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Here is an alphabetical list of over 100 unusual sports, which we have discovered around the world. Some of the sports listed below are quite mainstream sports, but I have included them here as I think they are a little unusual, the people who partake in the sport may be a little unusual, or they are just not widely played and some people may be surprised to learn about this quirky sport.

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Click on the sports names below for more detailed information about each unusual sport. See also my top 10 favorite unusual sports and this site's 10 most viewed unusual sports. Planning a holiday? See this list sorted by country.

• Alternative Games — 35 unusual sports in one event.
• Apple Race — where else but on the apple isle of Tasmania.
• Avocado Launching — involves launching avocados at a target with your team's man-made launching apparatus.
• Balloons — players attempt to keep a balloon in the air
• Baby Olympics — a competition for children aged between two and four years, competing in athletics, gymnastics, football, basketball and weightlifting.
• Ba Game — a version of Medieval Football played in Scotland, a type of Mob Football where two parts of a town have to get a ball to their respective sides.
• Ban'ei — a Japanese horse race which requires a draft horse to pull a weighted sled through sand.
• Bathtubbing — going for a paddle in a bath
• Botaoshi — a tough and crazy game like capture the flag played in Japan.
• Beard & Moustache Championships — nice facial hair
• Bed Racing — racing in your sleep.
• Beer Mile — 4 drink mile
• Beer Can Regatta — recycling empties.
• Beer Crate Running (Kastenlauf) - carry your own refreshments
• Beer Pong — combining drinking and ping pong
• Beer Sculling — get it down fast.

