30 Weird Sports Played Across The World - Thomas Cook India Travel Blog (2024)

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Sports bring people from across the world together. Hours and hours are spent perfecting the intricacies of these sports, to make sure they’re just the right amount of fun and competition. People in different regions have different kinds of sports liking which says a lot about their culture.Here is a list of weird sports that are played with zest and enthusiasm across the world.

Weird sports around the World

1. Ostrich racing

   Originated in Africa, ostrich racing has become quite popular, making its way to the United States. Ostriches can reach a marvellous speed of almost 70 km per hour, and this makes it exciting for the onlooker!
   

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2. Toe wrestling,Among the Weird Sports around the world

   Have you heard of thumb wrestling? Well, it’s that, except some people don’t like thumbs!

   

3. Underwater hockey

   It is as it sounds. It is hockey played underwater with paddles to hit a puck into the opponent’s goal. While it is difficult to play it, it is even more difficult to watch it live!
   

4. Chess boxing

   Someone out there got tired of categorizing brain and brawn separately, and just meshed it together for chess boxing! The participants have to be skilled at chess as well as boxing. There are alternate rounds of the two; let your brain rest while your body beats it out, and let your body breathe while your brain exercises its craftiest moves.
   

5. Zorbing

   This is the act of getting into large, transparent balls and racing down hills, through waters, or other obstacles.
   

6. Shovel racing,Among the Weird Sports around the world

   Making its way to the first Winter X-games in 1997, this sport involves sitting on a shovel and racing down an icy hill.
   

7. Sporthocking

   Originating in Germany, sport-hocking is flipping, spinning, and even sliding a brightly coloured plastic bar stool. The oddest thing about this sport, if the previously mentioned information wasn’t enough, is that at the end of each trick or combo, the hocker gains respect by sitting back down on the stool like nothing happened, even if he hurt himself, and the pain is unbearable!
   

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8. Wife carrying,Among the Weird Sports in the world

   This list just gets weirder! This sport has its roots in Finland. Men are supposed to carry their wives through obstacle courses in the shortest time. The prize? The wife’s weight in beer. What else!
   

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9. Cycleball

   This is a competition between teams of two. The goal is to get the ball into the goal using only the wheels of the cycle and their heads.
   

10. Sepak takraw,Among the Weird Sports in the world

    Sepak Takraw literally translates to ‘kick ball’. It is an interesting mix of volleyball and football, with a bit of Matrix-type martial arts thrown into the mix. There are teams of three players on each side of the net and they have to score by landing the ball on the opponent’s side without using their hands entirely.
    

11. Cheese rolling

    Cheese rolling has been around for over 200 years, and so many of us have never even heard of it! During the Spring Bank Holiday in England, people gather at the top of the Coopers Hill, a judge rolls down a round of cheese, and the participants race each other downward to win the cheese!
    

12. Dog surfing

    This might be the cutest sport of all! Dog surfing has caught the fancy of quite many people all over the internet recently. Started in San Diego, it has spread quickly across America, and Australia too. All you have to do is train your dog to stay upright with you on a surf board while hitting the waves. Simple. Not.
    

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13. Quidditch

    This is a dream come true for all the Potterheads out there! The idea of Quidditch, the fictional game for wizards, was so enthralling that fans made it a real sport! A team of seven plays with a broom between their legs. It combines aspects of rugby, dodgeball, and tag.
    

14. Bossaball

    The sport found seeding ground in Spain. It is purely for adrenaline junkies. It is loosely based on the concept of volleyball, except there’s a trampoline instead of the hard ground!
    

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15. World gurning contest

    This is a contest where a person who can pull the ugliest face wins! You’d think this is a weird new-age thing, but gurning contests originated in 1297 at the Egremont Crab Fair in the UK!Join this historic game and cheer their contestants in pulling the ugliest face ever with our UK holiday packages.

    

16. Extreme ironing

    This sport is loved by self-proclaimed ‘ironists’ that enjoy going to remote locations and ironing clothes! Bizarre doesn’t even cover it.
    

