Straw Flies as Shin-Kicking Champion Crowned at Ancient Rural Games

Shin-kicking champion crowned at traditional rural games dating back 400-years

The shin-kicking competition at the Cotswold Olimpick Games has crowned a new champion.The contest took place yesterday at Dover's Hill, near Chipping Campden.The annual celebration of rural sporting traditions drew enthusiastic crowds.Andrew Bailey received his title from Mike Newby, a three-time former champion who goes by the nickname Shindiana Jones and now serves as the event's stickler, or official referee. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Sa…

Going toe-to-toe: Shin-kicking champion crowned at ancient rural games

The event was first run on a Gloucester hillside in 1612. A new shin-kicking champion has been crowned at the Cotswold Olimpick Games, where bruises and flying straw are part of a sporting tradition dating back more than 400 years. The event, held on Dover’s Hill near Chipping Campden on Friday, was revived in 1951 after first being held in 1612 when local lawyer Robert Dover is said to have wanted to channel some of the competitive traits of th…

Straw flies as shin-kicking champion crowned at ancient rural games

The event was first run on a Gloucester hillside in 1612.

Shin-kicking champion crowned at ancient Cotswold Olimpick Games

The Cotswold Olimpick Games is a quirky annual sporting event that first began in 1612.