We are less than two years away from the World Games 2021 taking place in and around Birmingham. Alabama NewsCenter is explaining what you can expect to see. Today, we look at Tug of War.

Tug of War is a sport in which two teams, in a test of strength, pull on opposite ends of a rope.

The goal is to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team’s pull.

Tug of War, once an Olympic sport, was among the inaugural sports in The World Games. (Bartek Sadowski)

Two teams of eight, whose total mass must not exceed a class maximum weight, align themselves at opposite ends of the rope.

The rope is marked with a center-line and two markings 13 feet from each side of the center-line.

The teams start with the rope’s center-line directly above a line marked on the ground and attempt to pull the other team to the point that the marking on the rope closest to the opposing team crosses the center-line.

The sport is popular worldwide and was part of the inaugural World Games in 1981. The last World Games were won by Great Britian (men, outdoor, 640kg), Switzerland (men, outdoor, 700kg) and Chinese Taipei (women, indoor, 540kg).

To learn more, visit: https://www.theworldgames.org/sports/Tug-of-War-28.