World of the Bizarre

University to host grenade-throwing contest

By T.K. Randall
April 27, 2018 ·  2 comments

The grenades will be based on World War II 'potato masher' grenades. Image Credit: PD - Daderot Frustrated with the lack of new signups for the traditional throwing events, teachers at the North University of China in Taiyuan decided to introduce a new '500-gram grenade toss' event to its annual track and field day in an effort to encourage more student participation.

The move reportedly did the trick as there ended up being so many signups for the event that there were not enough places available and some of the students had to be turned down.

The idea of throwing grenades as a sporting event was pitched to the university's headteacher by a student named Wu Jianhang who had found the existing options underwhelming.The new event will involve throwing weighted replicas of a wood-handled grenade based on the 'Stielhandgranate' or 'potato masher' grenades used by the Germans during World War II.

This type of grenade was also later adapted for use by the Chinese military.

"I'm actively practicing my grenade tossing," said Wu.

"I really hope I can experience this unique event."

Source: BBC News | Comments (2)

Tags: Grenade