See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOE ROSSITER, REPORTER Published: 12:10 BST, 30 May 2026 | Updated: 12:21 BST, 30 May 2026
A new shin-kicking champion has been crowned at the Cotswold Olimpick Games, a sporting tradition which stretches back more than 400 years.Held on Dover's Hill, near Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, on Friday, the event was revived in 1951 after being held first in 1612.It is said that a lawyer from the area wanted to channel his neighbours' competitive traits into the rural games, which include long jump, wooden pillar throw, tug o' war, sack race and running events.Former chairman Tom Threadgill said: 'It got shut down for the last time in the mid-1850s because of 30,000 people coming.'It's been banned at a number of points across its 400 years.'Once famous for a greasy pole-climbing competition that could net the winner a piglet, past games have included horse racing, hare coursing and shooting.While most modern disciplines are friendly contests, the shin-kicking bouts brought winces and moans of sympathy from the crowd of more than 2,500 spectators.Each participant must wear trousers, with straw available for them to create a layer of padding on their shins. Two competitors take part in the shin-kicking contest at the Cotswold Olimpick Games The games, which date back more than 400 years, include a host of disciplines including the sack race A person rides a horse during the games, which were first held in 1612 and revived in 1951 after being shut down a century earlier when 30,000 spectators came to watchContestants hold each other by the shoulder and try to kick each other's shins and force their opponent to the ground.The stickler, or referee, has to make sure that shins are kicked before a fall can count.Competing for the second year, Gareth Way – aka Gaz – said: 'The kicking is not the biggest part.'I think that there's an element of the pushing, the shoving. That's at least 50 per cent of it I think. You feel that more than you feel your shins.'Your shins hurt days after, and I've got almost football-style socks so they hold the padding in well. Because of that, the blows aren't as bad.'Three-time champion and newly appointed stickler Shindiana Jones, real name Mike Newby, crowned Andrew Bailey the 2026 winner after he opted to compete without straw padding.Mr Threadgill said non-traditional sporting disciplines stopped the games becoming a gimmick.He said: 'When they set it up in 1612, people were kind of looking back to the classical age so the whole using of the Olympic name was very much "we know what we're talking about".'On its 400th anniversary in 2012, the event was asked to feature in a London Olympics promotional video, reviving its popularity and attracting crowds from further afield.Attendees this year travelled from as far as North Carolina in the United States.The games concluded with a fireworks display and beacon lighting before crowds descended on Chipping Campden, torches in hand.
