Athletics/track & field and long-distance running
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for athletes who compete in the field of athletics if they meet any of the criteria below
- Finished top 8 in a competition at the highest level outside of the Olympic Games and world championships. Individual events in these championships must contain either several heats or extended fields (e.g., European Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games, or any of the 6 World Major Marathons).
- Finished top 3 in any other major senior-level international competition (this includes prestigious small field meets, e.g., IAAF Diamond League/IAAF Golden League meets, less-prestigious large-scale meets, e.g., Asian Games, and any IAAF Gold Label Road Race that is not explicitly mentioned above)
- Have won an individual gold medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships, or Youth World Championships.
- Have won their country's senior national championship, with the exception of those who have never been ranked in the top 60 on the IAAF world leading list at the end of a given calendar year
- Have won the elite division of multiple notable* road races (including the same race multiple times), or have established a history of highly competitive, non-winning performances in many notable races (at least 10 top-threes)
- Have at any time held a world or continental record (including world junior records, world youth bests, and masters age-group world records) ratified or noted by the relevant official body
- Owns a mark that placed the athlete in the top 12 in the world for that calendar year in a non-relay event contested or admitted to the senior IAAF World Championships or Olympics, or an equivalent performance over a closely matching imperial distance
- Have a non-relay mark listed on the IAAF senior all-time list or equivalent list
- Have been inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame or the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame.
To non-athletes associated with the sport (or athletes whose main claim to notability is non-athletic activity), significant coverage is likely to exist if they meet the following criteria:
- Coaches who have coached many notable athletes, including at least one non-relay Olympic medalist, World champion, or senior World Record holder during the time of the athletes' notable accomplishments.
- Coaches who have been the official head coach of an Olympic track and field team for a country with multiple medalists.
- Coaches who introduced a notable technique or training method, and are widely credited as the originator.
- Clubs that have received major international coverage for their successes and have a résumé composed of many successful Olympians over a long period of time (for example, Irish American Athletic Club). If a club's success is mainly due to one coach, then only the coach is notable.
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for a road race if it meets any one of the following criteria
- It has an international elite (as defined by the IAAF standards for that year) field of at least 5 different nationalities.
- It receives broadcast or cable television coverage beyond the local market (if coverage is through the internet, the site must be independent of the sport, for example Universal Sports).
- It is a directly competitive meeting between several notable performers (at least 5).
The following criteria may also be used to satisfy road race notability, but does not count towards the notability of athletes who compete in these races
- It has been the site of exceptional performances or records (bests).
- It regularly has more than 5,000 competitors.
- It has been held over a unique course or distance consistently over a period of 25 years.
Boxing
"WP:NBOX" redirects here. For horizontal navigation templates placed at the bottom of pages ("navboxes"), see
WP:NAVBOX.
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a boxer if they:
- Have been ranked in the world top ten of any weight class by the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO, or The Ring magazine.
Cricket
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for a cricket figure if they
Additionally, cricketers who have played at the highest domestic level, or in the lower levels of international cricket,[lower-alpha 1] may have sufficient coverage about them to justify an article, but it should not be assumed to exist without further proof.
For both of these, a detailed listing of which leagues or competitions are more likely (or not) to have such coverage is maintained by the cricket wikiproject, see WP:OFFICIALCRICKET.
Cue sports (snooker, pool, billiards)
See Wikipedia:WikiProject Cue sports/Notability, which covers players and other persons, as well as governing bodies, manufacturers, periodicals, tournaments, rulesets, equipment, and venues. It is a WP:PROJPAGE, explaining how WP:Notability applies to the topic area and outlining what is likely/unlikely to be found notable, rather than setting rules or attempting to establish any variances from WP:NBASIC and NSPORT in general.
Cycling
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a male cyclist if he meets:
- Won a UCI World Tour;
- Won (a stage, or an overall individual classification) a Grand Tour or finished on the podium of a Monument;
- Won the UCI World Championships or UCI World Cup;
- Won Gold at an international multi-sport event (games) (also includes races like the World University Cycling Championship);
- Won a UCI category race (minimum classification 1.1 / 2.1, including Continental and National Championships).
