Multisport is a family of athletic

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 competitions in which athletes race in a continuous series of stages or "legs", and rapidly switch from one athletic discipline to another in order to achieve the best overall time. Most multisport events are endurance

Endurance

Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...

 races, consisting of aerobic

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...

 activities such as cycling

Bicycle racing

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

,
running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

, kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

 and cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

.

Familiar events from the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 such as the pentathlon

Pentathlon

A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...

, decathlon

Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...

, and modern pentathlon

Modern pentathlon

The modern pentathlon is a sports contest that includes five events: pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200 m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3 km cross-country run...

 are not usually considered to fall in this category because their individual components are not held back-to-back.

Standard multisport events

The world of multisport competitions has grown from the older and more traditional triathlon

Triathlon

A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

 and duathlon

Duathlon

Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format bearing some resemblance to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally....

 competitions, and today includes a large number of variations. There is quite a bit of variation in the naming of these events; the more common and most standardized names are listed here.

Sport Name	Stages
Triathlon Triathlon A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...	Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... , cycling Cycling Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists... , running Running Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
Off-road triathlon Off-road triathlon Off-road triathlon is a form of triathlon, or three-stage race, consisting of a swim stage, mountain-biking stage, and a trail-running stage.Off-road triathlons are distinguished from conventional triathlons in that the terrain for the cycling and running stages are generally unpaved, rough, and...	Swimming, mountain biking Mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can... , trail running Trail running Trail running is a variant on running that differs markedly from road running and track running. Trail running generally takes place on hiking trails, most commonly single track trails, although fire roads are not uncommon. A distinguishing characteristic of the trails is that they are often...
Duathlon Duathlon Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format bearing some resemblance to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally....	Running, cycling, running
Off-road duathlon Off-road duathlon Off-road duathlon is a form of duathlon, where the competitors have to go through a trail-running stage and a mountain-biking stage.Off-road duathlons are distinguished from conventional duathlons in that the terrain for the cycling and running stages are generally unpaved, rough, and very steep...	Mountain biking, trail running
Aquathlon Aquathlon The sport of aquathlon consists of a continuous, two-stage race involving swimming followed by running. The International Triathlon Union and its member federation organizations sanction competitions and govern the sport...	Swimming, running
Biathle Biathle Biathle or Modern biathlon is a sub-sport of modern pentathlon invented to create opportunities for training the run and swim parts of pentathlon in real race conditions. It can also be seen as a sport in its own right. It bears close resemblance to aquathlon which also contains swimming and...	Swimming, running
Aquabike Aquabike Aquabike is an endurance sport composed of swimming and cycling stages. In 2006, USA Triathlon sanctioned about 30 Aquabike events with many taking place at the 70.3 km events. It consists of swimming and biking, usually taking place simultaneously with and on the same outdoor course as a...	Swimming, cycling
Quadrathlon Quadrathlon A quadrathlon is an endurance sports event composed of four individual disciplines. All four disciplines are completed in succession and the lowest overall time decides the winner....	Swimming, kayaking Kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle... , cycling, running
Rowathlon	Indoor rowing Indoor rower An indoor rower, or rowing machine, is a machine used to simulate the action of watercraft rowing for the purpose of exercise or training for rowing. Indoor rowing has become established as a sport in its own right... , cycling, running
Winter triathlon Winter triathlon Winter triathlon is a multisport event involving the continuous and sequential completion of running, mountain biking and cross-country skiing all on snow...	Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles... , cycling, running
Winter quadrathlon	Cross-country skiing, cycling, running, snowshoe Snowshoe A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation".... ing

Adventure racing

Adventure racing

Adventure racing is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering and/or navigation , cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills...

 includes races which comprise a number of different stages of different types. In many adventure races, the competitors do not know some or all of the stages before the race, and must handle unexpected challenges. A team normally consists of 4 people with at least 1 female. All team members must stay together at all times.

Related events

Biathlon

Biathlon

Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...

, which consists of alternating stages of cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

 and shooting

Shooting

Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...

 is often confused with duathlon because of the similarity in names. Some consider biathlon to be a form of multisport event, while others exclude it from the category because the athlete's score includes shooting accuracy in addition to total race time.

Coast to Coast (race)

Coast to Coast (race)

The Speight's Coast to Coast is a non-standard multisport competition held annually in New Zealand. It is so named as it traverses from the West coast to the East coast of South Island, and features running, cycling and kayaking elements over a total of 243 km .-History:The first Coast to Coast...

, Multisport race held in the South Island of New Zealand. The Longest Day is considered the World Champion for this type of non-standard multisport race.

There are also three military multisports, mainly participated in by militaries at the World Military Games and world championships: Aeronautical pentathlon

Aeronautical pentathlon

Aeronautical pentathlon is a sporting event at some multi-sport events, such as the Military World Games. Despite the name, the sport has 6 events: shooting, fencing, orienteering, basketball skills, obstacle course and swimming. The idea is to prepare athletes for evading enemy soldiers...

, Military pentathlon

Military pentathlon

The Military Pentathlon is a multisport.- History of the Military Pentathlon :The modern pentathlon was originally designed to include the ideal skills of a soldier of the time...

, and Naval pentathlon.