I’ve seen rubber dolls used in many ways, most of them for adult eyes only, but using them as flotation devices makes much more sense.

Hundreds of crazy Russian swimmers gathered in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city, for the annual Bubble Baba Challenge (Bubble Woman Chalenge). They plunged into the cold waters of the Ob River and had to swim for 100 meters with a rubber doll. The dolls helped keep them afloat, but were quite difficult to maneuver.

The first five swimmers to complete the Bubble Baba Challenge received prizes and diplomas.But what’s important is, everybody, including the 1,000 spectators, had fun. Read More »

They’ve only been born for a year and they’re already competing in sporting events. No wonder they’re called Olympic Babies.

Babies born on August 8, known as Olympic Babies, take part in a sporting competition that fits them like a diaper, a crawling race.  The race took place on August 6, 2009 in Beijing, to commemorate a 1 year anniversary since the Olympic Games held in the Chinese Capital.

via China.org

Just because they’re short doesn’t mean little people shouldn’t have the chance to compete in sporting events, at an international level. That’s why the World Dwarf Games were created.

Similar to the Paralympics, the World Dwarf Games gives athletes suffering from dwarfism the chance to prove themselves. The games are held every four years, in locations all across the world. The 5th edition of the games was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from July 24 until August 2nd. Competitors from all around the world tried their best to win and qualify for the 2012 Paralympics.

Photos by Reuters

To celebrate Michael Jordan‘s induction into the Naismith Memorial, Gatorade teamed-up with an advertising company to create one of the oddest mosaics ever.

Using an image of “His Airness” leaping towards the basket, 14, 641 Gatorade Limited Edition Jordan bottles and 200 lightboxes, a giant drinkable mosaic was created. The unusual creation was first tested in an enclosed space, before being transported to an outdoor basketball court, in Chicago’s South Side, where hundreds of curious Michael Jordan fans awaited to see their idol recreated from Gatorade bottles.

via: Total Pro Sports

Check out the video at the bottom:

Although I wasn’t able to find much info about this spitball competition, I know it was held somewhere in Britain and it’s sort of like the Spitball World Championship. I really liked some of the fancy spitball launchers some of the contestants displayed. They show just how passionate some people can be about a…sport other people find silly.

via Ochevidec

The smartest autonomous robots in the world prepare for one of the most important robot competitions in the world, the World Cup of RoboCup.

Brilliant minds from all round the globe build soccer-playing-robots and compete in the RoboCup, to promote the development of artificial intelligence. This year, the weekend-long contest was held in the Austrian city of Graz and the protagonists tried to put on a show worth watching.

The Soccer World Cup for robots is not as young an event as you might think. It dates back to 1993 and, across the years, it took place in countries like Japan, Italy and USA. There are different league matches, from the standard to the smaller than 180 mm league.

In one of the leagues, teams use identical robots, and have the task of developing a software that can allow the machines to move autonomously. The dream of the developers is to one day create an entire team of autonomous robots that can defeat the human winners of the Soccer World Cup.

Photos by Reuters

via Telegraph.co.uk

Dogs show-off surfing skills at the 4th Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competion in Imperial Beach, California.

Well after seeing the surfing mice, these photos of dogs mastering the surfboard just don’t seem that impressive anymore. But, I guess they deserve some credit, after all, surfing’s certainly not an easy sport. Still…surfing mice, now that’s impressive.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Competitors went toe to toe last weekend, for the title of World Toe-Wrestling Champion.

Who knew something as silly as toe-wrestling was an actual sport, right? Well, turns out it really is and people have been clashing their toes in the World Toe-Wrestling Championship for the last 14 years.

This year’s competition was held in Ashbourne, England. The rules were pretty simple. After a basic check for foot hygiene, two competitors “toed-it-out”, trying to push each other off the “toedium”. Toe-wrestling has become more and more popular lately and, this year, the championship drew-in contestants from all around the world, including Australia and the US.

The final toe-down was between two locals, last year’s champion Paul “Toeminator” Beech and Alan “Nasty” Nash. After a tough match, the judge decided “Nasty” had the stronger toes and awarded him his fifth World Toe-Wrestling Championship trophy.

via People’s Daily

Trying to get your girlfriend to play foosball? This Barbie-themed foosball table might just do the trick.

Created by French designer Chloe Ruchon and presented at the DMY Design Festival 2009, in Berlin, Barbiefoot combines Barbie dolls and table-football. You could say Ruchon managed to create something that men and women might actually enjoy doing together. While it might not be the world’s biggest foosball table, Barbiefoot is certainly an interesting concept.

via Design Boom

Chinese discover deadly combination: soccer and Kung Fu martial arts.

The first thing that came into my mind, when I first saw these photos, was the movie Shaolin Soccer. Ok, so it wasn’t the best film ever made, but it had a pretty cool idea, mixing a popular sport like soccer with martial arts. Now the Chinese bring fantasy into real life with the women’s kung fu soccer team.

The kung fu soccer team was founded in Tanggu, and the girls showcased their abilities for the first time on May 31, in Tianjin. From What I can see, these girls got game!

via China.org.cn

Everyone keeps telling me about the beneficial effects of practicing Yoga, but this is too much.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen what Yoga can do for older people, but that doesn’t make these photos any less impressive. I was around five or six the last time I was able to bring my foot up to the tip of my nose, and this guy puts his feet behind his back with ease, at over fifty years of age. I really have to start practicing Yoga!

via Moobol

Impossible is nothing!

I love that motto and it fits Aaron Fotheringham perfectly. He’s a 17-year old Extreme wheelchair athlete, competing against BMX riders in skate-park competitions. Fotheringham suffers from Spida Bifida and has been spending his life in a wheelchair since the age of 8. As a young kid he used to watch his brother ride his BMX at the skate-park and one day he took his advice and started riding in his wheelchair. He loved it so much he never stopped since. He got a new, lighter wheelchair, with four-wheel suspension that allowed him to perform most of the tricks BMX riders perform.

In 2006 Aaron Fotheringham ranked forth in a BMX competition in Sunny Springs Skate Park. He has suffered many injuries while practicing his tricks although he first tries them out on cushions and on hard plastic sheets before performing them on skateboard ramps.

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