The iron, first invented in the late 1800s and most famously marketed in the 1950s, was and still is used tocombat wrinkles that so peevishly cramp our everyday style.

But ironing has a new meaning in the world of sports, leading us to question what a sport even is anymore and if the term should assume a new place in the English language.

Football, baseball and basketball are indeed the backbone of our country’s interest in sports, but they lackthe spontaneity and the peculiar thrill that sports such as “extreme ironing” generate.

Here are the three most bizarre sports that I found, which may interest those of you who don’t fancy thespectator sports of the masses.

Extreme Ironing

The Extreme Ironing Bureau calls it “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.”

Extreme Ironing was invented by a man named Phil Shaw in Leicester, England, who, after a long and stressful day of work, decided to take his ironing chores with him as he went rock climbing—his personal hobby.

Ironing enthusiasts can be found exercising their craft while bungee jumping, riding on top of moving vehicles,hanging upside down from trees, and even under water, according to the Extreme Ironing Bureau.

The popularity of this bizarre activity carried on into official competitions in countries from the United
States to Chile. In 2002, Valley, Germany held the first official international competition.

Cheese Rolling

If ESPN can air a hotdog-eating contest as an official sport, then certainly cheese rolling should be considered one as well.

Imagine a seven-pound wheel of double Gloucester cheese rolling down a steep hill with people tumbling as fast as they can after it. Crazy, right?

Well, not in Brockworth, England, where this sporting tradition dates back hundreds of years, according to the official cheese rolling website.

The winner—the first person to arrive at the bottom of the hill—is awarded the hard-earned prize: the wheel of cheese and typically a broken bone or a concussion.

Wife Carrying Competition

Grass, sand, water and gravel make up the 253.5-meter track where the annual wife carrying contest takes place every summer in Finland.

The objective of the competition is for the husband to carry his wife through the track in the fastest time.

This couple sport uses various “carrying” techniques, including the fireman (over the shoulder), the piggyback and the Estonian (the wife hangs upside down and holds on to the waist of her husband).

“Yes, we have some bizarre sports during our summer,” said Paula Arvio, a Finnish citizen who has seen the sport on television. “You think that is crazy? We also have a mosquito killing sport where whoever kills the most mosquitoes with their hands wins.”

Although ironing while jumping on a trampoline or rolling down a hill in pursuit of a seven-pound wheel of cheese may seem out of the ordinary and far from what we define as athleticism, activities like these add to the many surprises that flood the world of sports. Such sports certainly redefine the word, adding an element of ambiguity and creativity.