[4] Athletics at Harvard began in 1780 when the sophomores challenged the freshmen to a wrestling tournament with the losers buying dinner.

Since its historic boat race against archrival Yale in 1852, Harvard has been in the forefront of American intercollegiate sports.

Its football team conceived the modern version of the game and devised essentials ranging from the first concrete stadium to a scoreboard to uniform numbers to signals.

The team currently competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and play home games at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston.

The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2014, where they beat Cincinnati in the Round of 64 in a 12 vs. 5 seed upset.

The team currently competes in the Ivy League in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and play home games at the Lavietes Pavilion in Boston.

These included legalizing the forward pass, perhaps the most significant rule change in the sport's history.

[25] The men's ice hockey team won the NCAA Division I Championship on April 1, 1989, defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 4–3 in overtime.

[26] The Cleary Cup, awarded to the ECAC regular-season champion, is named for former Harvard All-American hockey player, coach, and athletic director Bill Cleary, a member of the U.S. hockey team that won the 1960 Winter Olympics gold medal.

The team competes in ECAC Hockey along with five other Ivy League schools and is coached by Harvard alumnus, Olympian, and former NHL forward, Ted Donato.

Older than The Game by 23 years, the Harvard–Yale Regatta was the original source of the athletic rivalry between the two schools.

[35] Notable honors include: 2019 National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) National Champions,[36] Ivy League Champions (2018, 2013),[37] Ivy League Sevens Champions (2016, 2017, 2019)[38][39] The Harvard team won the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and the dinghies Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships in 1952, 1953, 1959, 1974 and 2003, the women's dinghies in 2005, the sloops in 2001 and 2002, and the team race in 2002 and 2003.

The Crimson compete in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) and are under the direction of head coach, Brian Baise.

The Crimson compete in the Ivy League and are under the direction of head coach, Jennifer Weiss.

In 1938, the Harvard Wrestling team featured the program's first national champion, John Harkness.

[44] Harvard has several athletic facilities, such as the Lavietes Pavilion, a multi-purpose arena and home to the basketball teams.

The five-story building includes two cardio rooms, a deep 25-yard swimming pool, a smaller pool for aquaerobics and other activities, a mezzanine, where all types of classes are held at all hours of the day, and an indoor cycling studio, three weight rooms, and a three-court gym floor to play basketball.

The men's heavyweight team also uses the Red Top complex in Ledyard, CT, as their training camp for the annual Harvard–Yale Regatta.