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Home / Sport

From outhouse racing to extreme ironing: Survey reveals world's weirdest sports

NZ Herald
13 Dec, 2017 05:55 AM2 mins to read

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A competitor snorkles during the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. Photo / Getty

A competitor snorkles during the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. Photo / Getty

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Fancy a spot of outhouse racing or perhaps a friendly game of wife carrying to kill some time?

You're not the only one.

A new study has revealed the world's (or at least the UK's) weirdest sports, with contests ranging from self-explanatory to downright baffling.

According to Greg Tatton-Brown from Online Casino Casumo.com, who carried out the study to launch their Play Absurd campaign, enthusiasm for more absurd activities is growing.

"From bog snorkelling in Wales to egg tossing in Lincolnshire, the UK is a hotbed of inventive sporting activities which seek to test our physical endurance as well as the limits of our imagination whilst building friendships that last a lifetime," Tatton-Brown told The Sun.

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Only 53 per cent of the 2000 people surveyed were able to identify the sport of "wife carrying" by a description of its objective, which challenges contestants to carry their spouse through a series of increasingly difficult obstacles.

Bossaball proved even more baffling, with only 17 per cent of those surveyed able to identify the sport, which has an inflatable court and use of trampolines to score points against your opponent.

Over two-thirds of respondents had no idea what you would use a braffin for, and only five per cent linked the piece of apparatus to gurning, where participants are required to wear the item around their necks while contorting their face to its limits, The Sun reported.

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The 20 weirdest sports, according to Casumo.com are:

20. Wheelchair rugby

Photo / Photosport
Photo / Photosport

19. Pillow fighting

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

18. Egg throwing

Photo / Pamela Ferla
Photo / Pamela Ferla

17. Parkour

Photo / Christine Cornege
Photo / Christine Cornege

16. Unicycle polo

15. Quidditch

Photo / Mark Mitchell
Photo / Mark Mitchell

14. Cheese rolling

Photo / Peter de Graaf
Photo / Peter de Graaf

13. Bossaball

12. Kabaddi

Photo / Warren Buckland
Photo / Warren Buckland

11. Outhouse racing

10. Underwater hockey

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

9. Chess boxing

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

8. Wife carrying

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

7. Football Zorbing

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

6. Dog surfing

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

5. Professional gurning

Photo / Michael Craig
Photo / Michael Craig

4. Extreme Ironing

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

3. Bog snorkelling

Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

2. Mud-pit belly flop

1. Giant Pumpkin Kayaking

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