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We’re all excited about the games. In fact, since it was announced, way back in 2005, the UK has gone ever-so-slightly sports crazy. There’s no doubt, it’s going to be up there with 1966 or Torvill and Dean’s Bolero.
At the first event, held in 1896, there were just nine sports. This year, there will still only be 26, including all the usual running-diving-throwing-jumping suspects. With so many other possible sports to choose from, we think it’s time to shake things up a bit.
Technically speaking, as long as it is widely practiced in at least 75 countries, across four continents, any sport can be considered for inclusion. However, there is a nifty little loophole: ‘demonstration’ sports are also allowed to be included. This can be to gauge interest in a discontinued sport or to showcase a sport from the host country. In the past, the games have included cricket, ballooning and even tug of war. And in our opinion, the time is ripe for bit of the bonkers British spirit to be displayed at this year’s games.
So, what if you could include absolutely any sport?
The Adopt a Word team think it would really liven things up if we could all cheer along to:
Speed dating: points for best chat up line, dreamiest eyes and least offensive aftershave.
Crowd surfing: with 80,000 spectators, this would be nothing short of spectacular.
Pie eating: someone will need to tell St John’s Ambulance to stock up on indigestion tablets.
So now it’s your turn. Tell us what you’d like to see at this year’s games and you could win the latest Nintendo 3DS Mario & Sonic game.
To enter, all you have to do is post your suggestion as a comment below, along with your email address or Twitter user name before midday BST on 10th August 2012. Adopt a Word’s very own Games Committee will choose the sport that they would love to see most. It can be an existing peripheral sport or something a little more out of the ordinary, just as long as it isn’t smutty, illegal or unhygienic.
You can also join in the fun on Twitter @adoptaword, but don’t forget to use the hash tag #altgames
Terms & Conditions:
1. You may submit as many entries as you wish.
2. Automated entries will be disqualified. 3. Entries must be received by midday BST on 10th August 2012.
4. A winner will be chosen by an independent panel from all the entries received.
5. The winner will be contacted via email or Twitter and delivery of the prize will be arranged. 6. The winner consents for their name to be used for publicity purposes by
I CAN in printed and/or online formats.
7. I CAN will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent, but your name will be shown on our blog.
Synchronised belching!
Matchstick fencing(epeek)
Flying – Wingsuits or anything you want to make without a motor! All countries competing for distance in flight
We have a winner!
Wheel Barrowing is the chosen game!
It was a tough decision for our judges as Richard Gottfried’s Miniature Golf game came close to snapping the No. 1 spot but it was quickly crushed by Sharon McGuinness’s Wheel Barrowing game. Congratulations Sharon, you have won the latest Nintendo 3DS Mario & Sonic game. We’ll be in touch soon to arrange delivery of your prize!
Thanks to everyone who entered our competition. The competition is now closed. We will announce the winner on Monday and be in touch to arrange delivery of the prize.
Pub fighting, weapons include …..Glasses , ashtray’s , barstools & pool cues!
Gladiator style!
Free wifi hunting : maximum points for the participant who can find the most free wifi hotspots in one hour (to stay in contention each wifi connection must be used to browse facebook for at least 2 minutes without cutting out… Or swearing from the participant)
Frog swimming: everyone dons frog costumes & swims 1000m, bonus points for resisting stopping for a rest on a lily pad
My 5 year old son say he would love playing sonic and mario racing to be an olypic event he says he would win the gold lol
Hide and seek would be my suggestion. Mind you, the current world record for hiding stands at 38 years so it may be several games before you see a gold medal awarded.
The harassed mum event – changing a nappy while trying to soothe an irritated toddler and answer the phone, a competition to feed a baby with the winner being the mum who gets the least amount of food on their own clothes, the burp race (who can wind their baby to burping point first) etc…
A competition to see who can eat the most baked beans in a set time.
@jjuli2
The ‘Turtle Backpack Turtle Spin’ !! For anyone who doesn’t know what this is just type ‘Jenna Marbles turtle backpack turtle spin’ into Google or YouTube and you will find out
Trolley Dash!
Treasure hunting (or geocaching) hehe
Person who finds the medal first gets it 
Now that we have seen the first Olympics where women are allowed to compete for every country we should include a special discipline of Multi Tasking.
