In Weidenthal, Palatinate, the new "world champions" in Christmas tree throwing were sought on Sunday. In wet and cold weather, the competitors had to do a three-way fight: They threw spruces about 1.50 meters tall like a spear, hurled them like an athletics hammer and pushed them over a crossbar in the high jump facility.
The individual values were added. Hundreds of spectators watched the fun tournament. The prizes awarded have a rather ideal value: they are elk figures made of wood.
In the men's record world champion Frank Schwender won his sixth title. The sales manager from Frankeneck won with 23.17 meters ahead of Clemens Hötger from Kaiserslautern (22.49 meters). However, Schwender was unable to beat his world record of 25.01 meters in 2016.
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Christmas tree throwing: world champion in a strange sportIn the women's championship holder Margret Klein-Raber (17.47 meters) from Siersburg (Saarland) prevailed against Annika Lange from Kaiserslautern (16.18 meters). Klein-Raber entered the competition for the first time last year and immediately set world records in all three individual disciplines.
The local football club FC Wacker Weidenthal held the tournament in the town with around 2000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate for the 14th time. However, the sports equipment is not about Christmas trees that were previously in living rooms. "They come from the municipal forest and will be beaten shortly before the World Cup," said organizer Herbert Laubscher. "We can't use real used Christmas trees because they dry out, lose their needles quickly and would break the branches more easily."
Last year 55 men and 30 women took part. On Sunday, 92 men, 40 women and 35 children registered and set a new record.
According to Laubscher, former footballers of FC Wacker Weidenthal had the idea for the unusual competition, inspired by the action of a furniture store. The competition was then expanded into a three-way battle. To give more weight to the mess, it was declared the "World Cup".