17. Bed racing

    The first bed racing contest, held in the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough in 1965 was only open to Army, Navy, and Marines. But today, the competition is open to one and all. Each team of five is to make a bed, in line with the theme of the year, that has four wheels but can also float. The 3km race has the unbelievable challenge of crossing a river too!
    

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18. Poohsticks

    A simple sport, it involves players dropping a stick on the upstream side of a bridge. The one whose stick first makes it to the downstream side is declared the winner. There is an annual World Poohsticks Championship too that has been held at River Thames in the UK, since 1984!
    

19. Oil wrestling

    Oil wrestling is one of the oldest competitions that are held in Kirkpinar, Edirne Turkey, in June each year. The contestants wrestle each other while being covered head to toe in olive oil.
    

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20. Unicycle Polo

    Polo is a classy, refined sport of the elite. Unicycle Polo is a nightmare! Replace the horse with a one-wheeled cycle. Same rules, same goal, but much harder! It is impossible to keep a straight face while watching someone play this!

21. Caber Toss

    Caber Toss hails from Scotland, where they found that the way they had most fun was by tossing large wooden poles over certain distances. Who said that was strenuous, and not fun? A cherry on top/ The participants have to wear kilts while participating in this sport.
    

22. Ferret legging,Among the Weird Sports in the world

    This sounds like a gag prank out of a Charlie Chaplin movie! Take our word for it! The participants tie the pants shut at the ankles so there is no escape route, and drop two ferrets into the pants. The person that holds both for the longest time wins! Who thinks of these things!?
    

23. Cardboard Tube Fighting League

    The Cardboard Tube Fighting League organizes events each year all throughout the US and Australia. At these events, the ‘warriors’ meet to duel it out with flimsy and home-made armour for protection. Gives you a chance to battle it out responsiblyand look ridiculous dressed in cardboard at the same time!
    

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24. Fireball Soccer

    There’s only so much you can do with soccer to make it different. Or so you think! Enter Fireball Soccer that is played with a ball made from coconut and soaked in gasoline for almost a week before lighting it up for the match. Like this wasn’t adventurous enough, the game is played barefoot!
    

25. Goanna pulling,Among the Weird Sports in the world

    Australians have a lot of free time on their hands! The sport of goanna pulling originated in the 19^th century to honor the giant lizard native to the continent. The contestants tie leather straps around their necks, mimic the reptile’s posture, and try to pull each other across the line. Let’s not even discuss the rug burn marks on their necks after!
    

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26. Kaiju Big Battle

    Kaiju Big Battle is the amalgamation of WWE style wrestling, sci-fi movies, and performance art. Contestants dress up in the most elaborate creature costumes they can lay their eyes on, enter a ‘cage’ with tiny sky scrapers, and fight it out. Not everyone dreamt of being Power Rangers as kids. Some wanted to be the creatures!
    

27. Jugger,Among the Weird Sports in the world

    This one takes games to the next level. Jugger is a combat sport that takes cinematic inspiration from the 80’s movie Salute of the Jugger. In the movie, teams are armed with swords, chains, and maces, and are trying to knock each other out while the one unarmed player tries to score a goal using a dog’s skull as a ball. To even dream of making this game a reality would be insanity, the casualties being the least of worries. Hence, the team has been toned down considerably, without losing any of its charms. All the weaponry and the dog skull are replaced with foam-covered props.
    

28. Milk carton regatta

    Waste not, want not. The people who came up with this race took the phrase way too seriously. Milk carton regattas are when racers fashion boats and floating devices out of used milk cartons. They compete to be the fastest vessel, or at least the last one left afloat!
    

29. 360-degree ball

    Quite an interesting twist to this game. Pun intended! It is played in a circular court and is a mashup of squash and tennis. The ball is bounced off the black circle in the middle once during each player’s turn.
    

30. Beer mile

    There is no other sport so much like a college-worthy event as this! Beer mile is as the name suggests, runners running around a track, stopping for a quick beer between every lap. It goes without saying that barfing is expected!
    

Next time you are hanging out with your friends, keep your lawyer alongside you. Maybe you’ll come across something just as bizarre as these sports mentioned above, and you’ll need to get it patented!

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