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a female cyclist if she:
- Won the UCI World Championships or UCI World Cup;
- Won a UCI category race (including Continental and National Championships);
- Won Gold at an international multi-sport event (games) (also includes races like the World University Cycling Championship).
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a team if it:
- Is a men's road team in the 1st (UCI WorldTeam), 2nd (UCI ProContinental), or 3rd (UCI Continental) tier;
- Is a UCI team (including UCI women's team, UCI track team, UCI mountain bike team, UCI cyclo-cross team, etc.).
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a race if it:
- Is ranked with the UCI (WT, 1.Pro, 1.1, 1.2, 2.Pro, 2.1, 2.2, CDM, JO, CM, GT, CC, CN, .HC);
- Is part of an international multi-sport event (games) (also includes races like the World University Cycling Championship);
- Holds significant recognition (for example, Parel van de Veluwe and the People's Choice Classic).
Equestrian sport
This section does not encompass notability issues for individuals in rodeo, which is addressed at WP:NRODEO, or horse racing, which is covered at WP:NHORSERACING.
Equestrians competing at the highest level of international competition are not always "professionals", some earn money and some do not, but most have sponsors or receive money to support their activities. Both professionals and non-professionals have been put in the professional sports category for convenience.
Significant coverage is likely to exist for individual people and horses who are involved in equestrian sport if they:
- Have medaled at the Pan American Games as a rider, driver, or official team coach
- Have medaled at the FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) as a rider, driver, or official team coach
- Have medaled individually or were on a team that won gold, silver, or bronze at the Eventing World Championship, Show Jumping World Championships, or Dressage World Championship, Combined Driving World Championships, Endurance World Championships or World Vaulting Championships
- Have won an FEI World Cup competition.
Significant coverage is also likely to exist for persons or horses associated with equestrian competition who do not meet the criteria outlined above if they are or have been:
- A coach or horse trainer who worked with many competitors (human or animal) considered notable by the criteria above, including at least one individual Olympic medalist or World Equestrian Games champion.
- Individual inductees into a major equestrian-oriented national hall of fame dedicated to sports with international-level competition, such as the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame.
- Heads of national and international federations, for example, United States Equestrian Federation, Fédération Equestre Internationale.
- A horse breeder who was the breeder of record for many notable horses including the mounts of at least one Olympic medal or World Equestrian Games championship competitor.
- A horse notable for being a parent or ancestor of a major competitor.
- Some but not all winners of national-level championships, particularly those considered the highest honor within a particular discipline or horse breed competition (especially where there is no significant international championship level).
- Individuals who made major contributions to the equestrian industry such as veterinarians, researchers, artists, and inventors.
Golf
Significant coverage is likely to exist for golf figures if:
- They have competed in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Solheim Cup, or similar international competition
- They are enshrined in one of golf's recognized Halls of Fame (example: World Golf Hall of Fame)
- They have won at least one professional golf tournament (examples: PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour Champions)
- They have won at least one recognized amateur golf tournament at the national or international level (examples: U.S. Amateur, British Amateur)
- They have made the cut in one of the four Men's major golf championships, one of the Women's major golf championships (past or present), or one of the Senior major golf championships (past or present)
- They have competed as a professional on the PGA, LPGA, European, or Champions Tour for at least one full year
Gymnastics
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for artistic gymnasts if they meet any of the criteria below
- Won a senior individual medal at an elite international competition*
- Won their country's senior all-around or individual event finals national championship while competing for a country that qualified a full team into the most recent Olympics or senior World Championships
- Won an individual medal at the senior national championships for any country that medaled in the team competition at the most recent Olympics or World Championships
- Have been inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for junior gymnasts if they meet any of the criteria below
- Won an individual gold medal at the junior national championships for any of the following countries: USA, Russia, China, Romania (females only)
- Won an individual gold medal, in the junior division, at an elite international competition*
- Won an individual medal at the Youth Olympic Games or Junior World Championships
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for coaches if they
- Have coached many notable athletes, including at least one individual Olympic medalist or world champion
- Have been the official head coach of an Olympic or World Championship team
- *An elite international competition is
- any competition with considerable international WP:GNG coverage between at least eight notable athletes (examples of such competitions include: Pan American Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, European Championships, and Pacific Rim Championships).
