Excerpt from the Book Sports the Olympics Forgot This book describes 40 sports that ought to be played but aren’t, because I made them up.

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Perhaps surprisingly a Turk, Ali Erdogan, has won the Race 5 times, the most of any competitor including an unprecedented hat-trick between 1963 and 1965. His winning run was ended when he tripped over the gypsy boy on the Sighisoara staircase and sprained his ankle. Ali can see the irony of a Turk taking part in the race but believes it helps to break down barriers between nations: “It is possible that a relation of mine was turned into a kebab by Vlad in the 1460s and received a skewer up the backside but I forgive Vlad, he was defending his country after all, so I don’t take it personally. I am a vegetarian so cooking the meat is the most difficult part for me but I seem to manage OK.”