September 27, 2003

Animal sports

Posted by Chris

Simon Kuper has been pretty busy this week. Not content with analyzing the Islamic vote, he also provides a handy compendium of weird animal sports , including elephant polo, goat racing and tortoise racing. Many of these pastimes are products of the British empire it seems. The champion tortoise answers to the name of Rosa Luxemburg.

Posted on September 27, 2003 10:19 AM UTC
Comments

It’s good to see Rosa Luxemburg getting the coverage she deserves, as a regular winner of the inter-collegiate Oxford Tortoise race. She’s a fine tortoise (actually, I don’t know if she’s a “she”, since I don’t really know how to sex tortoises), and it’s always uplifting to see her motoring around the Garden Quad, eating cigarette butts, or whatever it is that she snacks on.

Incidentally, the official elected each year to organise her physical and ideological training programme to prepare her for the race is called “Comrade Tortoise”, and there is never a shortage of people keen to stand. It’s a fine tradition.

Chris (Balliol, 1992-5, though never Comrade Tortoise)

Posted by Chris Brooke · September 27, 2003 02:45 PM

Strictly speaking, Rosa Luxemburg doesn’t actually answer to the name.

Posted by jam · September 27, 2003 06:26 PM

Strictly speaking, Rosa Luxemburg doesn’t actually answer to the name.”“

Maybe she does - perhaps just no one sticks around long enough to find out.

Posted by Nabakov · September 28, 2003 12:31 PM

The article mentions “ostrich racing in Australia”, which makes me wonder about veracity of the research…I dont think there are any ostriches outside zoos in this country! Emus, certainly, but I’ve never seen them raced!

Sydney.

Posted by andrew · September 29, 2003 04:42 AM

Rosa Luxemburg has been stolen! Or at least she has gone missing! It is quite a catastrophe to say the least, and we are searching for her emphatically (perhaps trinity have taken her???)…but nobody knows…

workers of the world unite, find rosa!

Posted by A Balliol Student · November 4, 2003 11:01 AM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.