Horse racing
Not all participants in horse racing are athletic "professionals", particularly owners and breeders, but due to purse money and profit motive throughout the sport they are put in the professional sports category for convenience.
Significant coverage is likely to exist for Horse racing figures, including horses and/or their human "connections" (horse trainers, jockeys, or horse owners and horse breeders) if they have accomplished any of the following:
- Individuals who win a US Grade I/Group I graded stakes race or the equivalent level in their respective nations. (Horses, due to their relatively short careers, at least once; humans best to have done so more than once)
- Individuals who have won multiple significant US Grade/Group 2 or 3 graded stakes races or the equivalent level in their respective nations.
- Individuals who have won year-end championship titles, such as an Eclipse Award.
- Members of a national Racing Hall of Fame.
Significant coverage is also likely to exist for horses or persons associated with horse racing who were not competitors or do not meet the criteria above, if they meet any of the following:
- Individual humans who were significant for new advancements or trailblazing achievements. (examples: Andrew Beyer, Florence Nagle, Diane Crump)
- Horses that may not have raced to any significant degree (usually due to injury), but had multiple significant progeny, such as Tapit.
- Horses who are ranked the leading sire or broodmare for a given year in their respective nations (again, see Tapit)
- Breeding farms or farm owners that do not race many horses themselves, but have produced or currently stand horses who became notable winners. (i.e., Adena Springs)
- Agents, race track announcers (e.g., Larry Collmus), racing journalists (e.g., Steve Haskin), venue owners (e.g., Frank Stronach) and other business professionals with a significant connection to horse racing.
- Horses and individuals involved in highly publicized thefts or other crimes, e.g., Shergar, scandals, or other nefarious activities, such as substitution scams, e.g., Fine Cotton.
- An individual person with a connection to a notable horse is not presumed notable for that reason only, see WP:BIO1E, though if the individual's role is a large one, a significant connection to a single notable horse might justify a spinoff article (e.g., Eddie Sweat, groom of Secretariat). Conversely, a horse is not presumed notable just because the owner is famous – of Jim Rome's racehorses, Shared Belief is notable, Gallatin's Run is probably not.
Ice hockey
Significant coverage is likely to exist for ice hockey players if they
- Achieved preeminent honors (all-time top-10 career scorer, first-team all-star) in the Mestis, Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Slovak Extraliga, HockeyAllsvenskan, National League, or American Hockey League;
- Achieved preeminent honors (all-time top-10 career scorer or first-team all-star) in the Eishockey Liga, Belarusian Extraleague, DEL2, GET-ligaen, ECHL, Elite Ice Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League, Elite.A, or Beneliga;
- Achieved preeminent honors (all-time top-10 career scorer or first- or second-team All-American) in the men's play versions of the Atlantic Hockey, Big Ten Conference, Central Collegiate Hockey Association, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East, National Collegiate Hockey Conference, or NCAA Division I independent; or
- Are a first-round draft pick of the NHL entry draft.
For coaches or managers of ice hockey teams, substitute "coached" or "managed" for "played" in the player guidelines.
For participants in defunct leagues who satisfy any of these achievement standards, please see the ice hockey league assessment maintained by the Ice Hockey WikiProject. For leagues still in existence, only those listed above satisfy the specified criteria.
Kickboxing
Significant coverage is likely to exist for a kickboxing athlete if they:
- Have been ranked in the world top-10 by a major, preferably two, independent publication that meets the definition of a reliable source, or
- Have been a Lumpinee or Rajadamnern champion.
Kickboxers who have an amateur background exclusively are not notable unless the person has been the subject examined in detail (more than a single paragraph) in several reliable third-party sources (at least four), excluding local publications.
Mixed martial arts
- Have been ranked in the world top 10 in their division by either Sherdog (sherdog.com) or Fight Matrix (fightmatrix.com).
