The first time Robby Silk tried his luck at competitive sitting, he lasted only three hours in the Arizona heat. Several years later and during the pandemic, he completed his longest sit: 14 hours and 27 minutes inside Joshua Tree National Park in California. Since then, he has gone to far further locations to practice his extreme sport – including Antarctica’s Cuverville Island.
The idea of it all, he shares, “is to really just be, and not do much of anything.” His sport is one of a dozen compiled in this entertaining article featuring 12 amazing athletic competitions you should be watching. Also on the list are grits rolling, high swinging, and stone skimming. The sports are a quirky yet perfect example of just how much fun someone can have when they decide to turn a diversion into a competition.
And chair sitting might have a possible future in the Olympics too. After all, dressage is already an Olympic sport and that’s basically competitive sitting on top of a horse.