The World Alternative Games Include Wife Carrying and Bog Snorkeling

The Olympics have been underway for a week now, but for participants in this year’s World Alternative Games, the real events are just beginning. As BBC News reports, the three-week competition, which kicks off today, August 12, includes offbeat activities like gravy wrestling, worm charming, snail racing, and bog snorkeling. There's even a rock, paper, scissors event for kids. 

The first official World Alternative Games took place in 2012 in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales as a cheeky companion to that year’s Olympics in London. But the history of bog snorkeling in the town dates back to at least 1986, and it's now one of the game’s most highly anticipated events.

According to the World Alternative Games, the athletes who compete are “just as dedicated to their unusual sports as their Olympian counterparts.” This year’s competition is shaping up to be one to remember, with finger jousting, Russian egg roulette, and "running with dogs” all scheduled to take place. One of the final events of the games will be a wife-carrying competition, which is an actual "sport" that’s played around the world. In the name of equality, a husband-dragging competition will be held that same day. 

The World Alternative Games runs every weekend until August 29.

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