Motorsports
Significant coverage is likely to exist for motorsport figures if they are:
- A driver or rider who has qualified for any of the following events:
- A driver or rider who has competed for at least one full season in any of the following series:
- A driver or rider who has finished on the overall podium of any of the following events:
- A driver, rider, or co-driver who has won any of the following events overall:
- A round of any primarily-professional series of significant national importance, such as the British Touring Car Championship, Stock Car Brasil, or Super GT.
- A high-profile international rally as a driver (such as the Dakar Rally, Coupe des Alpes, or non-world championship editions of the Monte Carlo or RAC rallies), or a round of the World Rally Championship as a co-driver.
- A non-championship national Grand Prix (including the Macau Grand Prix and the Gordon Bennett Cup) for cars or motorcycles.
- Various major road races, such as one of the high-profile inter-city races of the 1890s and 1900s, an Isle of Man TT event, the Targa Florio, or the Mille Miglia.
- A driver or rider who has won any of the following championship titles:
- The overall championship title of any series in the previous category without winning a race (a relatively common occurrence in series whose points-scoring systems favour consistent finishes over inconsistent victories).
- A major championship in which a large number of the competitors are amateur "gentleman" drivers or privateers, such as the European Le Mans Series, Intercontinental GT Challenge, or European Rally Championship.
- Any driver who does not meet the previous criteria who has received an FIA platinum driver categorisation. Significant coverage is likely to exist for Drivers who have received an FIA gold driver categorisation, although a minority of drivers in this group may not meet the general notability guideline.
- A current or former owner or team principal for a team in a major racing series (Formula One, the World Rally Championship, MotoGP, Formula E, Indycar, DTM, Super GT, the NASCAR Cup Series, V8 Supercars, CART, or top-level IMSA) for a full season or more. This includes Cup Series crew chiefs.
- Enshrined in any notable motorsports hall of fame.
- A current or former holder of significant motorsports record, such as a land speed record.
Orienteering
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for an athlete who competes in the field of orienteering if they meet any of the criteria below
- Have finished top 3 in the World Orienteering Championships, the European Orienteering Championships, the overall Orienteering World Cup at the end of a season or the World Games.
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for an orienteering club if it meets any of the criteria below
- Has won a major relay (according to the criteria below, which mean presently Tiomila (both the Tiomila relay and the women’s relay, since 1970 when the number of team became so large that it could not anymore be organized from point A to point B) and the Jukola relay (both Jukola, from 1972, and Venla).
- Has been represented by ten runners who fulfill the criteria above.
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for an event apart from the championships mentioned above if it meet all the following criteria
- It has an international elite field.
- It regularly has more than 5,000 competitors.
- It has been held over a period of 25 years.
Presently that means O-Ringen, Tiomila, and the Jukola relay. In addition, an event is also likely to receive significant coverage if it is a competition for developing elite athletes; this includes the Junior World Orienteering Championships, the World University Orienteering Championships and the European Youth Orienteering Championships.
Sumo
Significant coverage is likely to exist for sumo wrestlers if they have been ranked in either the top (makuuchi) division or second-highest (juryo) division. Significant coverage is not likely to exist for wrestlers who have only appeared in lower divisions, as they have not reached fully professional status.
Tennis
- Significant coverage is likely to exist for tennis figures if they
- Are a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, either in the contributor or player category
- Have competed in the main draw in one of the highest-level professional tournaments:
- Have won at least one title in any of the ATP Challenger tournaments.
- Have won at least one title in any of the ITF Women's $40,000–$100,000+ tournaments, or any of the WTA 125 tournaments. (From 1978–2007 it was $25,000 tournament, and 2008–2022 it was a $50,000 tournament, roughly based on the lowest payout for a men's challenger tournament in the same year).
- Hold a tennis record recognized by the International Tennis Federation, ATP, or WTA.
Significant coverage is likely to exist for junior players if they have won at least a junior Grand Slam title, have been in the top-3 of the junior ITF world rankings, or can be shown to meet the wider requirements of WP:NBASIC.
This guideline applies equally to singles and doubles players.