Men would be allowed to enter too of course, but only if they could fill in the application form while simultaneously trying to arrange for a plumber to visit and whilst balancing a screaming baby on each hip
Piggy in the middle, Olympic edition. The difference being that for the Olympics, the players must all be riding an animal during the match. Traditionally it would be a pig, but that’s a touch inhumane (pigs are sore losers and often run into walls after a defeat, which can cause snout grazing). These days the players mostly ride cows, but anything goes.
speed text messaging, or for the energetic – the 3 legged race!
Horseball…exciting, fast moving sport to really capture the attention of the audience
Hide and Seek!
The organizers hide all the tickets….the competitors have to seek hidden tickets hidden all over London using cryptic clues in order to allow the crowds to enter one at a time!
Bonus tickets can be caught at various Crystal Maze type “cubes” with tickets being scattered all over the place by a wind machine powered with hot air supplied by London politicians and LOCOG.
It could also make a great audience participation game online as well!
(Only joking Well done London Keep it up….Boo Sucks to the Muppet in charge of ticketing though).
Jousting on piggy-back with rubber lances.
pole dancing!
I’d like to see indoor five-a-side football at the Olympics.
I would like to see all the things we have already – marathon, hurdles, diving and so on – but on spacehoppers. I would pay good money to watch this Bouncylympics.
SQUASH!!!
The Olympiathon.
A little bit of every sport. 100m swim, 1k row, 10k cycle, 800m run and a couple of field events, some horse stuff, bit of shooting and archery, gymnastics and trampolining, singles tennis and table tennis etc etc.
It would take place over the middle weekend, Friday to Monday with equal spacing between the events. Every country can enter 1 male and 1 female athlete. Obviously it’d be a logistical nightmare and take ages but what a medal to win. The winner of it can be called Ultimate Olympian for the next 4 years and can use that title on letterheads and signatures etc. Costume optional.
Adult Tantrum Throwing: grown adults outdoing their own children preferably. The event increases in difficulty through the qualifiers and into the heats, as the children become “overtired” whilst being given handfuls of artificially-coloured sweets. Top marks are awarded to the parents that come the closest to their child hanging their head in shame before walking / crawling / shuffling out of the arena tutting loudly.
It’s simple; parking! You can have lots of different events, eg: in line parking, ie, between two cars on a road side, in a multi-story car park, on a ferry, etc. The permutations are endless. You could have degrees of difficulty, eg, the pillock that parked at an angle and the berk that took up half your space. It can be both skilful and hilarious.
It has to be a slip slider contest, will have to watch out for illegal slathering of washing up liquid ( who will make the distance)
Wellie Wanging – or similar, dependent on the host countries traditional equivalent of the British Wellie e.g. Dutch Clog, Russian Valenki Boot, Japanese Geta Shoe – Thus a globally transferable sport.
Pole Dancing – I see this is now advertised as a sport (really?) and is clearly globally recognised.
Toe Wrestling – a truly British gem
Egg Russian Roulette – no it’s not a ‘yoke’ but a serious competitive sport and everyone knows what an egg is so training and preparation wouldn’t be difficult.
Finger Jousting really ought to be an Olympic Sport.
The World Finger Jousting Association (WFJF) is the sport’s governing body and is based in the USA. One thing standing in the way of the sport’s expansion is the fact that left-handed players can only use their right arms, or only compete against fellow lefties!
A fine sport of Strength and Honour.
One of my favourite sports is “Competitive Pen Clicking”. It can get really annoying for anyone in the vicinity to the ‘action’ though.
Hopping really ought to be a sport!
Earlier this year me and some friends took part in a 400 metre Hop! Followed by a 4×100 metre Hop-Relay!! It was part of a Guinness World Record Attempt that took place at Hampstead Heath’s Athletics Track.
I have never done anything so exhausting! It was great fun and really good to have a go on a real Athletics Track. But gruelling at the same time!
Greyhound racing. If you can have horses…
Toenail clipping. Bonus points for pinging a toenail into an opponents hair.
Playground favourite british bulldog
Tug of war. Just because it would be awesome!
Miniature Golf needs to be included!
Minigolf has a World Governing Body and a World Championships!
