    Deaths in football are rare and mostly sudden cardiac deaths, roughly 0.1 to 0.2 micromorts per match or training session for young players on our estimate. Injuries are the real cost, especially in matches, and Scottish data link long professional careers to a higher risk of dementia.

    Score 80, grade B

  14. Individual sports

    Gymnastics

    Gymnastics rarely kills, but it injures often, from wrist fractures in young children to concussions and overuse injuries in teenagers. The serious risk is a fall onto the head or neck, which is rare but causes permanent paralysis at one of the highest rates per participant in US school sport.

    Score 79, grade B

  15. Individual sports

    Wrestling

    Scholastic and amateur wrestling carries a low death risk, lower than American football, but injuries are frequent, especially in college. The deaths that do happen are mostly exertional or medical, and three college wrestlers died from rapid weight loss in 1997.

    Score 79, grade B

  16. Individual sports

    Marathon running

    Running a marathon carries a small risk of sudden cardiac arrest, about 1 per 100,000 finishers in the US, mostly in men with undiagnosed coronary artery disease. Deaths have halved since the 2000s because race medical teams now reach collapsed runners within minutes.

    Score 77, grade B

  17. Team sports

    Ice hockey

    Ice hockey deaths are rare, about 8 micromorts per high-school season or roughly 0.1 per session on our estimate, split between heart problems and trauma such as skate cuts and spinal injuries. Injuries are the real cost, mostly from body checks, the boards and pucks, and concussion is common in games.

    Score 76, grade B

  18. Team sports

    American football

    Deaths in organised US football are rare, under 1 per 100,000 high-school players a season, and most are from heat stroke and heart problems rather than collisions. The bigger concern is the brain. Concussions are common in games, and the odds of CTE rise with every year played.

    Score 73, grade B

  19. Individual sports

    Skateboarding

    Skateboarding injures often, mostly wrist and ankle fractures from falls, but rarely kills. The deaths that do happen are mostly skaters hit by cars, and per mile a skateboard in traffic is riskier than a motorcycle. Skateparks without traffic are much safer, and a helmet prevents the worst head injuries.

    Score 73, grade B

  20. Individual sports

    Horse riding

    The risk of death on a single ride is low, about half a micromort on the best-known estimate, but riding injures many people, mostly through falls and kicks. Head injuries cause most deaths, older and male riders are more likely to die when hurt, and a certified helmet is the single best protection.

    Score 70, grade B

  21. Team sports

    Rugby

    Death on a rugby pitch is rare, roughly half a micromort per adult match on South African data. Injuries are the real cost. Concussion is the most common match injury in English professional and community rugby, and former elite players face a higher risk of neurodegenerative disease.

    Score 69, grade C

  22. Individual sports

    Triathlon

    A triathlon is riskier than a marathon, at roughly 10 micromorts per race, and the danger is concentrated in the opening swim. Most victims are middle-aged and older men, often with heart disease they did not know about. The bike leg adds crash injuries, and training brings overuse injuries.

    Score 66, grade C

  23. Individual sports

    Motor Racing (Cars)

    Modern circuit car racing, from club events to Formula 1, is far safer than it was, thanks to survival cells, HANS devices, the halo and fast medical response. Crashes and concussions are still common, and rallying on public roads carries many times the risk of a circuit.

    Score 61, grade C

  24. Individual sports

    Horse racing (jockeys)

    Each race is short, but jockeys ride hundreds of them, so the risk adds up. Studies from Australia, Britain and France put a flat ride at about 3 to 7 micromorts and a jump ride higher. Injuries are common, and in California the most frequent cause of a fall was a horse breaking down or dying mid-race.

    Score 57, grade C

  25. Individual sports

    Boxing

    Training and fitness boxing are low risk, but a professional fight is one of the riskiest things a sportsperson does in a single evening, at about 1 brain-injury death per 5,000 bouts. The bigger long-term threat is the build-up of head blows over a career, which is linked to dementia in professional boxers.

