Origins shrouded in the mists of time, this sport is one of the most technically difficult and physically demanding in the world. Yet most people know little or nothing about it. Men AND Women Professional and amateur athletes all over the world, from 18 years old to 70 compete in a mandatory 8 events over a 6 hour period, at the end of which they have throw well over 1,000 pounds!
The skill, balance, timing, and agility required to complete these events is incredible!
#1. "Caber Toss" A tree / log, (Caber) 120 pounds and 18 feet long flipped (after RUNNING with it) it's entire length one complete revolution, for ACCURACY !!!
#2. "Weight Over Bar" A 56 pound steel ball weight on a short chain thrown over a bar of ever increasing height, thrown with 1 arm!
That's right, 56 POUNDS. heavier than a 5 gallon paint bucket filled with water!
#3 & 4. "Weight for Distance" Two steel ball weights on 6" chain of 28 and 56 pounds thrown for distance with one arm after spinning 2 complete revolutions.
#5 & 6. Stone throws 28 and 16 pound stones thrown for distance. The 28 pound 'Braemar' stone must be thrown without moving feet!
#7 & 8. Hammer throws 16 and 23 pound steel balls attached to 44" wooden handles spun and thrown for distance with feet locked in place and OVER YOUR SHOULDER - BACKWARDS!
Over 300 Scottish Highland Games across the US each year host hundreds of thousands of guests as Olympic calibre athletes compete in these punishing events. Hundreds more are held around the world!
Informational Television Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fDf2JshQ74
Website of Masters 55 year old Amateur picture album of all events: http://www.myspace.com/101438851
The last two events, the most physically punishing, are kept till the end of the day / competition when the athletes are nearing exhaustion in order to make the contest as physically challenging and difficult as possible!
Don't loose this opportunity to expose / highlight age-old athletic secrets in the most challenging sport in the world!
I'd love to see this as well. Scottish athletes ROCK! When I was going through treatment for breast cancer in 2001, they wore pink ribbons in my honour here in Colorado. Since the origins are fairly shrouded, I'd love to see some research done.
I throw at the Games in the Masters Class, and it's a lot of fun. The history of the events goes 'way, way back, hundred of years.
While many of the events are related to track and field, there are big differences. Most of those differences reflect how...well "primitive" or 'ancient" the Games really are. For example when we heave the "stone", which is almost exactly like the shot put in Track and Field, we really are heaving STONES. They're river rocks of "approximately" the appropriate weight.
While anyone who is mobile can "do" the events, and most Highland Games have "novice" classes for people who want to try them out, to become truly excellent at them is a serious athletic challenge. It's not easy, and it's exhausting to compete in strength/speed/agililty contests all day long, during a Games, and consistency is important.
And besides, all the lasses tell me that it's sure mighty fine to watch those hot-lookin' lads in the kilts !
I enjoy the Highland Games very much. Although I do not participate, I enjoy watching them. I also like the other attractions at the Highland Games, the dancing, the livestock, the pipe bands and, of course, the other entertainment and the beer gardens!
What a brilliant idea! Watching these Scottish warriors remind us what a real sport looks like would be enthralling. I would definitely love to see this!
Can someone explain why this would be worth slowing down? I do have alot of respect for these men but i just dont see why you would want to slow it down, i mean, what is there to see that they havent already done?
I can respond to your question. First, >>>what is there to see that they havent already done<<< you ask?
The same could be said for slowing down baseballs, arrows, explosions, etc.
Who hasn't seen a thousand explosions in slow motion by the time they are ten eh? How many millions of us have seen hundreds of thousands of baseballs coming at us? But we still thrill when we see them, that is why Hollywood includes explosions in most of their action movies!
Scottish Heavy Events are one of the most unique and challenging sports in the world that many people know nothing about, but are always thrilled and intrigued when they see the athletes in action.
I can tell you that there are thousands of Scottish Highland games athletes and many more thousands of fans around the world who would love to see many of these events slowed down.