• Birdman Rallies — taking to the sky.
• Black Pudding Throwing — competitors throw lumps of black pudding at Yorkshire puddings piled atop a platform
• Bog Snorkeling — fancy some bog diving?
• Bottle Kicking — teams try to move a small keg containing ale across fields to streams which are located one mile apart, moving it by any means possible.
• Calcio Fiorentino — an early form of football which was developed in 16th century Italy.
• Camel Jumping — the objective of the sport is to clean jump a group of camels that are stacked together horizontally.
• Camel Wrestling — two male camels up against each other.
• Cane Toad Racing — jump to it.
• Canine Freestyle Dancing — doggy dancing.
• Car Curling — just like Olympic curling, but with cars.
• Castell Tower Building — a human tower traditionally built during Catalan festivals, where participants form tiers by standing on each other's shoulders.
• Cheese Rolling — get yourself and the cheese to the bottom of a hill.
• Chicken Fight — piggyback fighting in the water
• Clog Cobbing — throwing a clog.
• Coal Carrying Championship — only for those with a strong back.
• Cockroach Racing — right there till the end
• Conker Smashing — you have to be a nut.
• Cornish Hurling — a variation of Mob Football played in Cornwall England using a silver ball.
• Cotswold Olimpicks — a long running ancient games event
• Cow Racing — moo too.
• Crawling Races — how fast can a baby crawl?
• Dog Surfing — dogs are trained to surf on surfboards
• Duck Race — thousands of rubber duckies in the river.
• Dunny Derby — another meaning of the runs.
• Dwarf throwing — why so grumpy? Maybe because they are being thrown.
• Egg and Spoon Race — carry an egg on the spoon and cross the finish line as fast as possible
• Egg Rolling — an Easter tradition where children push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon.
• Elephant Soccer — riders on the back of elephants dirrect them to play football/soccer.
• Eton Wall Game — a bit like rugby union, the objective of the sport is to move the ball along a curved brick wall towards the opposing team's goal.
• Extreme Ironing — who said ironing is difficult?
• Faceball — the objective is to simply throw an inflated ball at any part of the opponents head.
• Ferret Legging — place a ferret down your pants for as long as possible
• Finger Jousting — try and poke your opponent
• Finger Wrestling — two men sit and face each other over a table and thread their fingers into a leather band
• Fireball Soccer — football with a ball on fire
• Goanna Pulling — a version of tug-of-war using a strap around the neck.
• Goose Pulling — involves ripping the head off a goose.
• Greasey Pole Climbing — attempting to climb a slippery pole for a prize at the end.
• Gurning Contest — pull an ugly face and win.
• Haggis Hurling — throwing a haggis as far as possible for distance and accuracy
• Hamster Racing — rodent races in miniature vehicles
• Hairiest Back — who has the most hair on their back.
• Haxey Hood — a kind of rugby game that allows unlimited players and a few rules
• Hemp Olympics — oh man!
• Henley on Todd Regatta — where did the water go?
• Hide and Seek — classic children's game in sport mode.
• Hobby Horsing — participants simulate traditional equestrian events while riding a simple object resembling a horse's head mounted on a stick.
• Hoover Ball — a version of volleyball invented by President Herbert Hoover's personal White House physician.
• Hop Pocket Races — races carrying a hop pocket, a large sack into which the dried Hop flowers are compressed and stored prior to being used to brew beer.
• Horseback Boxing — competitors fight each other while riding on the back of a horse.
• Hot Dog Eating Championships — eat as much as you can, as fast as you can. Don't try this at home.
• Jaffa Race — racing jaffa lollies down the world's steepest street.
• Jolleyball — a combination of volleyball and juggling
• Juggling Triathlon — as it says, the sport is a combination of juggling and triathlon.
• JumpRopeSprint — involves sprinting while jumping rope once per stride
• Kaninhop — rabbit show jumping
• Kibasen ("Cavalry Battle") — a type of piggyback riding sport that is played in Japan by school children during their annual sports day.
• Kissing Competitions — unusual events such as underwater and basketball kissing
• Land Diving — dry land bungy jumping.
• Limbo Skating — combines the graceful art of roller skating with the back-breaking challenge of limbo.
• Lingerie Football — American Football played by women wearing lingerie as uniforms
• Lizard Racing Championships — flat out like a lizard.
• Makepung — racing buffalo competition from Bali.
• Man vs. Horse Marathon — runners and horse riders compete against each other
• Memory Sports — remember to try this
• Marbles — don't lose your marbles
• Milk Carton Regatta — have you had your milk today?
• Mini-Golf Billiards — a pool cue is used to hit the ball instead of a golf putter, and the mini-golf hole is on a table top.
• Monster Truck Rallies — big wheels to get excited about
• Moonrock Throwing — they go further on the moon
• Mr Ugly — Who is the ugliest person in Zimbabwe?
• Mud Olympics — a range of sports for getting down and dirty - faster, higher and muddier!
• Mud Wrestling — a women only wrestling sport, in mud while wearing only bikinis.
• Naked Rugby — nude rugby international matches have been played in the cold south of New Zealand.
• Nude Beach Olympics — held at the nudist section of Baker Beach San Francisco
• Nude Olympics #1 — following the tradition of the ancient Games (Maslin Beach, SA).
• Nude Olympics #2 — held in Queensland (then NSW), Australia.
• Nude Sports — footloose and free, here a collection of sports played in the nude.
• Orange Races — racing oranges down a hill.
• Ostrich Racing — riding ostriches
• Outhouse Racing — teams create their own outhouses and race them down the main street
• Paper-Scissors-Rock World Championships
• Pea Shooting — food fight
• Pie Eating Contest — changes in gluttony
• Pig Racing and Diving — pigs really can fly.
• Pillow Fighting — a real-life semi-professional women-only sporting event.
• Polish Dragon Boat Racing — teams sit facing each other in a dragon boats and attempt to paddle toward each other.
• Pooh Sticks Championship — not so sticky game played by Pooh Bear.
• Raft Racing — racing on the water in rafts
• Real Ale Wobble and Ramble — the best way to enjoy a ride or walk - inebriated
• Redneck Games — southern alternative to the Olympics including a host of unusual sports.
• Redneck Skeet — a fun shooting sport in which beer cans are used as targets
• Royal Shrovetide Football — all the village involved in this rugby type game.
• Rossall Hockey — a unique form of hockey that is played only at Rossall School in England, combining elements of hockey and rugby. Think about it - rugby with sticks!
• Running with the Bulls — mix it up with the bulls in Pamplona in Spain.
• Running of the Nudes — alternative to the Pamplona bull run.
• Running of the Reindeer — people run down a four-block downtown street in Alaska with a group of reindeer released behind them.
• Rural Games — New Zealand event comprising a large range of unusual sports and games.
• Sack Races — participants race with both of their legs inside a sack or pillowcase.
• Scotland Island 500 — Sydney's annual aquatic dog race
• Scottish Highland Games — a traditional Scottish sporting event
• Sheep Counting — puts you to sleep
• Sheep Races — catch me if you can.
• Shin Kicking — kicking battle.
• Skipping Stones — the most skips or longest distance
• Snail Races — exciting races with snails.
• Snow Blower Race — competitors push a snow blower through a 20-meter long snow heap.
• Sporthocking — extreme stool tricks
• Stinging Nettle Challenge — why would you eat something with the word 'stinging' in it?
• Straw Race — carrying bales of straw.
• SUP Jousting — a modern twist on medieval jousting, fought with paddleboards and inflatable noodles.
• Tar Barrels — running on fire.
• Three-Legged Races — a children's competition conducted in pairs, in which a leg from each competitor is tied to their partner.
• Three Sided Football — a variation of football in which three teams played instead of just two teams.
• Thumb Wresting — two players use their thumbs to simulate fighting
• Toe Wrestling — battle of the big toes.
• Tombstoning — an extreme daredevil kind of an activity that involves diving into the sea from cliffs.
• Tough Mudder — you need to be tough in this adventure obstacle race.
• Tuk Tuk Polo — a variation of polo, in which players are on vehicles called tuk tuks.
• Tuna Toss — hurling the fish in Port Lincoln, South Australia
• Two-Handed Tennis — a variation of the popular game, a racket in each hand.
• Ultimate Tazer Ball — involves players carrying a real taser gun and using it on opponents to gain possession of the ball.
• Underwater Cycling — s a sport that involves riding a bicycle under water.
• Unicycle Football — a variation of American football in which players move around the field using a unicycle
• Uppies and Downies — a version of Medieval Football played in Workington in West Cumbria, with about 1000 players on each team who attempt to get the ball to the opposing team's goal.
• Vertical Soccer — played on the side of a billboard painted to resemble a miniature football field
• Volcano Surfing — athletes ride downhill on slopes that are covered with volcano ash using a surfboard.
• Wheel Barrow Races — two players race with one teammate playing the role of the driver, and the other playing the role of the wheelbarrow.
• Wheel Barrow Olympics — an international sports event organized annually in Hungary.
• Wife Carrying Festival — carrying your wife, all for the prize of beer.
• Woolsack Races — carrying sacks of wool up and down a hill
• Worm Charming — bring as many worms to the surface as you can
• Yabbie Races — an Australian tradition racing crustaceans.
• Zorb Ball — rolling down the hill in an inflatable ball.

Do you have a suggestion? Another sport to add to the list? Then, contact me.

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Related Pages

• Complete unusual sports list sorted by country
• my top 10 favorite unusual sports
• This site's 10 most viewed unusual sports
• Test your knowledge with the Unusual Sports Quiz
• List of Blood Sports