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The world's sexiest sport has officially been determined in new study
Home>News>Sport
Published 13:27 11 Feb 2026 GMT

The world's sexiest sport has officially been determined in new study

Because what's the point in breaking a sweat unless it's sexy, eh?

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

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Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Sport, Fitness

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a freelance journalist with words in Daily Express, Cosmopolitan UK, LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She is a former Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible.

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A study has revealed the top 'sexiest sports' versus the sports which are 'the biggest turn-offs', and two recent crazes have taken a hit.

As the self-professed least-sporty person on the planet, I drag myself to the gym and on the occasional run with a friend mainly in a bid to keep my brain from spiralling.

And the thing I detest most whenever I see others crunching or galloping around me? If they look good doing it.

I am a firm believer no one should look good working out. You come to sweat, move your body and that should be the focus. Looking good while doing it is simply rubbing it in the red, out of puff faces of the less athletic like me.

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Alas, people are now turning to run clubs to find their match. But which sport do singletons think is the most sexy, and should you declare it on your dating profile? Well, a study has done the legwork for you and found out.

Earlier this year, Geezers Boxing analyzed what sportspeople find attractive or not... and the results may surprise you.

Which sport do you play regularly? (Getty Stock Images)
Which sport do you play regularly? (Getty Stock Images)

The study looked at a list of 35 sports which includes padel, basketball, Hyrox, football, boxing and swimming.

Searching the internet, it then used data from areas such as Reddit threads, search behavior, fan-fiction volume and global viewership to rank them from most to least attractive.

But which came out on top?

Basketball lovers can jump for joy over knowing their sport came top, ranking first in the list of 'the sexiest sports'.

Up next was NFL American Football, followed by ice hockey, rugby and football sneaking it into the top five.

But what about the sports which prove the 'biggest turn-offs'?

Padel fans, prepare to put down your racquets. And well, a whole lot of you are going to get offended when you see the shocker that is number four.

Keep playing, just maybe don't put it on your profile (Getty Stock Images)
Keep playing, just maybe don't put it on your profile (Getty Stock Images)

Padel comes in at the top spot of the ickiest sports to see on someone's dating profile.

Next up is triathlon, third is wild swimming and, coming as a shock to some, fourth is Hyrox.

Personal Trainer and Director of Geezers Boxing, Leon Bolmeer, reflected on the results noting 'some sports are great for fitness but don’t necessarily signal attraction'.

And when it comes to padel and Hyrox, they may be 'efficient and accessible' but can risk coming 'across as performative or overly structured in dating contexts'.

He added: "Sports that score highest tend to showcase full-body athleticism, competitive intensity, and personality. These are things people instinctively find attractive, even if they don’t follow the sport closely."

Well, it looks like I'm taking up basketball then.

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