Dear shinji-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. It?s
difficult to say which sport is the most dangerous because of the
criteria involved. Some judge a sport based on risk alone while others
determine how dangerous a sport is by how many people have died while
participating in it. Still others consider the death ?rate? of a
sport, which means that if only two people have ever done it and both
of them died, clearly that sport has the highest death rate.
I found at least once reference to the fact that bull riding is the
most dangerous sport in the world but this is probably in terms of
injuries rather than fatalities.
Bullriding...the most dangerous sport in North America
http://members.aol.com/blueyedtom/rodeo/
There are a lot of people who base jump, climb mountains or trek
across the Arctic tundra during blizzard conditions but in comparison
to the number of people who participate in other sports these numbers
are minuscule therefore the number of deaths are much lower by
comparison.
With regard to death ?rates?, as the commenter suggested, pole
vaulting appears to have a terrible record indeed. Believe it or not
however, from an insurance point of view, in terms of sheer numbers,
fishing appears to be the most dangerous when one considers the number
of annual fatalities. The combination of high-speed boats, flammable
liquids, time sensitive contests and unpredictable elements (weather,
water, etc) is a fatal mixture. Figures show that in 1982 alone 11
people died while out fishing and seven died participating in the
sport in 1998.
According to insurance companies the highest number of injuries (fatal
and non-fatal) per capita are sustained by rugby players. Rugby
players are, for instance, three times more likely to get injured
playing their sport than someone taking part in martial arts for
example.
THE ANSWER BANK
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Article3108.html
Even this Australian site, which lists base jumping as its number 1
most dangerous sport, mentions no figure for recorded deaths but
mentions that 15 people died in 2001 alone participating in the
country?s fifth most dangerous sport, fishing.
WORLD?S MOST DANGEROUS SPORTS
http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p1984.htm
The Australian government itself bluntly says this:
?Rock fishing is probably the most dangerous sport in Australia.?
SAFE WATERS
http://www.safewaters.nsw.gov.au/fishing.htm
While fishing is certainly considered an occupation as well as a
sport, it is safe to say that more people probably participate in this
activity across the board (competitively or by necessity) than any
other sporting activity. When one takes into account how many people
fish for work or pleasure in the world, and how many different types
of fishing there are, the numbers of fatalities are staggering. It
stands to reason that there just really aren?t that many bull riders
in this world but hundreds of millions of people risk their lives
fishing every single day and tens of millions of those people are
doing it for sport, pleasure and recreation alone. Needless to say,
since more people do it, more people die at it than base-jumping, bull
riding, hang gliding, pole-vaulting and a host of other activities
combined. A UN study says that an astonishing number of fishermen (70
per day) lose their lives worldwide accounting for 24,000 fishermen
deaths annually on a worldwide scale. This same study placed the
number of deaths in the United States at an average of 70 deaths per
year.
Commercial Fishing and the Auxiliary
http://www.cgaux.org/cgauxweb/MSEP/CFVE_NACON.ppt
Now certainly this is not to say that 24,000 people who participate in
sport fishing die each year (hardly so) but it does serve to show how
obviously and remarkably dangerous the sport is and how it can easily
be considered the most dangerous sport in the world where fatalities
are concerned.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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