Olympic swimming is only timed to hundredths of a second (which has led to several ties) because the pools aren’t built to the millimeter tolerances necessary to measure thousandths of a second. – WTF Fun Facts
Source:#EngineeringTheOlympics: Tolerance in Olympic Swimming results in more ties — Born to Engineer
There’s a national pillow fighting tournament in Japan. The fighters start by pretending to sleep on futons and when the whistle sounds, they spring to their feet and race to get a pillow. A mix between dodgeball and chess, teams throw pillows at each other while protecting the ‘King’. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Japanese compete to qualify in national pillow fighting tournament | Euronews
The fish kick, a very difficult technique in swimming where the swimmer turns sideways and mimics the motion of an eel, is arguably the fastest way to swim and was used in the 2000 Olympics by Misty Hyman to win the 200m butterfly.–WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/champion/hyman150.htm
Hall of Fame pitcher Lee Smith didn’t play baseball until he was a junior in high school, only tried out to win a $10 bet, and only started pitching after his team’s star pitcher was killed in a hunting accident. His first start was a no hitter. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Lee Smith makes the Hall of Fame after reluctantly playing baseball – Sports Collectors Digest
In late 2020, A North Korean gymnast defected to South Korea by vaulting himself over the three-meter high border barricades without triggering sensors. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: North Korean gymnast defects by vaulting fences (watoday.com.au)
China didn’t win a medal in the Olympics until 1984. Their first ever medal was a gold medal and it was also the first to be awarded at the 1984 Olympics. Xu Haifeng won the 50 m pistol event. – WTF Fun Facts
The world record for the longest human long jump is greater than the world record for the longest horse long jump. Mike Powell set the human record in 1991 by jumping 8.95m, while a horse named Something under Andre Ferreira jumped 8.25m in 1975. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Equestrian Guinness records – EQUISHOP Equestrian Shop
LeBron James decision to leave Cleveland to join the Miami Heat was so shocking, that even Osama Bin Laden’s translator, who was being held at Guantanamo Bay prison, wrote to his lawyers saying “LeBron James is very bad man. He should apologize to the city of Cleveland.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/osama-bin-ladens-translator-wanted-lebron-james-to-apologize-to-cleveland/
In 2019, a “friendly” prison soccer game in Northern Mexico between two rival drug cartels ended with 16 deaths and 5 injured after weapons were drawn as result of a dirty tackle. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Sixteen inmates killed in Mexican prison fight, scarring troubled system | Reuters
The slam dunk was banned in NCAA basketball from 1967 to 1976. The no-dunking rule was referred to as the “Lew Alcindor rule.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slam_dunk
At the US Open and other US-based tournaments, the men and women play with different tennis balls. The men play with the slower heavy-duty felt while the women play with the faster regular-duty felt. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-u-s-open-do-women-play-with-faster-tennis-balls-11565957964
The football shape is known as a prolate spheroid. The football is shaped as such because it’s the shape of an inflated pig’s bladder, which is what the first footballs were made out of. – WTF Fun Facts
In 2006, David Beckham took out an insurance policy for his legs and looks for £100 million. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Going Out On A Limb – Lloyd’s
In 2004, German football club FC Union Berlin was facing bankruptcy and didn’t have the €1.5 million deposit required to participate in the season. Their fans gave blood en masse and donated the money they received to help save the club. – WTF Fun Facts
Swedish soccer team Ostersund FK started in the fourth division and quickly made it to the top division in part thanks to the creation of a ‘culture academy’ where players sing, dance and act in front of an audience in an attempt to boost their soccer performance ability. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Ostersunds FK: Rise of Swedish club under English manager Graham Potter – BBC Sport
Georgia Tech holds the record for the most points scored in a college football game. In 1916, Georgia Tech beat Cumberland (who had discontinued their football team before the season but was paid to play the game) 222-0. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: 1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game – Wikipedia
In 2008, the street sport of “extreme sitting” or hockern was created in Berlin. You can purchase a special stool for this sport for around $70. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Hockern Takes ‘Extreme Sitting’ to New Level | WIRED
There exists a variant of polo with elephants. Elephant polo is played in Nepal, India, and Thailand. They play on a slightly smaller field with each elephant having two riders. A standard polo ball is used along with a ~10 ft. cane pole with a mallet head on the end. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Elephant polo – Wikipedia