{"id":186117,"date":"2025-04-15T13:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/activist\/inside-the-grit-and-glory-of-british-toe-wrestling\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T13:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:03:08","slug":"inside-the-grit-and-glory-of-british-toe-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186117","title":{"rendered":"Inside the grit and glory of British toe wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tcocdn.com\/tco\/images\/Huck\/Toe-Wrestling-Championship-Magda-Campagne-261.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Her most memorable win came in 2019, when she first took the world title. \u201cMy mum was so proud,\u201d Lisa says. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t wait to show everyone the article in the local paper and say, \u2018My daughter\u2019s a world champion!\u2019\u201d Since that first win, her family has shown up at almost every match. But in 2022, just a week before the World Championships, Lisa\u2019s mum passed away. Though she\u2019d encouraged Lisa to compete, it didn\u2019t feel right, so she skipped that year\u2019s competition. \u201cBut now, I\u2019ve got even more passion,\u201d she says. \u201cMum loved it, so that gives me an extra edge \u2013 I want it even more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s clear how much heart this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huckmag.com\/topic\/sport\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sport<\/a> holds for the people who compete.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Beyond winning world titles, Ben is working on something bigger for toe wrestling: legacy. His dream is to take it to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huckmag.com\/topic\/olympics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Olympics<\/a>. The campaign began half as a joke in 1996, when his predecessors sent off an application and received a tongue-in-cheek letter back from the IOC, who apparently couldn\u2019t decide if it was a summer or winter sport. This time, Ben\u2019s serious. Last year, he and Alan flew to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huckmag.com\/article\/graffiti-trucks-of-paris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paris<\/a> to stage promotional matches during the Olympic Games. \u201cIf breakdancing can be an Olympic sport,\u201d Ben shrugs, \u201cwhy not toe wrestling?\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It might seem unlikely, but toe wrestling is gaining serious momentum. Each August, more competitors from around the world descend on Ashbourne for the World Championships, drawn by the chance to prove themselves on a gigantic eight foot Toedium and a prize pot that\u2019s now hit \u00a310,000, thanks to new sponsors.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The sport\u2019s growth isn\u2019t just happening at ground level. Over the past couple of years, toe wrestling has gone viral, with every clip the organisers post racking up millions of views. Even this grungy pub sport hasn\u2019t escaped the pull of the algorithm \u2013 there\u2019s a full social media team behind it now, producing slick reels, cinematic edits, and behind-the-scenes content. Tonight, half the crowd are gripping pints in one hand and filming with the other. Soon, fans will even be able to buy their own official Toedium: a miniature match board sold via links posted under the social clips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Her most memorable win came in 2019, when she first took the world title. \u201cMy mum was so proud,\u201d Lisa says. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t wait to show everyone the article in the local paper and say, \u2018My daughter\u2019s a world champion!\u2019\u201d Since that first win, her family has shown up at almost every match. But in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12022],"tags":[1851,6325,1840,10243,73155,73154,6798,13917,47570,44739,2645,4120,51266,19387,1543,29832,4243,421,7795,31409],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-186117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activist","tag-70s","tag-born","tag-british","tag-built","tag-cheng","tag-clenching-sport","tag-cult","tag-debut","tag-derbyshire","tag-following","tag-foot","tag-glory","tag-gradually","tag-grit","tag-london","tag-reported","tag-rural","tag-toe","tag-wrestling","tag-wrestlings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inside the grit and glory of British toe wrestling - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=186117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside the grit and glory of British toe wrestling - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Her most memorable win came in 2019, when she first took the world title. \u201cMy mum was so proud,\u201d Lisa says. \u201cShe couldn\u2019t wait to show everyone the article in the local paper and say, \u2018My daughter\u2019s a world champion!\u2019\u201d Since that first win, her family has shown up at almost every match. 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