The camel jumpers in Yemen look impressive, though the ramp up to the take-off point gives them a good lift. It would be interesting to see how they would go doing a standard long jump, or for a long jumper or high jumper to have a go at camel jumping!
They usually jump between 4 to 6 camels, though the hight of the ramp and the height of the camel would obviously vary, and they also sometimes have saddles on the camels, so standardization is an issue. A new Olympic sport? There are a few things to sort out first, and sourcing a standard set of camels would be the first thing. See more about Camel Jumping.
Imagine a sports league where enormous machines, controlled by an athlete sitting within, would compete in challenges like racing through obstacle courses, overcoming hurdles such as pushing giant boulders and scaling tall hills, or even fighting each other. You can only imagine such a sport at the moment as only one has been built yet, and it is still a little slow and cumbersome. But one day …. See more about Mech Racing, and other New Sports.
A description of all the physical tests conducted at the AFL annual pre-draft combine, with information about how the tests relate to football performance. This video was produced before some changes to the testing list in 2017, when the beep test and was replaced with the yo-yo intermittent test and the 3-kilometre time-trial was reduced to a 2km run. See more about the AFL combine.
The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) is a test of dynamic balance, which requires subjects to balance on one leg and reach as far as possible in eight different directions. This test has been used as an indicator of lower limb injury risk. Read about the Star Excursion Balance Test, and the similar Y-Balance Test which was derived from this test.
Winning gold at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin did not guarantee Jesse Owens financial success. In the years to follow, he regularly raced against horses to generate income. Here’s a video of one of his races in which he beat the horse. He is not the only person ever to race against animals: Michael Phelps raced a shark (sort of!), and others raced a cheetah. See our article on Man versus Animal.
To cap off a sensational year for the Tigers, in addition to the Grand Final, the Brownlow, and the Norm Smith medal, Richmond player Connor Menadue won the 2017 Grand Final half-time sprint. See more about the history of the Grand Final Sprint.
On Topend Sports we have a section on new sports, where we get submissions from those wanting to promote the new sport they have invented. Some are great ideas that could potentially become popular worldwide, while other are wild ideas that maybe should be kept to themselves. The latest submission was stupid robot fighting from New Zealand. Sports that involve robots is not a stupid idea in itself, as there are already competitions of Robot Sports, including robot combat. Have a look and see what you think of this new robot fighting sport variation.
Tom Brady, one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever, has done some great things in his career, but his performances at the 2000 pre-draft combine is not one of them. His poor effort affected his chances. He was picked 199 overall in the draft, and he was the 7th quarterback to be picked. The NFL won’t let me show the video of his performance, but here is someone else trying to match his scores.
His results at the combine:
40 Yard Dash: 5.28s
20 Yard Dash: 2.94s
10 Yard Dash: 1.70s
Bench Press: –
Vertical Leap: 24.5 inches
Broad Jump: 99 inches
20 Yd Shuttle: 4.38s
Three Cone Drill: 7.20s
60 Yd Shuttle: –
Wonderlic: 33
See the best NFL combine test results
Here is the final for the AFL player sprint race held at half time of the 2015 AFL Grand Final. Included in the field were two cab drivers (the race was sponsored by the company 13 Cabs). Also for sponsorship reasons, all the runners wore bright yellow tights. The winner was Majak Daw, the first winner of the race from the North Melbourne football club. See more about the history of the Grand Final Sprint.
Here is the final for the AFL player sprint race held at half time of the 2016 AFL Grand Final. The winner was the James Shirley, a 28-year-old suburban footballer from the Murrumbeena Football Netball Club, who won through qualifying races to represent local footballers. A little embarrassing for the professional footballers. See more about the history of the Grand Final Sprint.
