While we spectators at home love watching the Olympics and cheering on for our favourite competitors, we often glaze over the risk and dangers that they might be facing while competing. 

Just like in life, everything has it risks and dangers, but the dangers that these Olympians are volunteering themselves for could lead to permanent disabilities or even death in some cases. 

In a research done in the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were 1101 injuries out of 11 274 athletes over a 17-day period. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most dangerous sports in the Olympics:

1. Equestrian

This sport is said to be the most dangerous sport at the Olympics. Competitors ride an animal that is over 500 kilograms at over 30 kilometres per hour or more. Any small mistake can launch the rider off the horse, trip a horse or clip a jump. 

Between 2005 to 2010, 5 of every 100 competitors fell. It is so dangerous that all riders now have to wear emergency vests that inflate on impact so that they don’t get crushed during a fall. 

2. Boxing

Ranked as on of the riskiest sports at the Olympics, boxing does have a very low risk during the event aside from a few bruises and cuts. However, it does lead to a lot of health issues in the long-term.

When the blows from another boxer land of your jaw and head, it can lead to concussions. Even subconcussive blows increase the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease.

3. Cycling

There are four main events in Olympic cycling: indoor track cycling, road racing, mountain biking and BMX. Each of them is riskier than the other. The riskiest event is the BMX event where competitors race in heats over dirt track with jumps. 

Road racing is also risky with cobbles ad steep descents which could lead to multiple broken bones and other serious injuries. 

4. Taekwondo

Among all the other martial sports in the Olympics, taekwondo is the riskiest. This is mainly because all the blows are targeted to land on a person’s head and torso. 

During the 2012 Olympics, 39% of the taekwondo athletes suffered some kind of injury. This number was higher than the injuries in wrestling, boxing, and fencing COMBINED!

5. Weightlifting

This sport is one of the top five events in terms of injury frequency. Mostly, the injuries include overuse injuries like muscle strains or tendonitis. However, just buy looking at a weightlifting event, you know that the potential for more serious problems is certainly high. 

Some of the more serious problems are herniated disks, shoulder impingement, and grisly elbow injuries. 

6. Pole Vault

This is the most obviously dangerous competition. The competitors ride down a track at full speed while holding a huge, flexible stick that they then use to launch themselves around 6 meters above the ground.

There are so many things that could go wrong and the most dangerous one is the pole snapping. If a pole snaps, it could lead to spinal, pelvic and even head injuries. 

7. Diving

While diving is the most mesmerizing and graceful sport to watch, it becomes a horror movie when things go wrong. One small, missed approach or bungled dive could lead to a diver hitting the board or the platform. 

High divers also have an added risk of an impact injury when hitting the water. When they jump from the 10-meter platform, they enter the water at a speed of almost 56 kilometres per hour. At that speed, water acts more as a solid then a liquid during impact. 

8. Football

While you might think football is the least dangerous, these statistics might change your mind. During the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, more than 2/3 of the football players competing suffered injuries causing half of them to miss a game because of the injuries.