Forget the Olympics, Norwegian belly flopping is a sport we can all get involved in
It is an actual thing: the World Championships took place in Oslo on Saturday
Is it Takeshi’s Castle? Is it Jackass? Is it footage from a torture chamber? Nope. It’s dødsing a.k.a Norwegian belly flopping.
Dødsing is a Norwegian sport where the normal fear you get when diving – the terror of belly flopping – becomes the goal.
Competitors have to jump from a 10 metre height with their bodies as stretched out as possible, then curl into a ball immediately before hitting the water. The diver who dares to stay in the flat position the longest, wins.
The word "wins" is used loosely in this case.
It is an actual thing: dødsing, sometimes known as death diving in English, was invented at a swimming pool in Oslo called Frognerbadet in the late 1960s.
The sport has come a long way in the past half century and since 2008 Frognerbadet has been holding the dødsing World Championships every year.
The 2016 event took place on Saturday and according to the sport's Facebook page, over 4,000 people attended.
Watch footage from the competition below and prepare to wince.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T0OLR4MzrM
Authors
Comments, questions and tips
Overall rating
Download RT App today!
summer
Immediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live eventsImmediate’s iconic brands reach 21m people every month – that’s more than a third of the UK’s adults – through its world-class magazines, innovative digital products and exciting live events