In five years of competing, I have been asked many dozens of times to explain to the crowd just exactly what is entailed in a 40 year old man tossing a 120 pound, 18 foot long tree in a 360 degree complete circle and have it land exactly where we want it to.
Hundreds of thousands of fans who attend Scottish Highland Games all over the world at over 300+ festivals each year enjoy watching the 8 mandatory events, but know little about any of them.
Fans want to know what 'majic' it takes just to lift the thing up when it is impossible to get your hands underneath it to start the lift?
The intricate footwork necessary to spin in two complete circles holding a 56 pound weight with one arm, then launch it over 50 feet is impossible to describe.
This event alone must be executed by making several steps, often with your feet leaving the ground, while remaining in a small box - the weight, incredibly heavy and difficult to handle must be spun at just the right height and released at just the right angle. Release must be timed perfectly. Putting all those elements together and executing them with perfect timing is an exercise in Olympic-class athleticism.
Now, is there an event shown on the show YET that can match this event for requiring the elements of immense strength, timing, speed, agility, balance, conditioning, concentration, etc ???
Remember, this event is not practiced upon a perfectly flat, dry, cement foundation as those used by college and Olympic hammer throwers (and other similar events).
Not only are these Highland weights 3 times or more heavier than Olympians throw, they are always thrown on uneven grass that is often wet, and the footing changes from one throw to the next.
Athletes never know from one competition to the next which type of impliment they will be throwing, what the conditions of the field will be, the footing, the weather (yes, we throw in the rain AND snow). etc.
There are no formal venues for Scottish Highland games athletes to learn this most difficult of sports. Athletes from Scotland to the U.S. and all around the world would also love to see some of these events slowed down.
I am sure there are other reasons.
Kind Regards,
Jim walker
Comcast Television Interview - Scottish Highland Games http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fDf2JshQ74
Slowing down? I think MadDog has it about right. It's always fun to watch any physical action at slow speed, and a variety of activities is better than just one.. I know I often watch videos of the best throwers at slow speed to learn from them, it's easier to see the specifics of how it's done at slow speed. The Heavy Athletics has eight events, though admittedly some are similar....the light weight for distance isn't THAT different to watch from the heavy weight for distance. Trust me, though, they've VERY different to perform, but an audience might not "get" that.
But slow speed or not, and I fully admit that I'm biased ...... the Games would be a great show for the Discovery Channel because it combines several different aspects of "interesting stuff" into one theme:
HISTORY: The Games in general, and the Heavy Athletics in specific go back hundreds of years. Little known fact: the throwing of the stone was so popular in Scotland in the early 1700's that it was banned by the King because it was supplementing the practice of archery, was was "vital to the defense of the nation".
VARIETY: Especially in the USA we get dosed to saturation with football, baseball, hockey, basketball...and some golf and NASCAR. During the Winter Olympics, Ice Skating and skiing get covered. Have you ever seen any non-Olympic coverage of either of those sports? During the Summer Olympics, Track and Field gets covered, so does swimming and gymnastics. Have you ever seen any non-Olympic coverage of those events? Nothing else ever gets covered on TV but football, baseball, basketball, hockey golf and NASCAR and yet there are dozens of sports going on all the time, with amazing athletes doing amazing things. The Highland Games is just one example, and a particularly colorful one.
UNFAMILIARITY: lots of people have "heard" about the Heavy Athletics, lots of people know what a kilt is, lots of people have "sort of seen a caber on TV"...sort of. But mighty few people actually know anything about it. Picking up a cut-down tree and throwing it is kind of an interesting thing to do, and very few people have ever seen it.
You might want to have a look at these two youtube videos. Especially the first one has great video of the Pleasanton Highland Games, the largest Scottish Highland Games in the world!
And, at scottish-heavies.com see pics of the worlds greatest Scottish Athletes in action.
