When I’m in foreign parts I can sit for hours and admire the agility of chaps as they shin up Coconut trees. Feet with rock hard skin, strong leg muscles and a head for heights seem to be the order of the day.

I was pleased to learn this week that George Iona from the Cook Islands has been proclaimed the first world champion coconut tree climber, scaling an eight metre tree in just 5.62 seconds, a hundreth of a second faster than the pre-competition favourite, Fiapa’i Ellio, from American Samoa. The event was held in the garden of the Tahiti Museum and the sixteen contestants had two attempts to post their best time.

The favoured method was to wear a loop of rough rope around the ankles to get a better grip on the tree’s trunk.

Now there’s an Olympic sport, if I ever saw one. No coconuts were disturbed during the competition which seems a bit of a shame – there is nothing like fresh coconut milk.

And the other World Championship that piqued my interest was the Snail Racing Championship held in Congham, Norfolk last weekend. The competition has been going since the 1960s and the gastropods are put in a circle and the one that reaches the perimeter the fastest is the winner. This year’s champ is Larry the Snail who reached the finishing post in 2 minutes 47 seconds, overcoming the challenge of Uslime Bolt, and getting its muscular foot on the trophy – a vase full of lettuce leaves (natch)!

Filed under: Humour, News, Sport Tagged: climbing coconut trees, Congham in Norfolk, Fiapa'i Ellio from American Samoa, George Iona of Cook Islands, Larry the Snail, Tahiti Museum, Uslime Bolt, World coconut tree climbing championship, World Snail Racing Championship