The Top 10 Weirdest Sports of Today...

The Top 10 Weirdest Sports of Today...

The sports that we hear about in the media are the ones that "everybody" plays. Football and Cricket are everyday sports that get a lot of media. When some people want to play or enjoy a sport, they get involved with the well known, average ones that are easy to come across. But if you look deeper into the sporting world, there are many places that create sports just because they can, even if it seems wacky and random. I have researched said wacky and random area and have created a countdown of the 10 weirdest sports today.

10) Pea Shooting – Based in Witcham, competitors shoot a pea through a small BB-gun like tube at a 12 inch target, from 12 feet away. They must hit the target to go through to the next round. The target is a giant dart board and the more points you score the better. After each person has shot 10 times, ten rounds each, the person with the highest number of points wins.

9) Cheese Rolling – An 8lb wheel of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled down Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester, and people chase it. This annual event attracts people from across the world. The person who catches the cheese first wins and gets to keep it, not that you'd really want to after it had been rolled down a muddy hill but it shows your achievement.

8) Cup stacking – You are given between 6 and 12 cups to stack. You must stack your cups in set sequences while racing against another player. Each round has a different sequence to complete. The fastest person wins.

7) Stair Climbing — 3 sets of stairs are set up with bars to prevent runners from falling off of the sides, which has actually happened before with very painful consequences. The first staircase has 100 steps to climb. The second has 200 and the third has 300. Each team must contain 3 people, one for each set of stairs. The team to climb all of the stairs, up and down, in the fastest time, wins.

6) Shin Kicking- You win points by knocking your opponent down through, obviously, kicking them in the shins. You win the round by getting three points before your opposition does. You go home with purple shins but at least you win the respect of your peers.

5) Stinging Nettle Eating – Based in Dorset, a 2-foot long stalk of nettles is produced to each participant. Their challenge is to pluck off and eat as many nettles in an hour as they can and the person who eats the most in that time wins. Ouch!

4) Worm Charming-You have to "charm" as many worms out of the ground in half an hour as you can. This can be done however you want, using household or gardening objects. The worms must be fully out of the ground as someone comes and puts them in a bucket to be counted later. It is based in Cheshire and began in 1980.

3) Gurning Contests – Basically, people pull funny faces and the ugliest wins. It takes place in Cumbria and is based on the treatment of so-called village idiots from olden times. The winner of such championships takes home £150 as a prize for their ugly mug.

2) Extreme Ironing – you must iron 2 t-shirts on each of the 5 courses –

Urban – iron on a broken car

Water – fast flowing river using surf boards and rubber rings to help you

Forest- ironing on the top or side of a tree

Rocky- a climbing wall built specially

Freestyle – anything goes.

The person to complete all of their ironing in the fastest time wins.

 

 

And the WINNER IS...

Wife Carrying - It Originated in Finland but has spread across the world. A wife is necessary, but it doesn't have to be yours, any woman over 17 years will do. The man must carry the woman through a 253 metre assault course consisting of 2 wet and 2 dry activities. The first to the finish wins.

There were other events that didn't make it into my top 10. These included:

·        Biggest beard and moustache championships

·        Midget throwing contests

·        Air guitar championships

·        Worlds ugliest dog

All of these events are taken seriously by the competitors, just not by us.

Hannah Varney