From cannonballing to grimacing - some contests are not so much about winning, but about the fun. Here are a handful of unusual competitive events that will test your sense of adventure.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Devlin
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5 crazy contests you've probably never heard of
From cannonballing to grimacing - some contests are not so much about winning, but about the fun.
Image: Getty Images/J. Li
Cannonballing
Remember when you would do a cannonball into the pool as a kid just to annoy people? Well, now it is actually a serious sport. The winner is the one who causes the biggest splash, but creative jumping technique also counts. Similar contests are said to have taken place in Hawaii hundreds of years ago.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Bog snorkelling
It couldn't possibly be more uncomfortable: The bog in Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales is ice cold, wet and muddy, and visibility is close to zero. Since1985, more than 100 brave divers from around the world compete every year to become the fastest bog snorkeller. Flippers and a snorkel are mandatory - a wetsuit is optional.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Eating super spicy food
Breaking out in a sweat, collapsing or getting sick: If you want to join this contest in Berlin, you need to have a tough tummy and a penchant for pain. You will have to try inhumanly hot chili sauces that get hotter every round, measured according to the Scoville scale. The hottest item rank in a seven million Scoville. In comparison, Tabasco Sauce is just 2,500 Scoville.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Chess boxing
What once started out as fun has turned into a serious sport with worldwide dimensions. In 2003, Dutchman Iepe Rubingh invented chess boxing, a physical and spiritual exercise combined in one single sport consisting of six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing. The match ends when one of the players is either checkmate or K.O. Chess boxing has established itself as a sport all over the world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Stephanie Pilick
Grimacing
As legend has it, the inhabitants of the English town of Egremont once used to make fun of the village fool by putting a bridle on him and asking him to make faces. According to other sources, the tradition of the contest has to do with sour apples. Undisputed is that only facial muscles may be used in the grimacing competition, which is said to have been going on for 800 years in Egremont.
Image: Getty Images/J. Li
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Britain is a hub for crazy contests. Underwater rugby, office chair racing, nettle eating or shin kicking- all these sports have been invented by the Brits. And once every two years, the tiny Welsh village of Llanwrtyd Wells becomes a destination for unusual athletes.
The "World Alternative Games" are basically the Olympic Games of bizarre sports that seemslike it could be straight out of a Monty Python film: Worm digging-out, backward racing, or bog snorkelling.
Snorkel in a Welsh bog
Approximately 120 participants from all over the world come together every year in order to snorkel in the Waen Rhydd Bog at the outskirts of Llanwrtyd Wells. Here are the rules: A 55-meter- long ditch must be swum through twice as fast as possible - without raising your head out of the mud. That means snorkelling blindly, as visibility below the water is zero.
The only permitted way of moving forward is to paddle like a dog. Breaststroke and crawl stroke are forbidden. The hard core snorkeling go without wetsuits, though they are technically allowed, instead donning colorful bathing trunks.
Watch out for scorpions
What sounds like great fun is actually a huge challenge. Many participants run out of breath or suffer from claustrophobia. The bog is also full of wild creatures - from fish and insects to water scorpions. Fortunately, however, these are harmless to the swimmers.
Last year, the championship took place for the 30th time, drawing participants from all over the world. And yet, the top prize continues to be won by Brits. In 2016, the winner made it in one minute and 26 seconds - four seconds slower than the world record.
Although participants have come from many different countries, its reception is still limited abroad. And that also holds true for the other odd sports in our ranking. Click through the gallery above for more crazy contests.
