List of multi-sport events

Prior to the modern day, there were instances of multi-sport events held centuries or millennia in the past. The Tailteann Games, held near modern Telltown in Ireland, was one of the first multi-sport festivals to be recorded, with a history that traces back to 1829 BC. There were several other games held in Europe in the classical era. the Panhellenic Games encompassed the Ancient Olympic Games, which was the precursor to the modern Olympic Games; the Pythian Games; the Nemean Games; and the Isthmian Games. The Roman Games, held in ancient Rome, focused on Greek sports as well as the Etruscan sport of gladiatorial combat. Other multi-sport festivals emerged in the Middle Ages in Europe, including the Cotswold Olimpick Games in England, the Highland games in Scotland still in existence today, and the Olympiade de la République in France in the 19th century.

As these multi-sport events or festivals occurred pre-20th century, when the rules for today's modern sports were largely different or yet to be established, these are not included in the table. The events noted in this section documents all known historical multi-sport events.

Multi-sport events can be classified by scope. Some cater to international audiences; some to regional audiences; and some are held within nations. These differences are presented in the table as well, in addition to other divisions such as ethnicity and historical origins as described earlier.

Only a few modern multi-sport events cater to international audiences without cultural or political boundaries. The most famous of these is the Olympic Games. The others are namely the World Games, established to host sports not within the Olympic scope; the World Mind Sports Games, which hosts competitions in mind sports which are not found in either of the two abovementioned events; the X Games and the Winter X Games, organised for extreme action sports; the World Combat Games, for martial arts and combat sports; and the now-cancelled Goodwill Games.

Similarly, there are also regional multi-sport events held that purely cater to regional audiences regardless of cultural and/or political elements. These are often grouped by continent and sub-continental regions. The Asian Games are held for athletes in Asia; the Central Asian Games, the East Asian Games, the South Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games cater to Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia respectively, which are all regions of the Asian continent. In the Americas, the largest multi-sport event that fits the description is the Pan American Games. The other multi-sport events in the continent are the South American Games, the Central American Games, the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Central American Games.

The criteria in listing a multi-sport event is as follows: The event should have received significant media coverage where it is covered; national, regional, or international. At the same time, organisation of the event is taken charge by a formal body, with at least one sport in the event sanctioned by an international sports federation that is recognised by the International Olympic Committee or the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).

Legend
1. Established – Year in which first edition was held   2. Abolished – Year in which last edition was held   3. Recurrence (in years)   4. Cultural and/or political elements that limit audiences as intended (e.g. ethnicity, religion, gender, occupation)

• International athletics championships and games
• World School Championships
• FISU World University Championships

• International Olympic Committee – Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games
• Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie – Francophone Games
• Olympic Council of Asia – Asian Games, Asian Youth Games, Asian Beach Games, Asian Indoor-Martial Arts Games
• Commonwealth Games Federation – Commonwealth Games
• International Committee of Mediterranean Games – Mediterranean Games
• International University Sports Federation – Universiade
• International Island Games Association – Island Games
• World Transplant Games – Transplant Games