10 Sporting Events That May Have Escaped Your Attention This Summer

The Headball Cup

Any sport that features plenty of women in bikinis is bound to be a success down the road. Heck, it worked for beach volleyball. Headball, which has been played for decades at Hungary’s Lake Balaton, became an official sport, with its own organization, in 2010. The first-ever Headball Cup was played in Budapest on August 19. The results have yet to be posted; it seems all the scantily clad women distracted the scorekeeper.

The World Toe Wrestling Championships

This sport definitely leads in the “ick” factor. You’re basically playing a rough game of footsy with a stranger, and lord knows where your opponent’s foot has been. For whatever reason – lack of lower body hygiene concerns, fetishism – Britons have ruled this sport. The ever-formidable “Predatoe” won the 35th annual World Toe Wrestling Championships in Derbyshire, England this summer. A reminder to would-be participants: it is considered good sportsmanship to remove your opponent’s shoes and socks before a match.

The Wife-Carrying World Championships

Although this contest is called the Wife-Carrying World Championships, and although contestants from around the planet are invited and do participate, this is simply a battle between two countries: Finland and Estonia. Apparently the wife-carrying training programs in these two countries are second to none, for, since the championships were first launched in 1997, no couple from outside Finland or Estonia has won, and the Finno-Ugric domination of the sport shows no signs of waning. Taisto Miettinen of Finland carried his wife, Kristiina Haapanen, to the title for the third time in a row this year – the first three-peat in the history of the competition. A message to married couples who are busy training right now in the hopes of earning a little wife-carrying cash on the side: Give up. Unless you’re Finnish or Estonian, you have no chance of winning.

The European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship

Bicycle polo is perhaps the sport with the widest following of all those listed here, which, within the span of the decade since its inception in 2000 has garnered active players in several dozen countries. If its popularity continues at its present pace, then hardcourt bike polo may go mainstream in a few years. Like its equestrian counterpart, the sport uses mallets to whack a ball into a goal. The European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships have been dominated by Swiss side L’Equipe, which has rode on to victory that past three years. Seattle will play host to the world hard court bike polo championships in late September.

The Air Guitar World Championships

One could say this is not a sport. But it’s not really music now either, is it? We’re siding with calling air guitar a sport as it relies more on agility than artistry and because we were determined to do everything we could to bring this list to 10. The 2011 Air Guitar Championship took place in what seems to have become the Mecca of off-beat competitions, Finland. Women stole the show this year by snagging four of the top six spots. Aline “The Devil’s Niece” Westphal from Germany won the event with a score of 34.4, whatever that means.

World Series of Beer Pong

Of course, summer does not have complete monopoly on wacky sporting competitions. The World Series of Beer Pong is slated for Las Vegas from January 1-5.

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