Good Luck to the England Tug of War Teams at World Tug of War Championships This Week!
This week, the delayed 2020 TWIF World Outdoor Tug of War Championships take place in Getxo in the Basque Country. Getxo was the venue for the 1995 TWIF European Championships.
The World Championships takes place every 2 years and will see two days of open club competitions take place on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 September, with the closed international competitions taking place on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September.
The competition is run under TWIF international rules with the following weight classes taking place:
- Men 560kg, 640kg, 680kg and 720kg
- Ladies 500kg and 540kg
- Mixed 580kg
- Under 23 Men 600kg
- Under 23 Ladies 500kg
- Under 23 Mixed 560kg
- Junior Men 560kg
- Junior Ladies 520kg
- Junior Mixed 520kg
Regrettably this year, there are no junior competitions taking place and only an under 23 mens competition.
For obvious reasons, organising the World Championships has been a huge challenge this year, and whilst entries are significantly lower this year compared to previous championships, we would like to thank TWIF and in particular the Organising Committee for the huge amount of work they have put in to make the event possible.
This year, the following clubs have qualified to represent England at the European Championships:
Men 560kg and 680kg
England will be represented by Oxney Vines Cross who qualified after winning the gold medal in these weight categories at the 2021 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships in July. Oxney also won the 600kg weight class and bronze in the 640kg weight class.
Oxney have represented England at 560kg at the 2019 European Championships in Castlebar, Ireland and would have been disappointed not to have finished higher up the rankings at that championships than they did. Their last gold medal came in this weight division at the 1984 World Outdoor Tug of War Championships held in the USA. The clubs earlier carnation (Vines Cross) won gold at 560kg at the European Championships in 1979. Oxney last represented England in the 680kg weight class at the 2017 European Championships in Southport where they finished in 6th place. Oxney last represented England at 680kg in the world championships in 2000 in Blackpool where they won the bronze medal.
You can follow the Oxney Vines Cross mens team on 
Facebook and Twitter
Men 640kg
England will be represented in this weight class by Lincoln.
Lincoln qualified to represent England at this weight class after winning gold at the 2021 national tug of war championships.
Lincoln have been a resurgent team over the past 5 years or so, winning gold in the European club championships at 720kg in 2013, 2015 and 2019. When representing England, the team won bronze at 720kg at the 2017 European Championships, and won bronze at 700kg at the World Championships in 2016. In 2018, Lincoln represented England at the world championships at 640kg where they also won bronze. A the 2019 European Championships, Lincoln represented England in the 680kg competition where they won the silver medal.
You can follow Lincoln Tug of War Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Men 720kg
The 720kg competition will see Essex TOWC represent England for the first time. This is a great achievement for a club that formed at the beginning of 2019. Essex will go into this event after winning bronze at 720kg in the 2021 National Championships and also winning silver in the catchweight competition. We hope that Essex enjoy the experience and learn a lot from this fantastic opportunity. Definitely a club to watch out for in the near future.
You can follow Essex Tug of War Club on Facebook and Instagram
Ladies 500kg and 540kg
England will be represented by Bedford Ladies, who qualified for the event after winning all four ladies weight categories at the 2021 National Outdoor Tug of War Championships. Bedford Ladies have been a regular team on the international circuit over a number of years, having represented England ladies at several UK, World and European Championships.
Most recently, Bedford Ladies represented England at the World Championships in 2018 in South Africa where they finished in 5th place in the ladies 500kg. At the same world championships, they also competed in the world open club competition at 500kg where they won the bronze medal. The team also had members involved in the England Ladies 540kg team at the 2018 World Championships where England won bronze. At the 2019 European Championships, Bedford Ladies won bronze in the open club 520kg and 560kg competitions, and then went on to win bronze representing England in the 520kg event.
You can follow Bedford Ladies Tug of War Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Mixed 580kg
England are the defending world champions from 2018 in this weight class and will be represented by Lincoln and Bedford Ladies after winning this weight class at the 2021 National Championships. They also represented England A at the 2021 British and Irish Tug of War Championships where they won gold.
We would like to wish all of the above teams and other pullers going along to support these teams the very best of luck in what will surely be a very tough and exciting competition!
Further info about the event is available on the World Championships web site at http://sokatiramundiala.com/en/home-2/
The programme of events is as follows:
Thursday 16 September
Morning - Men 680kg and Mixed 580kg
Afternoon - Men 560kg and Ladies 500kg
Oxney Vines Cross will be competing in the 680kg and Bedford Ladies will be competing in the ladies 500kg
Friday 17 September
Morning - Men 720kg
Afternoon - Men 640kg and Ladies 540kg
Lincoln and Essex will be competing in the mens 720kg
Saturday 18 September
Morning - Men 680kg and Mixed 580kg
Afternoon - Men 560kg and Ladies 500kg
England will be competing in all weight classes
Sunday 19 September
Morning - Men 720kg
Afternoon - Men 640kg and Ladies 540kg
England will be competing in all weight classes
The event is being streamed on YouTube via the World Championships YouTube Channel, link here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLQM29NAfeCkmBC93Up_o3Q