Crazy Golf also has a World Championships that is played in Hastings every October.
Adventure Golf is another variation of ‘Mini Golf’ and also has it’s own World Masters tournaments held on themed Miniature Golf courses!
Well worth an inclusion in a multi-sports games environment. It’s a great test of skill, precision and concentration.
nutjob or Bluetooth? is the ranter crazy or on their mobile
how about nutjob or bluetooth? guess if the ranter is crazy or on their mobile.
Fire watching.
chess boxing: for the intellectual fighter in you
stone skimming: worldwide recognition
pub quiz: ultimate English sport
air guitar competition: everyone rocking out in front of the mirror can finally win olympic medal
omelette race: who can make the fastest omelette
full contact golf: balls, clubs and bodychecks! golf is not a wussy sport
D-List Celebrity Baiting……
You have to setup an event, with a paparazzi photographer at the door of course, and the winner is the organiser who gets the most Big Brother, TOWIE and Hollyoaks “stars” through the door.
I’d like to see some form of extreme cheese rolling. Like those madzers who race cheddar wheels down hills and often die. To make it interesting each country could bring its own cheese and there could be some sort of Beechers Brook moment provided by a huge hedgy hurdle. That would sort the men from the boys (or indeed Women from the girls).
Twit-nastics: race to tweet something funny/ironic about the other disciplines. Extra points for inventive swearing.
@ottersaregreat
Elderly ladies (and gentlemen’s) hot tea drinking competition. There are some serious competitors to be found on the English village fete circuit … and having wildly cheered along during one particularly nail biting heat in Kent a couple of years ago, I can confirm that it makes for an extremely exciting spectator sport.
Inclusive of the aged in a nice way too.
Hula Hooping.
But, seriously, how about…..
100 m Hop Scotch
Musical Chairs – boxing weight categories and gloves apply
Pedalo Time Trials
Water Speed Dating – snorkels optional
Masai Style Jumping from standing start
Canoeing Without a Paddle ……..
It has to be extreme ironing! They could be vainly wrestling with their nice floral board on top of the O2, in the white water rafting river, dodging out of the way of oncoming horses in the cross country course, and underwater trying not to be distracted by the synchronised swimming. It’s got it all: tension, pathos, high drama.. and hopefully, someone will get their shirts ironed by the end of it all.
Water sliding! We all loved these things as kids. I got to the point of going up on one heal and arching my back so i was on my shoulder blades. It hurt, but I went so fast I felt I was going to go off on the corners.
For variety, cull a few of the samey swimming events and add Tubin’, and lazy river ride races!
Debating: plucky competitiors would need to be well versed and versatile in their use of charming discourse to influence and persuade audiences from different cultures.
Stitch & Bitch. Points awarded for both knitting prowess and juicest piece of gossip about fellow contestants.
Kabaddi. definitely.
Can’t remember which C4 programme this was on but a few years ago there was a spoof show with something like the “People’s Games” where viewers suggested events. The best was an event where contestants had to hold their breath and chant Lenny Henry’s Ooooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaay and see how far round the course they could get before having to take a breath. It was hilarious.
… and not the version from the latest film, the James Caan Roller Ball – EPIC entertainment
Simples: Banter. The Brits are masters at it. Extra bonus points for “your mum” jokes.
Rock climbing! The 100m, but upwards.
You could have a great climbing wall set up, it would be brilliant to watch on TV, and when people fall off they would zoom back on a safety harness then hang sadly until they are lowered down, Boris-style. You could have single events and relays where each person has to throw down the baton from the top to the next guy.
If riding a horse over some sticks can get you medalled, then we should be putting Sheep Dog Trials forward as a contender. What could be more British?
Everyone raves about the equestrian team “success”, which lays the way open for other sports relying on animals. I’d watch “swimming tied to a shark” – survivor wins, and “100m. hurdles pursued by a leopard”.
I think paintballing should be a sport with paint balls using the colours of the Olympic rings
Dodge ball and maybe on roller skates
Wheel barrowing. Points for speed, strength, balance and endurance. Disqualified if you drop your team mate, or by dragging them along the ground, they must have their hands out in front.
Hoola Hooping – with every colour of the Olympic rings
Speed Yo-Yoing
100m walk backwards freestyle
egg and spoon race