National sport National sport A national sport is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are "de facto" (not established by law) national sports, as baseball is in the United States and Gaelic games are in the Ireland, while others are "de jure" (established by law) national sports, as lacrosse and ice hockey are in Canada. These sports do not have to be necessarily the most played or most followed, which would be either association football or cricket in all but a few countries are widely considered to be important to the significant for its
Canada at the Summer Olympics Canada at the Summer Olympics Canada has competed at 23 Summer Olympic Games, missing only the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Canada competes under the IOC country code CAN. Canada has hosted the Summer Olympic Games once, in 1976 in Montreal, and the Winter Olympic Games twice, in Calgary, Alberta in 1988 and Vancouver, British Columbia in 2010. <onlyinclude> "Canada also won 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal at the 1906 Summer Olympics, which the IOC no longer recognizes as an official Olympic games,