Eight Team Durham alumni or current athletes have won nine Olympic and Paralympic medals since 1996.

Famous recipients of a Full Palatinate include cricketer Nasser Hussain, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and rugby player Phil de Glanville.

[23] Durham University Boat Club held the BUCS rowing Victor Ludorum for ten years consecutively from 2004 until 2013 and won it again in 2015 and 2023.

The first Durham alumnus to compete in the Olympics was sprinter Reginald Reed at the 1906 Intercalated Games.

[38] Since 1996, Durham alumni and students have won medals at:[39] Team Durham is based at the Maiden Castle sports centre, with a large 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft), a smaller 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) hall, an indoor cricket centre, a fencing salle, an ergo gallery, rowing tank, dojo, sports science labs, an esports room, and other facilities, along with three 3G pitches (used for association football,[41] American football[42] and lacrosse[43]), two water-based hockey pitches, tennis courts, and a variety of grass pitches, including baseball/softball[44] and cricket.

[47] The running track only has four lanes and very limited field facilities, so official meets cannot be held.

The rugby club shares a ground with Durham City RFC at Hollow Drift, and the university has further grass pitches adjacent to this at Whinney Hill, used for inter-collegiate rounders and ultimate frisbee.

[53][54] The waterpolo team uses the pool at Durham County Council's Freeman's Quay Leisure Centre.

[57] The sailing club uses Derwent Water reservoir, where they have a fleet of firefly dinghies, as their training ground.

[59] 550 college teams compete across eighteen sports: badminton, basketball, cheerleading, cricket (indoor and outdoor), football, hockey, futsal, lacrosse, netball, pool, rounders, rowing, rugby union (full-contact and touch), squash, table tennis, tennis, ultimate frisbee and volleyball.

[60] Inter-college men’s football, in particular, is hugely popular, with around ninety 11-a-side teams playing regular matches.

[61] Collingwood College alone field 16 teams and claim to be the UK’s largest amateur football club.

[69] Team Durham rowers compete against Newcastle University in multiple categories in the annual Boat Race of the North competition.

[71] It has recognised national centres of excellence in a number of sports, including the Durham MCC University cricket programme (funded by the England and Wales Cricket Board),[72] British Rowing Performance Centre status,[73] and Lawn Tennis Association University Partner status.

[84] These events raise money for Sport Action in Zambia, Team Durham's official charity.