    Score 41, grade D

Which sports are on this list

We rate activities in five groups. This ranking takes every page in two of them, Team sports and Individual sports: the ball and field sports, racket sports, running, swimming, combat sports, gymnastics, horse sports, skateboarding, triathlon and circuit motor racing. Climbing, diving, skiing, surfing, paddling and the air sports are in our Outdoor and Extreme groups, and travel is in Getting around, so none of them appears here. The rule is the group each page belongs to, not how risky the sport is. The riskiest sports across all groups are in the most dangerous sports list.

How the order is built

Each sport has four scored factors. Fatality risk counts for half, measured in MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary, a one-in-a-million chance of dying. Serious injury risk counts for 25%, controllability, how much training and good choices reduce the risk, for 15%, and rescue and environment for 10%. The fatality score follows a log scale, so every doubling of risk costs the same number of points. The full rubric is on how we score activities.

The list is those scores sorted from the highest down. When we update a page with better data, its place here changes, so this text does not quote scores.

What the safest sports have in common

Near the top are sports where death is very rare and most injuries are minor. Volleyball has no traumatic deaths in 43 years of US school and college records, and baseball and cricket run at a few hundredths of a MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary per session or match on our estimates. Golf and tennis carry well under one micromort per round or session, and a swim in a supervised pool is among the safest forms of exercise; see swimming. Cheerleading has one of the lowest everyday injury rates in US school sport, though a fall from a stunt onto the head or neck is a rare but grave risk.

Where the risk rises

Further down are sports where serious injury is common or where single events carry real risk of death. Rugby, ice hockey and American football rarely kill, but concussion and other serious injuries weigh on their scores. Boxing, horse racing, triathlon and motor racing are where the death risk per event is highest among these sports, from about 3 to 7 MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary per flat ride for a jockey and about 10 per triathlon, mostly in the opening swim, to far more in a professional fight.

What the score does not tell you

The score is about risk per outing, not about health. For most people, regular exercise does far more good than the small chance of a serious accident, and several of our pages say so. Risk also depends on who you are: most of the rare deaths in running, marathons, triathlons and golf happen in middle-aged and older men with heart disease they did not know about. If that may be you, a check with your doctor before hard training matters more than which sport you choose.

Questions

What is the safest sport?

The sport at the top of this list has the highest score we give a sport right now, but the leaders are close together. They are sports where deaths are very rare and mostly caused by heart problems, and where injuries are usually minor. Volleyball, cheerleading, baseball and cricket all have death risks of a small fraction of a MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary per session on our estimates.

What is the safest team sport?

Team sports without tackles or a hard ball flying at the head do best. Volleyball, where the net keeps the teams apart, has no traumatic deaths in 43 years of US school and college records. Contact sports such as American football, rugby and ice hockey rarely kill either, but concussions and other serious injuries are far more common.

What sport causes the most injuries?

Injury rates are highest in contact and collision sports and in sports with falls from height or speed. Concussion is the most common match injury in English rugby, gymnastics often causes fractures in children, and horse riding injures many people through falls and kicks. Each page gives the injury figures we used.

Is running or swimming safer?

Both are low-risk for most people. An ordinary run carries about 0.6 MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary per 5 km in UK parkrun data, and a swim about a quarter of a micromort on UK averages, and most adult swimming deaths happen in open water rather than in pools. The rare deaths among runners are mostly heart attacks in older men with hidden heart disease.

Why are boxing and horse racing among the riskier sports?

A professional boxing match carries about one brain-injury death per 5,000 bouts, which is a large risk for one evening, and head blows add up over a career. Jockeys face about 3 to 7 MicromortA one-in-a-million chance of death. It lets you compare the risk of very different activities on one scale.More in the glossary per flat ride on studies from Australia, Britain and France, and they ride hundreds of races a year.

Can I compare the micromort figures on different pages?

Only with care. Each page uses the unit that fits the sport, such as a session, match, race, round, season or 5 km run. A small risk per session adds up over a season of training and matches. Check the unit before you compare two sports yourself.