Lancashire teenager wins big at the World Gravy Wrestling Championships
Contestants had to wrestle in a pool of gravy for two minutes
Last updated 27th Aug 2024
A teenager from Lancashire has won the World Gravy Wrestling Championships.
18-year-old George Young, won the competition held at a pub in Stacksteads, Rossendale, yesterday after wrestling other contestants in a pool of gravy for two minutes.
The event was held at at the Rose 'N' Bowl to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice.
George Young, 18, told the PA news agency he won the competition after wrestling in gravy for several rounds and has been awarded a trophy and £100.
"Because it is only a small town, it is a big thing, and (the trophy is) going to be there forever, really, so it's pretty cool," said Mr Young, who lives in Stacksteads.
Mr Young said he "expected to go out in maybe the first couple rounds" but it felt "really good" to win the competition.
On his winning strategy, he said: "I was not wearing myself out quickly really, and doing bigger moves, so it gave me time in between, instead of doing a lot smaller moves."
The teenager decided to compete in the strange competition after seeing an ad for it on Facebook and said he received mixed reactions when he told his friends and family.
"My friends laughed at me and said I am crazy but my parents said 'good on you' and they were proud," he said.
Upon winning, Mr Young said: "My mum was ecstatic and my brothers that were there came running over to me, even though I was covered in gravy and gave me a big hug, and all my friends were chanting my name."
Another competitor Hannah Havard, 30, told the PA news agency: "It was absolutely wild. I've never done anything like it in my life.
"It was one of the weirdest things I've ever done. Everyone there was absolutely lovely. It was a really fun day for everyone."
Despite being a novice to gravy wrestling, Ms Havard got through the first round but was knocked out during the second.
"I was wearing a huge, fluffy white Dalmatian onesie with a full Dalmatian hat and a full lot of face paint," Ms Havard, who lives in Stacksteads, said.
"All of the fur that I had on absorbed all the gravy. I had mittens, and one mitten was the same weight as a pint, so a full suit of that weighed me down so much that I could barely get up off the floor."
Ms Havard asked her partner's mother and stepfather to attend the competition without revealing to them that she would be competing and they experienced an "initial shock," she said.
"But they thought it was brilliant. I think they think I'm nuts, but they sort of said, initially they were surprised, but then they realised that World Gravy Wrestling Championships and me sounds actually normal," she added.
Ms Havard previously explained her motivation for getting involved: "I moved locally, so I'm not very far away from it now, so we wandered down there one day just to see what was going on and it's obviously nuts.
"A bit earlier this year, I'd gone out for a few drinks with my other half and I saw that the applications were opened. I thought I would never get into it, but I'll sign myself up for it on a bit of a whim and by some twist of fate I've got in."
The atmosphere at the competition was "buzzing," she said.
"You get loads of support, both from the crowd and from the other contestants. Everyone's backing each other up, because everyone knows it's a mad thing to do."
The competitor said she would have "something without gravy" for tea.