West Mid Show Shrewsbury

Teams from all over England will be taking part in the event, which will see teams competing for the gold medals in both mens weight categories and ladies weight categories.

The event is being organised by the Tug of War Association in conjunction with the West Mid Show, and each tug of war team will consist of 8 pullers. The winning teams at this event will go on to represent England at the World Championships, which take place in Sweden in September, so it will make for a very exciting competition for visitors to the show.

Taking part in the event will be teams who took part in the 2007 European Championships, which were held in Minehead Somerset. Amongst them will be the Sandhurst tug of war team, who won the gold medal in the mens 560 kilos event.

“We are very much looking forward to the championships this year”. Commented spokesman Alan Knott. “Not only do we have European Champions taking part at the event, but we are also celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the English Tug of War Association, and it is a privilege to hold our 50^th national championship at the West Mid Show”.

“The Tug of War Sport used to be organised by the Amateur Athletic Association in the early 1900’s, but it was not until 1958 when The Tug of War Association was formed to organise the sport independently”.

The sport was formerly a part of the Olympic programme until 1920, but was phased out along with other sports, such as Cricket and Rugby to reduce the number of competitors at the Olympics at that time. Great Britain are still the reigning Olympic champions at tug of war from those games in 1920.

“We hope some day that tug of war will once again be part of the Olympic programme. It is a true team sport and the ethics or determination, hard work, sportsmanship, and friendship are unrivalled in any other sport. We hope that people come along to watch the tug of war championships at the show to give our tug of war teams as much support as possible”.

For further information about the sport of tug of war, visit the Tug of War Association web site at www.tugofwar.co.uk