Have You Heard of These Odd Sports?

You might’ve played basketball, football, and soccer, but have you heard of toe-wrestling, cheese rolling, or camel jumping? Check out these unique sports from around the world:

Toe Wrestling

Wetton, a small village situated in northeastern England, hosts the Annual World Toe Wrestling Championship for “toe-tally” determined athletes. Similar to arm wrestling, players link bare toes and try their hardest to pin their opponent’s foot down. A giant foot-sized board is used as the playing field and a referee mediates the intense battle. The foot fights are open to men, women, and children and toe wrestling champions go all out for the win. Ben “Total Destruction” Woodroffe had his ankle snapped in two places by reigning 16-time champion Alan “Nasty” Nash, who had his toenails removed to give himself a competitive edge. The unique sport was created in 1974 by four British pub drinkers who were fed up with England’s shortage of world champions and continues to bring people every year. 

Cheese Rolling

In the British county of Gloucestershire, cheese-rolling is a thrilling sport and local tradition where a large, nine-pound wheel of cheese is rolled down a steep hill and townspeople chase after it. The sought-after cheese wheel is made out of Double Gloucester, Gloucestershire’s renowned cheese, and awarded to the triumphant winner. Players are subjected to dangerous tripping, slipping, sliding, or full-on tumbling down the hill. Despite the bruises, sprains, and broken bones, cheese-rolling continues to bring in hordes of participants willing to risk it for the biscuit. The sport’s pagan origins suggest that before cheese, burning bales of hay were rolled down the hill to symbolize burning away the remnants of wintertime and the welcoming of spring. 

Camel Jumping

A cloud of dust is kicked into the air as a man sails high over the humps of camels. Similar to the long jump, camel jumping is a common sport played by the Zaraniq tribesmen of Yemen’s desert plains. Players, barefoot and dressed in traditional attire, launch themselves off a foot-tall mound of mud and attempt to jump over as many camels as they can without having any of their body parts touch the camel. For reference, camels can reach heights of six to seven feet and most jumpers average four to five camels, while professionals can manage to successfully leap over six. Camel jumping is usually played during celebrations, like festivals and weddings. Its origins trace back to a dispute between two Zaraniq tribesmen who were haggling over the price of a camel. 

Now that you’ve learned about these peculiar sports, would you try them?