TLDR: You can argue that speedcubing is a sport because of mental fitness, competitions, and the ability to make friends. On the other hand, you can argue it is not a sport because it is not physical.
Many people have debated whether speedcubing is a sport. This debate is complicated by the fact that different organizations have different definitions for the term sport.
In this blog post, I lay out a couple definitions and analyze whether speedcubing is a sport. I look at both sides of the debate to give a fair analysis.
There is some disagreement on the exact definition of a sport. For instance, here is SportAccord's definition. A sport should:
Speedcubing meets the first three criteria. However, you could argue that it does not meet the fourth criteria. There is some luck in speedcubing, because a lucky scramble or a lucky solution can give you a better result. Because of this, SportAccord may not consider speedcubing to be a sport.
Furthermore, SportAccord says that an activity with limited physicality or athleticism should be carefully evaluated. Speedcubing has a bit of a physical aspect, because you have to turn fast and use good fingertricks. But compared to other sports, speedcubing is much less physical.
We should not only look at one definition, so let's see Council of Europe's definition.
Speedcubing does not meet the first criteria, but does meet the other three criteria. Since speedcubing does not a highly physical activity, Council of Europe may not call speedcubing a sport.
Most people would agree that a sport needs to have some competitions, rules, and maybe even a governing body. The World Cube Assocation (WCA) is the official organization that holds competitions. (By the way, if you want to go to a competition, check out the competitions near you)
In addition, speedcubers often want to know how they stack up against other cubers. The cubing ranks show who are the fastest cubers for any country and any event.
Since speedcubers are ranked against each other, that is a point in favor of calling speedcubing a sport.
As of 2024, speedcubing has never been an Olympic sport.
The Olympics sometimes include temporary sports. The purpose of this is to get more people in the Olympics, especially young people.
If speedcubing continues to grow, I hope it can become an Olympic sport, even as a temporary addition.
The International Olympic Committee recognizes chess as a sport even though players primarily compete with their mind. In these games, the players sit at a board, and the only movement required is to move the pieces. This category is called mind sports. Mind sports can be controversial, because not every organization includes mind sports in their definition of a sport.
Speedcubing falls somewhere between a physical sport and a mind sport. The physical aspect is the turning and fingertricks. The mind aspect is inspection, lookahead, and learning algorithms.
An esport is a type of sport using video games. There is a growing movement to recognize esports as sports.
There are many formats of esports. For example, the goal of speedrunning is to complete something in the fastest time. Speedcubing is most similar to the speedrunning format. There are other formats such as team formats, or games where you compete to get the highest score.
Speedcubing is not an esport because it is not a video game, but the rising popularity of esports can shift the debate on whether cubing is a sport. A video game typically has no physical component aside from a keyboard and mouse. So if a video game can be a sport, then speedcubing can be a sport too.
When considering all factors, I categorize speedcubing as a sport. Speedcubing is a great way to stimulate your mind, make friends, and accomplish a goal. But due to its non-athletic nature, not everyone agrees.
At the end of the day, the question is mostly philosophical. Even if you don't think it's a sport, speedcubers will continue to enjoy it for a long time.