One of the greatest aspects of the Highland Games and Scottish festivals is that they are really about family. I saw my first games 5 years ago when I went with my family to the Gathering in Campbell Ca. and have been hooked ever since. In many ways it is like going to a county fair with a Celtic flair. In days of old the gatherings were held to keep the clans in touch with each other. Families would come from all around to celebrate and test their skills. It is still like that. The competitions are about strength and skill but they are also about camaraderie. When you come to one of the Gatherings, and please do, you will see families. You will see competitors on the field throwing weights, turning cabers, hurling stones and all the while their families are there with them. Sometimes brothers competing on the same field, wives and husbands teaming up for combined score contests and all the while their siblings, children, parents cheering them on. Although I too am biased towards the heavy athletic competion, showing all of the events of the Scottish Festivals on the Discovery Channel would be a great program. I believe that displaying a festival of Athletics, Music, Dance, History and Family with an incredible tradition would be a wonderful success for the Gatherings and the Discovery Channel.
I greatly enjoy watching the Highland Games although I do not participate. I live near Savannah, Ga. and they hold games there. It's great for our kids to see some of their heritage that is still in practice!
Seven years ago, my son, then a high school thrower of discus and shot, suggested that the two of us compete as C Class athletes in the Scottish Games. After the first event of our first ever games we were both hooked. There is a connection in these unique multi-century old games that is immediately made between athletes who step onto the field of competition. The bond that develops is commonly infectious and even spreads to family members. Perhaps it is the lure of the kilt, that special piece of apparel that sets the highland athlete apart from others. Perhaps it is the often piercing sound of the bagpipes playing far and near. It may be the appeal of throwing implements that takes one back to childhood activities like rock throwing, baseball, and football. Don't be fooled though for throwing in the games the likes of stones, hammers, cabers, and weights is not for the faint of heart. Often seen on the field of battle are big, burly, strong men, both young and old, and ladies who bring a special touch to the games throwing distances that boggle the mind. Once involved in a games, you will likely be hooked. Come throw with us!
You have a fascinating piece of history, sport and entertainment going here. There must be some way of making the public more aware of sports that can be done by mature adults without a whole team involved. Yes, the more competition the better but at least you don't need 5 other players or another team to enjoy the competition. Curling is another Scots tradition but it was rarely heard of before the 'Briar Cup'. Now it is recognized internationally. Can you find a high profile sponsor who would bring the 'Highland Games' the respect and viewing public that is needed? Good Luck!
I would love to be able to tune in to the games! Scottish Heavyweight Athletics are *really* the *only* type of athletics I enjoy. I am not one interested in football, soccer and not much for baseball either. To be able to see "instant replays' of a perfect toss!... oh, my! And to see close up and slow-mo of how the caber actually gets off the ground and into the athlete's hands... well, I have yet to be able to see that clearly. Tis a bit of a mystery.
There are millions of people of Scottish descent all over the globe. Amazingly, some do not even realize they are. However, they find themselves drawn to bagpipes and are fascinated by the Ancient games. It is in the blood.
This is an awesome family event. There is so much to these games - the competition, the friendships, the style, the food, the music, the training, the technique, the sportsmanship. I could go on and on. This would be a show of interest to everyone in the family. It could be a great reality show as you follow a few of the top competitors through several games.
Larry Brock 2008 SGA Brittish Champion AMERICAN RECORD HOLDER 28# WFD (93'8") 2007 United States Champion 2007 World Hammer Champion 2007 World Stone Champion 2007 SAAA US National Champion 2007 North American Champion
2008 & 2006 US CHAMPION, BETHLEHEM 2005 - THIRD PLACE AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, FERGUS, CANADA 2003 - THIRD PLACE AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, ANTIGONISH 2001, 2003, 2004 - RUNNER UP US CHAMPIONSHIP, BETHLEHEM 3 TIME WORLD RECORD HOLDER IN WOB (20FT)
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I do have alot of respect for these men but i just dont see why you would want to slow it down, i mean, what is there to see that they havent already done?