6 curious contests – including wok racing, bog snorkelling and the Excel World Championship
4-1-2024
Translation: Katherine Martin
Conventional sports like football not exciting enough for you? There’s a whole host of curious competitions and world championships out there. On this list, you’re bound to find one that tickles your fancy.
«Competitiveness is the great engine of life». That’s how the German philosopher and educationalist Herman Nohl put it during a speech at the International Sports Convention in 1951. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that we humans create competitions out of the most weird and wonderful things. In putting together this list, I took a closer look at six of them.
The Excel World Championship
Most people probably see Excel as a boring work tool – tedious tables and spreadsheets full of numbers, data and formulas. To others, however, it’s an action-packed e-sport. In mid-December last year, a group of Excel athletes battled it out for the title of Microsoft Excel World Champion 2023. The competition takes place in a sort of battle royale mode, in which the players are given cases or tasks. Points are awarded for every case they solve. Whoever scores the most points within the time limit of two hours per case wins. The sum of the cash prize – 25,000 US dollars – was announced in December, with Australian Andrew Ngai going home the winner.
In 2022, the USA’s leading sports broadcaster ESPN even ran a replay of the Excel World Cup. You can watch the final of the most recent World Cup on this recording of the live stream.
High heels racing
High heels racing has become a worldwide phenomenon. From Berlin and New York to Paris and Sydney, women and men in cities across the globe challenge each other to sprint 100 metres in heels at least seven centimetres high. Just last year, Spaniard Christian Roberto Lopez Rodriguez set a new world record of 12.82 seconds. Would Usain Bolt be as speedy in a pair of stilettos?
The Welly Boot Throwing World Championship
Wellies are neither pretty nor sexy. But does that mean you should chuck them right away? As far as Finland is concerned, yes – ideally as far away as possible. The country made a competition out of welly throwing, with the activity gaining official status as a Finnish team sport in 1975. The number of throwers quickly grew, prompting the launch of a world association to organise international competitions. A world championship and various world cup tournaments have been held annually since 1992. According to regulations (in German), men throw size 43 wellies, while women throw size 38s.
Here’s a selection of the wellies we stock, which you can either try your hand at throwing or simply wear on your feet this rainy season.
The World Bog Snorkelling Championship
Every August since the 1980s, spectators and participants have gathered in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales for a mucky competition on the Waen Rhydd peat bog south of the town. Equipped with a snorkel and fins, competitors have to plunge their way through the 55-metre-long trench twice. With typical swimming strokes banned, participants propel themselves forward with their feet instead.
Though wearing a diving suit would be advisable in the muddy bog, many competitors take to the water in the most bizarre outfits. Think Spiderman suits, koala bear costumes and tutus. On one occasion, a bog snorkeller even wore a toilet strapped to their back. The possibilities are endless. It’s all about having fun. The most important thing, however, is making sure to keep your mouth closed. After all, bog water doesn’t exactly taste appealing. The current world record for a bog swim is 1 minute, 18 seconds.
The Paper Airplane World Championship
The sight of a paper plane is sure to bring childhood memories flooding back. Folding them, making them fly for as long as possible, as far as possible and in the most elegant way? That’s what goes down at the world’s biggest paper plane competition, organised by Red Bull Paper Wings. Originally, the contests were designed by students for students, but non-students are now allowed to enter too.
Competitors progress to the national finals via local qualifying tournaments before finally moving on to the World Finals at Hangar-7 on the east side of Salzburg Airport in Austria. The championships run every three years, with the most recent one taking place in 2022. Participants can compete in the categories of «longest flight time», «furthest flight» and «aerobatics». In the aerobatics event, a jury judges the appearance of the paper airplane, the pilot’s costume and a one-minute flight demonstration.
The Wok Racing World Championship
It’d be remiss of me not to mention the Wok Racing World Championship. A bet made by Stefan Raab on the German TV show «Wetten, dass...?» gave rise to the event in 2003. Held in two rounds in both single and four-man woks, the World Championship rose to prominence when it was broadcast on Germany’s «ProSieben» TV channel as part of the show «TV Total». After taking a break in 2015, the wok spectacle was revived two years ago, with Sebastian Pufpaff replacing Raab as host. With the exception of a few wildcards, celebs from the fields of sport and entertainment are invited to take part. And there’s no shortage of fun. Besides the sport’s founder Stefan Raab, the most successful wok racers are former German luger Georg Hackl and Irish musician and jack-of-all-trades Joey Kelly.
While you won’t be hurtling down a bobsleigh track in any of our woks, they’re great for cooking. Just give it a try.
Unfortunately, some of the products linked in this article are unavailable in some countries.
What other curious world championships or contests have you heard of? Could you imagine taking part in any of them? Let me know in the comments.
Header image: Rud-gr
My interests are varied, I just like to enjoy life. Always on the lookout for news about darts, gaming, films and series.