World's Craziest Sports

Elephant Polo

This crossover sport began over a drunken lunch at the St. Moritz Tobogganing Club in the early 1980s, according to Jim Edwards, chairman of Tiger Tops Lodge in Nepal. Edwards had the elephants, so once he fashioned some extra-long mallets, the World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA) was born. Mahouts drive the animals and players swing the mallets in this surprisingly fast-paced game played in week-long stretches. Pros and local teams compete in three countries; the sport’s main purpose is to raise money

Chess Boxing

The fact that movies, cartoonists and musicians can all lay partial claim to this sport’s origins belies the idea that it must be a joke. But with an internationally sanctioned body and a world championship, the World Chess Boxing Organisation is gaining traction despite its not being even 20 years old. Four-minute rounds of chess are mixed with two-minute rounds of boxing, with the contest decided by checkmate or knockout. If the chess game ends in a stalemate, the better boxer wins.

Cheese Chasing

Held near Cheltenham and Gloucester in the Cotswolds every May, the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake event is quite a sight. The premise is simple: Race downhill, chasing a rolling wheel of double gloucester cheese. But the cliff is very steep, and the cheese gets a one-second head start (and can reach speeds up to 70 m.p.h.). Grab the cheese and run over the finish line and you win…the cheese. As there are usually broken limbs among the dozens of contestants, it seems there should be an easier way.

Jianzi

This hackey sack-like game—also known as shuttlecock—has its origins in 5th century B.C. China. Soccer, volleyball and badminton come to mind when watching these pros using their bodies (but not their hands) to hit a special feather shuttlecock across a net. Like Chinese restaurants, the sport has caught on worldwide and is played from Vietnam to Hungary, France to Brazil, Malaysia to the U.S. But the Chinese are still the ones to beat—they cleaned up at the last World Shuttlecock Championship.

Wife Carrying

Wife-carrying dates to the early 19th century and is run each year in the town of Sonkajarvi. It’s also spread to the U.S.—the North American championships are held annually in Sunday River, Maine. Men must negotiate a 253-meter obstacle course with their wives (or girlfriends, or a random female) draped somewhere on their body. The prize is a coveted one: their partner’s weight in beer.

Land Diving

Land diving is a springtime ritual: males tie their feet up to liana vines (when they’re at their most elastic), then swan-dive 35 meters. The goal: to have their shoulders touch the ground (and not die)—doing so, they say, ensures the earth’s fertility. If it sounds like bungee jumping, it was the inspiration: Land diving footage captured by David Attenborough and the BBC in the 1950s led to the bungee’s popularization.

Buzkashi

A Central Asian sport known mostly in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, it features two teams on horseback, moving an object toward a goal. Polo? Not exactly—the object in question is a dead, headless calf. It can be a brutal sport: Games can last for days, and players can use whips to ward off others (a good idea, since anything short of tripping the opponents’ horses is fair game). And it’s not easy: only long-time pros are good enough to even get close to the calf, much less score with it.

Beach Cricket

This sport was dreamed up by sports marketers looking to give some exposure to Australia’s Lion Nathan Brewery. Score one for the marketers—it quickly became the hottest ticket Down Under. Borrowing rules from the faster-paced indoor cricket, this game features rubber inserts in the sand (for ball bouncing) and players diving into the water. And you haven’t seen the last of it — the marketing team plans to take the concept to other cricket-loving countries.

Autorickshaw Challenge

Forget the Tour de France. This contest—with drivers racing three-wheeled autorickshaws over 1,000-kilometer courses—is the latest cross-country rage. No, these notoriously unstable vehicles don’t go fast (average speed: 25 mph), so it takes some 13 days for teams of two to cover the course from Chennai to the country’s southernmost tip. It’s so popular that organizers are adding a race this year, from Chennai to Mumbai.

Lawnmower Racing

While lawnmower racing in England was founded in 1973, weed-wacking one’s way over a two-mile track has found its home in America. Britain’s official club has 250 members and 12 race dates, but the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association has 540 members and holds more than 110 races in 19 states. Races have attracted up to 5,000 spectators, but why watch when you can ride? Anyone’s allowed to race—just bring your own mower.