Advertisement

Six of the weirdest Swiss sporting traditions

Sophie Inge
Sophie Inge - [email protected]
Six of the weirdest Swiss sporting traditions
Photos (from left to right) Cesar e Camilla/Flickr, DRK Schwanheim-Goldstein/Flickr, Monika Flueckiger/swiss-image.ch, habi/Flickr

The Swiss have a reputation for enjoying - and being good at - ice hockey, skiing and tennis. What you might not know is that Switzerland is also home to a host of lesser-known sports. The Local takes a look at six of the most unusual.

Advertisement

Last week, hundreds of thousands of visitors crammed into the town of Burgdorf in the canton of Bern's Emmental valley. 

Not for a football match, but for the chance to attend a unique Swiss wrestling contest known as the “Schwingfest” where wrestlers battle it out in a pit of sawdust dressed in sackcloth shorts.

On Sunday the canton’s local star Matthias Sempach was crowned “Schwingerkoenig” or “King of the Schwingers” earning himself a prize two-year-old bull known as “Fors vo dr Lueg” worth 22,000 francs ($23,640).

If this sporting tradition strikes you as fairly odd, wait until you read about some of Switzerland’s other weird and wonderful sports.

Click here to view a gallery of six of the weirdest Swiss sporting traditions
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also