Shin-kicking champion crowned at traditional rural games dating back 400-years

The shin-kicking competition at the Cotswold Olimpick Games has crowned a new champion.

The contest took place yesterday at Dover's Hill, near Chipping Campden.

The annual celebration of rural sporting traditions drew enthusiastic crowds.

Andrew Bailey received his title from Mike Newby, a three-time former champion who goes by the nickname Shindiana Jones and now serves as the event's stickler, or official referee.

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The champion decided to compete unpadded, without the traditional straw padding worn by other competitors.

The games boast a heritage stretching back more than four centuries.

It was established in 1612 by Robert Dover, a local lawyer who reportedly sought to harness the competitive spirit of the area's residents.

Shin-kicking has remained a fixture throughout this long history.

Competitors are required to grip one another by the shoulders whilst attempting to strike their opponent's lower legs and bring them down.

The stickler plays a crucial role in proceedings, ensuring that a genuine kick to the shins has been delivered before any fall can be counted as valid.

Participants must wear trousers, though straw padding for protection remains optional.

Gareth Way, competing under the name Gaz for his second year, offered insight into the physical nature of the contest.

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He said "The kicking is not the biggest part. I think that there's an element of the pushing, the shoving. That's at least 50 per cent of it, I think."

He added that competitors feel the effects for some time afterwards: "Your shins hurt days after."

The event has faced interruptions throughout its existence, with former chairman Tom Threadgill noting: "It got shut down for the last time in the mid-1850s because of 30,000 people coming. It's been banned at a number of points across its 400 years."

Friday's gathering attracted upwards of 2,500 spectators, with the shin-kicking bouts drawing audible winces and sympathetic groans from the assembled crowd.

The games' appeal has extended well beyond British shores, with visitors this year making the journey from as far afield as North Carolina in the United States.

Beyond the headline shin-kicking event, the programme featured an array of traditional rural competitions.

They include tug o' war, the wooden pillar throw, sack races, long jump and various running disciplines.

The day concluded with a fireworks display and a beacon-lighting ceremony, after which crowds made their way down to Chipping Campden, carrying torches.

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