Weird Sports
There are 40 sports represented at the Olympic Games, 32 of which will be on the programme for the next Summer Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 and 8 of which will be on the programme for the next Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in 2026. However, this list is not permanent and from time to time some sports are “dropped” and others are “added”. Sometimes we are talking about truly exotic formats of sports competitions.
In 1900, for example, a pigeon shooting competition was held at the Paris Olympics. Hundreds of live birds were released into the sky as live targets. Fortunately, this was a one-off event, and the next time the “pigeons” became ceramic targets that looked like plates.
Sports experimentation continues to this day. Today, the world has sports like toe wrestling, cheese races, shovel races, a man versus horse marathon, bubble football and many others.
Today we are going to talk about sports that are not (yet) represented at the Olympic Games, but which attract hundreds of thousands of fans around the world at international competitions and are loved by spectators and participants alike.
Extreme ironing
Photo: extreme ironing in sky, Source: Wikipedia
The official definition of “extreme ironing”, approved by the Bureau of the same name, is “the newest dangerous sport that combines the thrill of extreme outdoor activity with the pleasure of a well-pressed shirt”.
The essence of the sport is that participants take ironing boards to the most unsuitable places for ironing: caves, forests, waterfalls, airports, kayaks for white-water rafting or noisy bars for football matches and... iron. This sport originated in the UK and immediately became a real meme.
Among the places where the “extreme ironing” championships were held were: a mountain slope on a difficult climb, a forest, a canoe, skiing or snowboarding, the tops of large bronze statues, in the middle of the road, under water, in the middle of the M1 motorway, during a Keirin bike race, skydiving, under the ice cover of a frozen lake... Performances were both solo and in groups.
The Windsor Pumpkin Regatta
Photo: Windsor Pumpkin Regatta, Source: Wikipedia
Sailing on real giant pumpkins has had its own official championship since 1999. It is held every October on Pesaquid Lake in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The race course is half a mile (800m) from start to finish. The boats are made from brightly coloured giant pumpkins.
The race was founded in 1999 by Danny Dill, son of Howard Dill, a heritage breeder of the Atlantic giant pumpkin.
The first six out of ten competitions were won by the British Leo Swinimer from New Ross, Nova Scotia. But there was no shortage of people willing to take on the 72-year-old champion. And in 2008, the Windsor Pumpkin Regatta attracted more than 60 competitors and 10,000 spectators.
Wife Carrying
Photo: Wife-carrying championships 2016, Source: eukonkanto.fi
The sport of wife-carrying was invented in Finland. The general idea is obvious: a man has to carry his wife through an obstacle course as fast as he can. However, there are strict nuances: the course must be 253.5 metres long and include one dry and two water obstacles. And the “wife” must weigh at least 49 kilos, otherwise a weight bag will be added to her to bring her up to that weight. If a man fails to hold his “burden”, he is penalised 15 seconds.
The World Championships are held in July in Sonkäjärvi, Finland, and the winner is awarded a woman’s weight in beer. It’s hard to imagine anything more motivating than taking part in a sporting event. Over the years, loyal fans of this funny sport have developed their own ways of carrying their wives. One of the most popular is the “Estonian carry” – when a woman wraps her legs around her husband's neck.
Chess Boxing
Photo:A chess boxing match Source: worldchessboxing.com
If you have suddenly fallen victim to the stereotype that the art of delivering precise and balanced blows to an opponent's face has nothing to do with chess, checkmate and castling, then come to your senses and watch a chess boxing competition. As the name suggests, chess boxing is a mixture of chess and boxing. Fights alternate between the two sports and can last up to 11 rounds, with victory being decided by knockout or on the mat.
In the event of a draw in the chess match, the winner is determined by the number of points scored in the boxing match. If the fight in the ring ends in a draw, the fighter who uses the black pieces in chess wins. This sport has its own World Chess and Boxing Organisation. Its motto is “Fights are fought in the ring, but wars are fought on the board”.
Hobby horsing
Photo: Hobby Horse Championships UK, Source: familiesonline.co.uk
Hobby horsing is a quirky trend sweeping across Scandinavia. Teenage girls ride toy horses as part of national show jumping competitions. The best riders in the country compete for the national title every year at the Helsinki Hobby Horse Championships, which attract thousands of fans.
Holding a dummy horse’s head on a wooden stick, the hobby-horse athletes parade around the arena, trying to impress the judges with their intricate footwork, jumping skills and posture.
In Finland alone, more than 10,000 participants compete in dressage, show jumping and other traditional equestrian events. Away from the arena, they create designs for their beloved wooden horses, give them names and build special stables.
In 2017, Selma Vihunen’s documentary Hobbyhorse Revolution was nominated for an Oscar. The film follows the journey of young girls who are united by their love of sport and a sense of belonging to a new community.
Although some may think that this activity is just a girl's fancy, this is not the case. This hobby sport has an official status, where jumping or dressage, precision, personal style and the figures performed are judged.
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Today, there are thousands of sports in the world that are not yet represented in the Olympic Games, but who knows where this love of atypical sports entertainment will take mankind. Especially when you consider that some of them are traditional and have been passed down from generation to generation.
For example, Afghanistan and a number of other Asian countries have an amazing tradition of the national sport of buzkashi. The name comes from two Tajik words: “buz” – goat and “kashidan” – to pull. Sitting on horseback, players must grab a goat carcass from their opponent and throw it behind the goal. This sport in Central Asia is a bit like polo, with riders using whips to take a decapitated goat from each other and keep it as long as possible. And if this sport seems “strange” to some, rest assured that there are thousands of people around the world who love it.
So, get ready to cheer for athletes on broomsticks and pumpkins, ostriches, pets, footballers playing with two balls, contestants sliding down the railing or cycling along a mountain river.
Plus, you will definitely need someone to cheer for when the main sporting season is over.