MOLLIS, Switzerland – Switzerland crowned its king of wrestling Sunday at its triennial traditional folk sport festival, with the winner outlasting hundreds of competitors in the grappling discipline that bears a vague resemblance to Japanese sumo.
The Wrestling and Alpine Festival, billed the alpine country’s largest traditional sporting event, was held over the weekend at a temporary arena in Mollis, an area in the eastern Swiss canton of Glarus, with hundreds of thousands of spectators gathering for the event and related festivities.
The sport, called Schwingen, has two wrestlers grapple in a sawdust circle, gripping their opponent’s breeches with one hand at the back of the waistband and the other at the front. Like sumo wrestlers’ mawashi, the Swiss wrestlers’ short jute pants allow them to gain leverage over their opponent as they attempt to take the advantage.
The wrestlers’ aim is to throw the opponent on their back inside the ring to pin their shoulders. At the end of each fight, the combatants shake hands, and the winner brushes the sawdust off the loser’s back as a sign of respect.
The three-day festival culminated in the crowning of the King of Wrestling, touted as Switzerland’s highest wrestling honor, which went to Armon Orlik, 30, from among the roughly 280 competitors.
“This moment is very important for me, I worked my whole Schwingen career for that,” said the wrestler from the southeastern canton of Graubunden at the announcement of the winner.
The festival also featured stone throwing, where athletes lift and hurl a stone weighing 20-40 kilograms, or the famous Unspunnen Stone, which weighs 83.5 kg.
Many companies donated gifts to ensure every participant walked away with a prize. The local importer of Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motor Corp. presented a cow dubbed “Muzuki” to one winner.
The tradition dates back to 1805, when the first costume and wrestling festival was held in Unspunnen, near the picturesque town of Interlaken in central Switzerland.
From 1895, it became a “federal” competition, combining the sport with the purpose of preserving heritage and homeland identity. At intervals of one to three years, the title of “Swinger King” was won in different places. Since 1974, the competition has been held every three years.
More than 350,000 visitors visited the arena during the three days of the festival, organizers said, adding that the venue represented the world’s biggest temporary stadium by capacity, with 56,500 seats installed for the occasion.