UNUSUAL SPORTS AROUND THE WORLD

Many sports, such as baseball and volleyball, are known around the world. However, not many people know about the more unusual sports, like toe wrestling, for example. Some odd sports, such as wife-carrying, even have World Championships. These sports may be strange and hard to believe, but that’s what makes them so great and hilarious. Below are some of the most unusual sports from around the world. Ostrich racing originated in Africa and eventually made its way over to the United States many years after. Ostriches can reach a surprising speed of 70 kilometres per hour and their legs can reach up to 4.9 metres in a single stride. During a game of ostrich racing, people sit on the ostriches and race them around a track. As its name might suggest, chess boxing is a combination of two traditional sports: chess and boxing. The game alternates between serious games of chess and intense rounds of boxing. Underwater hockey is exactly what it sounds like: a game of hockey, which is played underwater. It was invented in the UK in 1954. In the very disturbing game of toe wrestling, two people lock feet and battle with their toes, attempting to pin each other’s foot down in order to win the game. Shovel racing, which involves sitting on a shovel and racing down an icy hill, made its way to the very first Winter X-Games in 1997. There was a hectic crash that severely injured a competitor and meant that shovel racing’s first X-Games appearance was also it's last. Wife carrying originated in Finland and made its way to North America in 1999. The sport involves a man carrying a woman, who is not required to be legally married to the man, on his back, and running through obstacles along the track. If the man drops his partner, their team must add five seconds to their time. The team that finishes the course with the fastest time win.