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Are these even sports?!
Welcome to Debatable Sports Edition. From Extreme Ironing to Remote Controlled Car World Championships, each sport in this edition will make you wonder if it's even a sport or not.
Pre-match briefing
Welcome to “Is this even a sport?!” Edition. We’ve got 5 sports that are up for debate as to whether they are even sports or not. But before we dive into that, have you heard of the World Transplant Games before?
The World Transplant Games are an Olympic-style event held every two years for people who have received organ or bone marrow transplants, along with living donors and donor families.
Founded in 1978, the Games aim to raise awareness about organ donation, promote fitness, and celebrate second chances at life. Athletes from over 60 countries compete in events like running, swimming, cycling, and bowling, with participation focused more on gratitude, health, and community than pure competition.
Honestly, this might be the most inspiring thing I’ve come across all month. What a time to be alive. Now, let’s dive into Week 40 at The Gameplan.
Scout’s Overview
📡 🚨 Weekly Sports Radar: Extreme Ironing
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It’s exactly what it sounds like: Ironing in extreme environments. Competitors carry ironing boards to extreme or unusual locations and press clothes under conditions that range from dangerous to downright absurd. The two pictures above show ironing mid-skydive and ironing mid-hike. Born in the UK in 1997, the sport has also seen participants ironing underwater, mid-bungee jump, and on mountaintops.
🏋 Athlete of the week: Colton Davis
(the guy in the yellow shirt)
13-year-old Colton Davis just became the best Popdarts player in the world after winning the first-ever Popdarts National Championship on ESPN. Not only did he win the $6,000 prize money, but his finals clip has already racked up 46M+ views in under 3 days.
He also grew his PopdartsProdigy YouTube channel from 0 subscribers to over 1.3 million. Popdarts - another sport up for the sport or not debate. Watch his viral video here.
🏟️ Venue of the week: Welkom R/C Arena
Welcome to Welkom. This venue is located in South Africa, and it’s related to another sport that might prompt you to question whether it’s truly a sport at all: Remote Controlled Car Racing. The Welkom RC Arena was used in the 2018 World Championship.
🧤 Fit Check: DRL Pilot Jersey - Singu
Another sport that’s not really a sport is Drone Racing. However, there is no question about the high-tech design of this DRL Pilot jersey.
From the bench
🤖 Is this even a sport?!
VCG / Getty Images
China just staged the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. It’s an Olympics for robots, where humanoids sprinted, played football, and inevitably collapsed mid-race or crashed into each other on the pitch. With 280 teams from 16 countries, tickets went for up to $80, and fans cheered every time a robot managed to get back up without human help. So maybe this is the ultimate “is this even a sport?” contender.
🗞️ In case you were injured:
We can all agree that concussions are bad. World Rugby introduced new LED mouthguards that will flash red after a big head impact, allowing the referee to stop play & the player to go off for a check-up.
Mondo Duplantis is at it again: He broke the pole vault world record for the 13th time, and third time this year.
10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan has become the youngest female player ever to beat a Chess Grandmaster (another sport that could be part of the Debatable Sports category)
🏆 Sports Calendar
Here’s a look at the ongoing and upcoming sports events this week:
If you enjoyed reading The Gameplan, consider forwarding it to your friends & family! If you have some ideas, email us at [email protected].
Signing out,
Wasay (brother #2)
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