---
title: Competition sports settings
description: Choose which GPS sport types count for virtual competition workouts
order: 77
---

# Competition sports settings

Virtual and timed competitions accept only workouts in **allowed sport types**. Configure the list before participants start submitting GPS activities.

**Path:** Competition → Settings → **Sports**

## Main sport

Set the **primary sport** for the event (for example Running). This controls the sport icon on competition pages and the default category in results — it does **not** by itself restrict which workouts count.

Use the dropdown at the top of the page and click **Save**.

## Accepted sports list (virtual races only)

For **virtual timed competitions**, drag sports between **All Sports** and **Accepted Sports in the Competition**:

- Only activities recorded as an **accepted sport** can count toward the virtual result
- Participants recording the wrong sport type in their app see the activity rejected — see [Why activities are missing](../joining-events/why-activities-are-missing.md)

In-person races show main sport only; the drag-and-drop lists appear when `is_virtual_race` is enabled.

Click **Save** (`action=update_sports`) to persist both main sport and accepted list.

## Locked after the event ends

When the competition is no longer **open**, the form is disabled and saving shows a warning that changes cannot be made after the end of the competition.

::: warning Existing results are not recalculated
Changing accepted sports after participants have already synced workouts does **not** automatically re-validate past activities. Update sports before the event starts, or review workouts manually under [Reviewing virtual workouts](reviewing-virtual-workouts.md).
:::

## When to adjust

- Multi-sport virtual festival (run + walk + hike)
- Restrict to cycling only on a bike virtual race
- Remove sports that cause false positives from auto-sync

## Validation flow

1. Participant syncs a workout
2. DistantRace checks sport type against this list
3. Valid rows appear under **Workouts** — [Reviewing virtual workouts](reviewing-virtual-workouts.md)
4. Participant may [select a workout](../joining-events/selecting-your-virtual-race-workout.md) if multiple activities qualify

## Challenge sports (different page)

Sports **challenges** use a richer editor (points per km, aliases, result columns) at Settings → Sports on the challenge — [Challenge settings reference](challenge-settings-reference.md).

## Related

- [Competition settings reference](competition-settings-reference.md)
- [Create a virtual competition](create-a-virtual-competition.md)
- [Virtual competition sport variants](virtual-competition-sport-variants.md)