International World Games Association : Tug of War

Sports of The World Games

Another sport with a considerable tradition: tug of war as a competitive match of strength between two teams was practiced as early as 500 B.C. by Greek athletes. It was also considered an ideal physical training and a perfect workout as basis for many other sports.

Nowadays, while still being a sport of almost unequalled simplicity in terms of its object and governing rules, tug of war competitions are staged outdoors and indoors. The 'pulling' in men's and women's divisions is classified based on the total body weight of the eight athletes on each of the two opposing teams, ensuring that they are evenly matched in that respect.

The teams of eight members are captained by the lead person - the first in line - and the anchor: the last man or woman who may wrap the rope around his or her body once.

The highlight of outdoor tug of war is the clash of sheer power between the two teams. Athletes seek an optimal foothold in the ground by digging in their heels and, using that as their pivot, pull the rope with all the strength they're capable of mustering.

For obvious reasons, this technique doesn't work for the indoor event: leaning too far back would cause the athletes to slip, even on the specially designed rubber mats. Hence they try to steadily move back, step by step, in order to avoid loss of pulling power. Indoor matches require much more clomplex techniques and tactics than those in the outdoor tug of war.

The key is for the rope to be pulled in a straight line from the lead to the anchor. The team pulling the center of the rope four meters from the starting position is declared the winner. The rope is between 33,5 and 36 meters in length, 10 to 12,5 cm in diameter, and it is made of hemp.

Tug of war the The World Games 2005

Tug of war events on the Official Sports Program of The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung:

Outdoor (Men 640 kg, 680 kg); Indoor (Women 520 kg)

This sport represents a concept so classic that, in some languages at least, its name is used in everyday language. Tug of war's long history as the purest contest of human strength provides glorious moments galore. On the program of the Olympics from Paris 1900 through Antwerp 1920, in The World Games, and in world championships held outdoors and indoors ...

One of these moments, during The World Games 1989 Karlsruhe, was reflected upon by German sports philosopher Prof. Dr. Hans Lenk:

'With heavy boots, bulging biceps, and with looks of determination on everyone's face, both teams lined up. Particularly stout the Swiss, somewhat lankier the Brits. All of a sudden there was a delay! The Swiss were one athlete short. The poor lad had injured himself during training. The two teams and the referee conferred for a moment. Voluntarily, the Brits dropped one athlete from their team ... The spirit of fairness continued alive where not only the victor's purse and the must-win-at-all-cost attitudes count ... Below the excessively marketed top-level sport with all its temptations to unfairness – doping, etc. – the traditional sporting spirit still exists.'

The World Games 2009 indoor tug of war event (Women 520 kg) has Chinese Taipei defend the gold medal and title in Kaohsiung. It will get very noisy at the NSYSU Gymnasium. The partisan crowd will cheer the eight Taiwanese women on, their coach will be as vocal, trying to shout louder than the counterpart on the opposing team, but the pulls will be amicable and fair. The tug of war tradition continues.

Tug of war at The World Games 2005