10 Ludicrous Sports You've Probably Never Heard Of
4. Toe Wrestling
Toe wrestling dates back forty years to English pub culture, which honestly explains a whole lot. After all, there’s only so much entertainment you can wring from shouting and falling over when you’re on the last leg of an all-day session.
The drinking society that brought us Aunt Sally (where you throw sticks at a model of an old lady’s head) and pitch penny (the art of throwing coins into a hole) presents the world with a weird, icky version of arm wrestling, in which prone opponents lock their big toes together and try to pin the other person’s foot for a count of three.
Apparently, the idea stemmed from a group of day drinkers bemoaning the lack of world champions produced by England in recent times, with the theory being advanced (no doubt through a miasma of beer fumes that could knock out a rhino) that the national luck could change if they invented a sport that no other country would ever want to compete in.
Toe wrestling was recently refused permission to enter as an Olympic event, which seems an astonishing oversight, given the lack of hygiene, athleticism or indeed talent required, and the literally dozen or so fans the sport has around one village in Derbyshire.