diff --git a/src/lib/google-health/mappers.ts b/src/lib/google-health/mappers.ts
index 28ec45e71..df5de3049 100644
--- a/src/lib/google-health/mappers.ts
+++ b/src/lib/google-health/mappers.ts
@@ -955,9 +955,13 @@ export function mapSleepSession(
  * Google Health `Exercise.exerciseType` → HealthLog `WorkoutSportType`. The
  * enum arrives UPPERCASE (`RUNNING`, `STRENGTH_TRAINING`, …); the resolver
  * lowercases + underscores before the lookup, so the keys here are the
- * normalised forms. Unknown types fall through to a generic label; the column
- * is free-text so an unmapped type still persists (just not under a canonical
- * sport bucket).
+ * normalised forms. An unmapped type resolves to the literal `"other"`: the
+ * upstream label does NOT survive in `sportType`, and the column read back
+ * cannot tell a genuine `OTHER_WORKOUT` from a sport this map has never heard
+ * of. What preserves it is `GoogleHealthMappedWorkout.sportTypeRaw`, which the
+ * ingest writes verbatim to `Workout.metadata.googleExerciseType`
+ * (`sync-workout.ts`) — so a session that shows as "other" can still be traced
+ * back to what Google sent, without re-fetching it.
  */
 const GOOGLE_HEALTH_EXERCISE_TYPE_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
   walk: "walking",
@@ -1055,6 +1059,12 @@ export function mapGoogleHealthSportType(raw: unknown): string {
 export interface GoogleHealthMappedWorkout {
   externalId: string;
   sportType: string;
+  /**
+   * The upstream `exercise.exerciseType` verbatim (trimmed), or null when the
+   * session carried none. Provenance only — never the canonical `sportType`,
+   * which `mapGoogleHealthSportType()` owns.
+   */
+  sportTypeRaw: string | null;
   startedAt: Date;
   endedAt: Date;
   durationSec: number;
@@ -1113,6 +1123,9 @@ function readInstant(
  * the start instant is the fallback. metricsSummary carries no max/min HR →
  * null.
  *
+ * `exerciseType` leaves here twice: once mapped onto a canonical sport bucket,
+ * once verbatim as `sportTypeRaw` so the ingest can keep the provenance.
+ *
  * Session start/end can arrive OFFSET-LESS (local wall clock); `tz` anchors
  * them to the correct UTC instant rather than the process zone.
  */
@@ -1136,6 +1149,10 @@ export function mapWorkout(
       : `exercise:${startedAt.toISOString()}`;
 
   const sportRaw = readPath(point, `${k}.exerciseType`);
+  const sportTypeRaw =
+    typeof sportRaw === "string" && sportRaw.trim() !== ""
+      ? sportRaw.trim()
+      : null;
 
   const energyKcal = readNumber(point, [`${k}.metricsSummary.caloriesKcal`]);
   const distanceMm = readNumber(point, [
@@ -1148,6 +1165,7 @@ export function mapWorkout(
   return {
     externalId,
     sportType: mapGoogleHealthSportType(sportRaw),
+    sportTypeRaw,
     startedAt,
     endedAt,
     durationSec,
diff --git a/src/lib/google-health/mapping.md b/src/lib/google-health/mapping.md
index 1e8615101..48e46beb3 100644
--- a/src/lib/google-health/mapping.md
+++ b/src/lib/google-health/mapping.md
@@ -208,6 +208,18 @@ same run via Apple Health / WHOOP stay distinct rows; the read-time
 `pickCanonicalWorkoutRows` picker collapses the cross-source twin per the user's
 source ladder.
 
+**Sport provenance.** The `other` fallback is lossy: `sportType` alone cannot
+say whether Google reported `OTHER_WORKOUT` or a sport the map does not know.
+So the ingest also writes the label verbatim to
+`Workout.metadata.googleExerciseType` (`GoogleHealthMappedWorkout.sportTypeRaw`
+→ `sync-workout.ts`), matching Polar's `polarSport`, Strava's `stravaType` and
+WHOOP's `whoopSportName`. Provenance only — nothing reads it back as the
+canonical sport. The key is omitted, never nulled, when a session carries no
+type, so a re-sync cannot clear what an earlier run recorded. Rows written
+before this existed carry no key; a full sync (`{fullSync:true}`) re-fetches the
+session under the same externalId and fills it in, since insert and update share
+one payload.
+
 ## Idempotency
 
 `(userId, type, source: "GOOGLE_HEALTH", externalId)` unique. Spot/daily metric
diff --git a/src/lib/google-health/sync-workout.ts b/src/lib/google-health/sync-workout.ts
index c46b51616..80e1c252a 100644
--- a/src/lib/google-health/sync-workout.ts
+++ b/src/lib/google-health/sync-workout.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
  * Reads exercise sessions from the `activity_and_fitness.readonly` Restricted
  * bundle and upserts each into the `Workout` table as `source = GOOGLE_HEALTH`,
  * keyed on `(userId, source, externalId)` so a re-fetch overwrites in place.
+ * Insert and update share one payload object, so a full sync repairs rows an
+ * older build wrote — including the raw activity type, which earlier releases
+ * discarded.
  *
  * A Google Health run and the same run via Apple Health (or WHOOP) stay distinct
  * `Workout` rows (different `source`); the read-time `pickCanonicalWorkoutRows`
@@ -76,6 +79,16 @@ export async function syncUserWorkout(
       avgHeartRate: w.avgHeartRate,
       maxHeartRate: w.maxHeartRate,
       minHeartRate: w.minHeartRate,
+      // Raw pre-mapping label, kept for provenance once
+      // `mapGoogleHealthSportType()` has resolved `sportType` to a canonical
+      // bucket — every unmapped `exerciseType` collapses to `"other"`, so
+      // without this the activity Google reported is gone after ingest. Never
+      // read back as the canonical `sportType`. Absent (rather than null) when
+      // the session carried no type, so a re-sync never clears metadata a
+      // previous run wrote.
+      ...(w.sportTypeRaw
+        ? { metadata: { googleExerciseType: w.sportTypeRaw } }
+        : {}),
     };
     try {
       const [inserted] = await prisma.workout.createManyAndReturn({