Weird Wacky World. The Strangest Sporting Competitions From Around The Globe.

#1 Worm Charming

The goal of this weird contest, is to charm as many worms out of a 10 x 10 foot plot of dirt in half an hour. There are official rules and apparently people train all year for the glory of winning the world event in Willaston, England.

#2 Wife Carrying Races

Eukonkanto or wife carrying, originated in Finland though the exact reason why is unclear. The goal is to carry your wife (or a woman weighing no less than 108 lbs) through a 277 yard track in the shortest amount of time. There are a few methods for carrying (fireman's carry, in the arms, piggyback etc.) though the preferred method seems to be the Estonian method as seen in the photo below.

#3 Black Pudding Throwing

The point of this competition is to knock the most number of Yorkshire Puddings (that are stacked 12 high) off of a 20-foot ledge by underhand throwing a black pudding at the stack. Its all in fun and nobody takes it too seriously, but it has been going on since the 1980's.

#4 Lawn Mower Racing

This is exactly what you would guess. Riders modify lawn mowers and race them around a course. They are required to remove the blades of the mower for safety but the other parts must remain. It started out as being just for fun, though some players take it very seriously.

#5 Nakizumo - Baby Crying Contest

In Japan, the 400 year old festival of Nakizumo - which translates to "crying baby sumo" takes place annually on April 26th at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, though there are other events across Japan. Two babies are brought into a ring with a sumo wrestler who then makes weird faces and shouts "naki" (which means cry) to try and make the babies cry. The winner is the baby who cries first or in the case of a tie, the one who cries loudest. It sounds mean, but it is based on the proverb "crying babies grow fastest" and is meant to bring good health to the babies.

#6 Extreme Ironing

Participants call themselves "ironists" in what they say mixes the thrill of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt. People will take an ironing board, an unplugged iron and a shirt to press in the most ridiculous locations, including underwater. There is a world record for it too - 173 people underwater ironing in the Netherlands back in 2011.

#7 Cockroach Racing

An Australia Day tradition, cockroach racing is pretty simple. You enter your roach, and it is placed in a bucket with all the competitors. Then the bucket is taken to the center of a ring and turned upside down. The winner is the roach who reaches the edge of the ring first. There is even a steeple chase edition where a garden hose is used as a fence around the edge to "enhance the spectacle and test the roach talent."

#8 Rock-Paper-Scissors Championship

Rock-paper-scissors is not just a schoolyard game or a way to decide who gets to sit shotgun. There are world competitions and a governing body and the sport is known for its relatively large cash prizes. If you want to get involved, learn how to always win at rock-paper-scissors here.

#9 Gurning Championship

Gurning is the act of forming a distorted facial expression and is an old, rural English tradition. The Egremont Crab Fair is the home of the largest gurning competition. The winner is the person who can make the most distorted face.

#10 Bed Racing

Bed racing is a tradition practiced all over Europe, but the original is the Great Knaresborough Bed Race. Contestants gather teams of six racers and one passenger and must abide by a series of restrictions on bed size, as it must also be able to cross a river somewhere along the course. They also must decorate their bed to the year's theme for the parade; failure to decorate appropriately will lead to disqualification.

#11 Shovel Racing

Shovel racing is exactly what is sounds like; sledding downhill using a shovel. It started out as a way for groundskeepers to get around quickly but quickly became a popular trend, even becoming an event at the X-Games in 1997. It was removed after one year due to a serious injury, but is currently an annual event at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico.

#12 Nailympia

If you're super into nail art, then you need to go to Nailympia - the Olympics of nails. There are competitions for things like gels and acrylics but the star of the show is the sculpture contest.

#13 hessboxing

CChessboxing is a sport that combines traditional boxing with the board game chess. You can win by putting your opponent into checkmate, or by knock out or if the clock runs out. The rest of the rules can be found here, but we're still not sure how the boxing and chess combine.

#14 Bee Wearing Competitions

Bee wearing or bee bearding, is the contest of who can attract more bees to land on their body. Competitors stand on a scale with a queen bee on them, and try to attract the most bees in one hour. Whoever has the most weight of bees gained is the winner. The world record is currently 73 pounds of bees.

#15 Redneck Games

Held annually in East Dublin Georgia, the events of this competition include hubcap hurling, toilet seat throwing and the mud pit belly flop.

#16 Baby Crawling Races

Baby crawling competitions are popular all over the world. One parent holds the baby at the start line and the other stands at the finish line with an object their child likes and tempts the baby to crawl to them the fastest.

#17 Stone Skimming

Stone skimming is usually something you casually do that at beach or the lake. Not so for these competitors. The World Stone Skimming Championships takes place on Eastdale Island, Scotland annually. Participants have to find their stones naturally on the island and success is measured in distance thrown, not in number of skips.

#18 Toe Wrestling

If arm wrestling isn't your thing, you can try toe wrestling. Where opponents go literally toe-to-toe and lock toes while trying to pin the other's foot down for three seconds. It is played in three rounds, starting with the right foot then switching to the left, and to the right again if necessary.

#19 World Sauna Championships

This competition saw men and women sit in a sauna with a starting temperature of 230Â°F and one quart of water poured onto the stove every half hour. The winner was the person able to stay in the sauna the longest. Since the death of a Russian competitor and near death of another in 2010, the organizers have since shut the competitions down.

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