The Olimpicks
By: Micah Lawrence
You have probably heard of the Olympics. Well, I bet you’ve never heard of the Olimpicks! They might sound the same but are completely different, and in this article, I will explain the sports in the Olimpicks and the history of how the Olimpicks were started.
The Olimpicks were believed to have been started between times as early as 1601 and as late as 1612, by lawyer Robert Dover. Robert had gone to college to study law, where he met the nephew of a great benefactor or patron of Chipping Campden, a town in England. He had worked as a lawyer before he moved to Saintbury with his wife in 1611. After moving into the area he had the idea for a modern-style Olympics, which was when the Olimpicks were started. According to Leo Stillinger from substack.com, “The games likely began in 1612 and ran (through a period of discontinuations and revivals) until they were fully discontinued in 1852. However, they were revived in 1963 and still continue as of 2020.”
You can compete in multiple sports, including shin kicking, running, jumping, sword fighting, hammer throwing, and wrestling. The goal of shin kicking is to kick your opponent's shins and try to push them to the ground. The competitors are allowed to wear clogs or even steel-toed boots. Some other sports are horse racing, quarterstaff, and coursing with hounds. Quarterstaff is a sport where you use a 6 to 9-foot piece of wood and spar with an opponent.
Coursing with hounds is a sport where dogs are hunting with their sight instead of smell.
Currently, the Cotswold Olimpicks are still being played up to today. According to olimpickgames.co.uk, the next Olimpicks are being held on May 31, 2024 starting at 6:30 pm. The current sports are more known sports, such as Shot-put, Hammer throw, Long jump, and Spurning the Barre. Some other new ones are running, and also games involving wheelbarrows, dustbins, hay bales, and a lot of water. You can be on a team alone, with 6 people or even 8 people but no matter how many people are on your team you will probably have a lot of fun!
Thank you for reading my article, and remember to mark your calendar for the 2024, Cotswold Olimpicks!