10 Strangest Competitions In The World.
Number 10.
For whatever reason, the Finnish decided to invent a sport that involves men racing through
an obstacle track, whilst carrying their better half.
In Sonkajarvi, the birth-place of the event, the lucky winner wins his wife's weight in
beer.
Competitions also take place in Monona, Wisconsin and Marquette.
But it's not as easy as hulking your loved one over your shoulder and speeding off.
Several types of carry are practiced including piggyback, fireman's lift, or Estonian-style,
where the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband's shoulders.
Number 9.
Only in good old Blighty would there be a competitive event of pulling faces.
In this age-old rural English contest, competitors must wear a horse collar or "braffin" and
contort their features in the most mind-boggling way possible.
Bottom lip over the nose, chin pulled up to ear and eyes fully bugged out.
Number 8.
Why would anyone eat nettles?
For a competition of course!
And where else in the world to host such as strange competition than back in Britain,
down south in Dorset.
The competition, which brings in contestants from New York, Australia, Northern Ireland
and Belgium, involves eating as many nettles as possible in the space of one hour, with
only beer to quell the stinging mouth.
Ouch.
Number 7.
Still in the UK, we have competitive pea shooting, which takes place in the village of Witcham.
The small green missiles are launched using a manner of shooters, toward a soft putty
target.
The traditional event, which started at a village fair in 1971, is not wasting time
stuck in the past.
Nowadays entrants are using laser-guided shooters and home-made pea machine guns.
Number 6.
Shin kicking takes manliness to a whole new level.
Originating in England in the early 17th century, the combat sport involves two contestants
attempting to kick each other on the shin until one hits the ground.
The Shin-Kicking World Championship is part of the Cotswold Olimpick Games, an annual
event held on Dover's Hill, north of the English town Chippen Campden.
Number 5.
According to the World Egg Throwing Federation, egg throwing "has been a sport enjoyed by
millions of people since early humans discovered the delight of watching a failure of another
to catch a tossed egg."
Eggheads have the opportunity to participate in the annual World Egg Throwing Championship,
which involves a variation of games, in Swaton, England.
Number 4.
Competitors take part in the annual Cheese-Rolling event at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire,
U.K.
Here's how it works: a large cheese wheel is rolled down a steep hill, and competitors
race after it.
The first person to reach the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.
It may not sound dangerous, but the steepness of the hill has resulted in several injuries.
Number 3.
Perfectly summed up by its name, toe wrestling involves competitors going toe-to-toe.
The unusual sport dates back to 1976, when the Brits were looking to gain a world sports
title.
Rules are simple: with socks and shoes off, two competitors interlock their toes and try
to "pin" down their opponent's foot.
Number 2.
The Extreme Ironing World Championships started in Leicester, UK in 1997,
and is an exciting and dangeous sport where anyone who would like to participate should
be ready for ironing a few items of laundry, preferably on a difficult climb of a mountainside,
ice or under water.
The description on the official Extreme Ironing Bureau does the sport some justice: "It is
an outdoor activity that combines the danger and excitement of an "extreme" sport with
the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt.
It involves taking an iron and board (if possible) to remote locations and ironing a few items
of laundry.
This can involve ironing on a mountainside, preferably on a difficult climb, or taking
an iron skiing, snowboarding or canoeing."
Number 1.
The Midget Throwing, or Dwarf Tossing, originated in Australia in the 1980's.
A bar attraction in which dwarves wearing special padded clothing or Velcro costumes
are thrown onto mattresses or at Velcro-coated walls, participants of the contest compete
to throw the dwarf the farthest.
Dwarf tossing is widely considered to be offensive to the dignity of dwarfs, and some legislators
have considered bans.
Proponents of the sport have criticized such moves, with some arguing bans deny dwarfs
a possible source of income.