World Caber Championships at Inveraray Highland Games 2024

The Scotsman

Inveraray Highland Games.  Heavy Events - World Caber Championships  We are delighted that this year Inveraray is again hosting the World Caber Championships, kindly sponsored by the George Hotel, Inveraray. This is a highly prestigious event in the Games calendar and attracts the highest calibre of athletes from all over the world – as far afield as Australia, USA, Canada, etc – not forgetting our own home grown talent.  The winner is presented with the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association Medal. It is a true test of skill and physical prowess as the caber at the World Championships is one of the biggest, if not the biggest on the circuit, measuring over 20 feet and weighing in at over 140lbs.  The caber is scored for accuracy as though the thrower is facing the 12:00 position on a clock face. A judge behind the thrower calls how close to the 12:00 position the small end of the caber lands, 12:00 being a perfect toss.  About Inveraray Highland Games We look forward to welcoming you to the grounds of Inveraray Castle, the venue of the Inveraray Highland Games. The Games celebrate our rich culture and heritage with field and track events, piping, highland dancing competitions and heavyweight events including the world championships for tossing the caber. You will also find a good selection of local Scottish food and drink stands as well many trade and charity stalls.  Games day starts with a parade from the Town to the Games field with the Pipe Band which starts promptly at 10.45am which takes around 15-20 minutes.  By then, the Piping, Highland Dancing and Track events are already underway and continue throughout the day until around 4.30pm-5.30pm. The Heavy events commence around 11.00am and continue throughout the day with the World Caber Tossing Championship around 3.30pm.

Transcript

00:30Highland Games. We're hosting the World Cable Championships this year. The Championships

00:34have been running for a good few years here. We've had this for five, six years. It's a

00:38major championship within the circuit, so everyone's here to try and win the World Cable.

00:43Most of these poles here today are telegraph poles because they're long and straight and

00:46readily available. They're usually pine, and they're prehistoric, so they don't rot, and

00:51they keep the same weight, so each year it's the same cable. Other games have pitched pine,

00:56which is another good timber, or larch. It depends on the games. Every game's got a unique

01:02cable to its own games. These cables here are roughly about, they're about 22 feet long,

01:08and they weigh anything between 100 and 200 pounds. Cables, it's not about brute strength

01:13and ignorance, it's about skill. You've got to toss this thing for accuracy. So you toss

01:17it end over end, and it's how straight you get it. So 12 o'clock is what you're aiming

01:21for, but if it falls off either side, then you're judged on how straight you get it.

01:26So it's not about how far or how high you throw it, it's how straight it lands.

01:30My name's Aaron Castle, I'm a Highland Games competitor from the United States. I know

01:34it's very old, I don't know the exact origin of it, but basically it's flipping a log end

01:40over end, so it was probably done way back in the day as a competition between farmers

01:46and craftsmen and stuff like that.

01:48Hey, my name's Jimmy Gordon, I am from Holkirk, Keithness.

01:52Do you do any special preparations for the World Cable Championships?

01:56Yeah, well, just training at home. I've got a couple of cables that I try to toss, so

02:02apart from that, it's just training at home really.

02:06Do you have your bodies for your breakfast?

02:08No, I stopped at McDonald's actually.

02:10Well, I'm Vladislav Tulecek from Czech Republic.

02:13You've just won the Cable Championships 2024, how are you feeling?

02:19I'm feeling buzzing, you know, I managed to win it three times in a row, so yes, I'm really excited for it.

02:25I'm training in Czech Republic and like I said, I built my own cables, like different

02:29ways, different like, you know, like long and wild, you know, so I am preparing myself

02:34for this contest.

02:36In the Czech Republic, is the cable a thing in the Czech Republic or is it just in Scotland?

02:40Well, just in Scotland.

02:42Just in Scotland?

02:43Yep.

02:44How do you feel, you know, kind of competing in these Highland Games?

02:48Well, I love it, you know, it's like, I really find about the Highland Games 2016, I used

02:54to be the track and field athlete and first time I ever went like in Scotland was 2016,

02:59like I said, I start to love it, so I'm really enjoying my time.

03:03And how do you find the atmosphere at these championships?

03:06Well, especially in Inverary, we are blessed with big crowd, which are like supporting

03:12us for the cable, so it's amazing atmosphere.

03:15Well, congratulations!

03:16Thank you very much!

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