If asked about the most popular sport in the country, which sport would you choose? Football? Basketball? Baseball? What about fencing or unicycle hockey? There are a plethora of sports that don’t get recognized as being popular. This week, I wanted to highlight some sports in the world that should get more attention.
1. If you’re married, then you’ve probably heard the phrase, “a happy wife, a happy life.” Well, there’s an entire sport dedicated to that theory. Have you ever heard of wife carrying? The aim of this sport is for husbands to successfully get their wives to the finish line while completing an obstacle course. This sport originated in Finland, and the first event was held in 1992. A North American championship was started in 1999.
2. If wife carrying wasn’t abnormal enough, then what about extreme ironing? I love a well pressed shirt, and apparently others do to – so much so that they’ve made a sport out of it. The aim of this sport is to combine the outdoors with laundry. Each contestant takes an ironing board and travels to a remote and dangerous location just to iron. Sounds crazy, right? At least the contestants are able to travel. A man named Phil Shaw decided to turn his hobby into something bigger. In 2002, the first ever Extreme Ironing World Championship made its debut.
3. They say if you’re having trouble falling asleep, then try counting sheep. You can do just that as a sport. In 2006, the contest was held for the first time in Australia. The object of the game is to count as accurately as you can as 400 sheep make a dash past 10 competitors.
4. Next on the list is chess boxing. It’s the best of both worlds. Invented by Dutch performance artist Lepe Rubingh, competitors fight in alternating rounds of chess and boxing. It truly requires skills of both the mind and body. It’s popular in Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and Russia.
5. Last on the list is ferret legging. Popular in Yorkshire, England, ferrets are trapped in trousers worn by the participants carrying them. The winner is the last person to release the animal. It has been considered a dying sport, but a national ferret-legging event was held in Richmond, Virginia, from 2003 to 2009.
