Six Strange but Serious Sports

When reigning World Monopoly Champion Italian Nicolo Falcone took the title in 2015 after a record 47-minute game, he expected to defend it again in another 4-6 years. But the Coronavirus pandemic scuppered most sports plans worldwide & the championship was postponed.

Although most of us use board games for fun and leisure, the Monopoly World Championships is not just games. It's a very serious challenge. If you think that’s peculiar, check out these six strange but serious sports that have somehow found an audience worldwide! 

Extreme Ironing: Because tedious housework needed to be redefined as an adventure sport. Extreme Ironing sees ‘ironists’ attempt to out-iron each other in dangerous & silly places; on horseback, while cycling or canoeing, up Mount Everest or even in shark infested waters!

Wife Carrying: Although the Finnish sport has its roots in abduction & forced marriage, it claims to now be proudly consensual. Men carry their wives through a convoluted obstacle course to the finish line. The prize? The wife’s weight in beer. Of course.

Cheese Rolling: Nothing says Sunday in merry old England like chasing a wheel of cheese down a grassy hill. The 15^th century sport sees a nine-pound round of Double Gloucester released and competitors roll. So dangerous that in 2013 the cheese was replaced by Styrofoam!

Toe wrestling : Unsurprisingly invented in a bar, toe wrestling has gathered momentum and is now a popular family sport. Competitors lock big toes in an attempt to bring the opposition’s foot to the floor. All players are screened for hygiene prior to entry!

Chess boxing: 11 alternating rounds of chess and boxing, chess boxing is a game of brains AND brawn. Opponents fire up their synapsis on the board before firing up their fists in the ring. The winner is the first to checkmate or knockout, depending.

Fireball Soccer: The bravest version of football, this test of courage is a real ritual in East Java. A coconut is soaked in kerosene for an entire week to ensure it burns steadily for the whole 90 minutes. Beautiful game or unmerciful pain?  

Monopoly titleholder Nicolo Falcone has some sage advice for wannabe World Champs with high ambitions: read the rules. Not as satisfying as flipping the board over & storming off, but a lot more dignified, & you might actually learn something to guide your future games.    

Since the first finals in 1973, the prize fund is the amount of money in Monopoly - $20,580. A tidy pay-out for flipping fake property.

Maybe because it’s not extreme, involving cheese, kidnap or flaming fruit, the World Monopoly Championships doesn't seem so strange after all!