Toe-Wrestling Champions Dream of the Olympics
Ben Woodroffe from the UK is a world champion — but his dream is to become an Olympic champion.
The problem is, he'll have to get his sport into the Olympics first, and that won't be easy.
That's because Woodroffe is the world toe-wrestling champion.
If breakdancing can be an Olympic sport, toe wrestling can be too, he told The Independent after winning his third world title at the end of August.
He even went to Paris this summer to encourage others to try this unusual sport.
It's like arm wrestling, but with feet. Each competitor locks toes with the person opposite them. The goal is to push the other person's foot to one side of a platform.
There are no socks, no shoes — just two feet fighting for the prize.
The championship competition takes place in the market square in the small English town of Ashbourne. The sport was born here in a pub in 1974, and the event attracts people from all around the world.
Matches can be over in just a few seconds, but some take 10 minutes, and bandages and tape are sometimes needed to stop competitors' feet from slipping.
Anyone can take part, but it's not for the fainthearted — toes do get broken.
Woodroffe, who is 35 years old and 193 centimeters tall, broke his toe in this year's final. But he was still able to win the trophy and the $660-prize.
His nickname is "Toe-tal Destruction." The women's winner, Lisa Shenton, is known as "Twinkletoes" — a nickname usually given to people who are good at dancing or quick with their feet!
Both are now giving their toes some rest and dreaming of the Olympics.
