U.K. Mobile Phone Throwing Championships
The Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships have been held annually since 2000 in Savonlinna, Finland. The first national competition was held in Trondheim, Norway, in June 2004, with several other countries across Europe also staging their own events. The first winter championships were held in Stoos, Switzerland, in February 2005. Commonly, the prize for first place in a national event is entry to the world championships, and the grand prize for winning the world championship is a new mobile phone. Many events are supported by mobile phone recycling organisations and promote the recycling of the phones.
In the UK, the championships are held every August and organised by 8th Day UK Ltd. The first event, in 2005, was held at Richmond Golf Driving Range, and the 2006 event atTooting Bec Athletics Track in London. ActionAid Recycling partnered the event to raise awareness for mobile phone recycling and raised money from donated phones for the first two years, but due to the involvement of a casino (Golden Palace) in the 2007 event and the associations this would have in relation to charity, are no longer involved.
In 2007, the UK event was held at Old Hamptonians Rugby Club on 12 August, with throws recorded from 3.70 m to 95.83 m, a new unofficial world record. The men’s winner was Chris Hughff, and the ladies’ winner was Jan Singleton, both successfully defending their 2006 titles. There were also throws recorded by a penguin and a gorilla, prompting a new category – fancy dress – to be incorporated for 2008. The 2008 competition was held at the same location, with Jan Singleton defending her title and Jeremy Gallop claiming the men’s title. Madeleine James set a new benchmark for the Under 3 Category of 1.57 m.
The 2007 world championships were in Savonlinna as usual. The winner of the men’s freestyle event, Taco Cohen of the Netherlands, won for a novel performance that incorporatedjuggling and acrobatics.
Two thousand nine saw the UK event move to Battersea Park Athletics stadium, with Jeremy Gallop (89.10 m) defending his title and Julia Geene (33.40 m) winning the ladies’ event. Peter Yates set a new Vets record of 75.20 m, and Oliver James set an Under 2 record of 2.05 m. The fancy dress event was won by Morph, who threw 54.73 m. The event was run alongside the Sumo Suit Athletics World Championships.
In 2010, the event was again held together with the Sumo Suit Athletics World Championships in Battersea Park Athletics track. Both Jeremy Gallop and Julia Geens successfully defended their titles, with throws of 88.51 m and 32.00 m respectively. In the men’s event, there was a 1st prize of an Xbox 360 sponsored by BuyMobilePhones.net in an effort to raise awareness about mobile recycling.
The World event for 2010 was to be held on the 21st of August 2010 but for unknown reasons (as yet), was canceled.
