Ashbourne World Toe Wrestling Championship

Where: Ashbourne, Derbyshire at Ashbourne Ex-Servicemen's Club
When: A weekend in May, June or July or even August!
Time: 1 pm

 

The noble art of toe-wrestling started in the 1970s with the idea that here was a sport in which Britons could excel…then a Canadian won the first competition! As it hasn’t yet been accepted as an Olympic sport, to win the championship is to reach the highest point of the art. Competitors sit on the floor and lock big toes, then attempt to wrestle their opponent’s foot over onto the wooden arena. Local celebrity toe-wrestlers can be expected to put on a good show – the winner is the best of three in heats until the champion is declared. There are classes for male and female contestants and the next generation of junior potential champions get a turn when the adult classes are over. All entrants receive a commemorative award – and even runners-up got a rosette the size of a dinner plate in 2018!

Helpful Hints

All entrants must pass a foot inspection and must be over 18. Entry cost £2 when we went, and money raised is given to charity.

Toe themed food ( as well as the regular menu!) was available at the event when we visited in 2018 and the pub had a large car-park (please note this is a different venue to the current event).

In 2024 it should be on Saturday 31st August at Ashbourne’s Ex-Servicemen’s Club.

It was usually in June in the past, though sometimes in May, and now seems to have settled in August. In 2019 it was held on Saturday May 25th and it returned to the Royal Oak at Wetton, where the event began following a number of years at the Bentley Brook Inn at Fenny Bentley.

Click here for the event Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WTWFofficial/

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