HOLTEN, NETHERLANDS – Annika Overvig, a sophomore student-athlete on the Vermont women's swimming and diving team competed in the Tug of War World Championship for the United States. The four-day event was hosted by the Dutch club OKIA in Holten, Netherlands from September 15-18. The incredible event includes over 1,200 athletes worldwide from 188 different teams (93 clubs) and 17 different countries.
 
REPRESENTING
Overvig competed for the DJ's who won the tournaments in the summer leading up to Nationals and was nominated as the USA representative. This was Overvig's first time competing in the World Championships (they qualified in 2020 but because of Covid the event was unable to be held). Her team the DJ's have had a competitive team for decades having first started in 1986, and winning gold in the World Championships in 2004. The World Championships will be held in Switzerland in 2023 and Germany in 2024.
 
HOW IT WORKS
The Tug of War World Championships is a huge worldwide event that attracts athletes of all ages. There are two parts to the World Championships, with the first being a two-day open club match where multiple teams from the same country can enter and compete under a club name. Overvig competed in the mixed or Co-ed (four men and four women) 580kg weight class and the women's 540kg weight class under Minnesota's team the DJ's. The second part of the World Championships is closed matches across the final two days where only one team represents their country (whoever wins their country's national championships). Overvig pulled on the women's 500kg and 540kg teams.
 
A tug-of-war team consists of eight pullers, seven "line pullers" and one "anchor." The collective weight of the team has to be under the weight maximum for the weight class and then every team in each weight class will pull against each other. After that round-robin the top teams advance to the medal round matches, semifinals, and finals. Each "match" between teams consists of two "ends". There's a center line on the rope with two lines 13ft from the center on each side. A team wins an end by pulling the other team (marked by their respective line) across the center line.
 
RESULTS
In the 580kg mixed her team finished in sixth out of 11 teams. In the Women's 540kg her DJ's team, finished sixth out of nine teams. In the closed matches for the United States, they finished ninth out of 10 in the women 500kg and seventh out of 10 in the 540kg pull.
 
QUOTE
"We actually did much better than anyone really expected of the U.S. (being an almost forgotten sport in America)," said Annika Overvig. "This was the first Worlds for a lot of us and in general with a really young team it was mostly about getting the abroad pulling experience. We have a lot of potential and are hoping to be in the running for medals in Germany."
 
TAKEAWAYS
Overvig got to compete with her sister, and due to injury, her brother also competed on the mixed team with them, making it a family event. One of Overvig's favorite moments from competing at the World Championships was the honor of competing for the United States and the pride that came from representing her country. The Tug of War Championships are looking to make a comeback, as they used to be a part of the Olympics, with the IOC hoping to return the competition to the Olympic Games by 2032.