endurance sport

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountable

   A sport in which athletes compete over long distances or times, testing stamina more than speed.

   Grammar: Countable when naming one type: marathon running is an endurance sport. Uncountable when talking about the category in general: she trains for endurance sport.

   Patterns

   • compete in an endurance sport
   • an endurance sport like marathon running
   • train for endurance sport

   Cycling and long-distance swimming are classic endurance sports.

   He moved from sprinting to endurance sport after college.

   Endurance sport demands months of steady training, not quick bursts.

2. 2noununcountabletechnical

   The whole category of long-distance athletic activities as a field of training or study.

   Grammar: No article and no plural: researchers study endurance sport as a whole, not 'an endurance sport' here.

   Patterns

   • research into endurance sport
   • the science of endurance sport

   Sports scientists have studied endurance sport to understand fatigue.

   Her book covers nutrition for endurance sport.

Word forms

Common combinations

endurance athlete

Endurance athletes often train twice a day.

endurance training

Endurance training builds slow-twitch muscle.

endurance event

The marathon is the best-known endurance event.

take up an endurance sport

He took up an endurance sport in his forties.

Synonyms and how they differ

long-distance sport

Very close, but it stresses the distance covered rather than the athlete's stamina.

stamina sport

An informal, less common term that highlights the physical quality needed rather than the activity itself.

Opposites

Word family

endurance noun

The ability to keep going despite tiredness or difficulty.

endure verb

To suffer something painful or hard patiently, or to last a long time.

enduring adjective

Lasting for a very long time.

Commonly confused: endurance sport or extreme sport?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “endurance sport”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words