Tufte Challenges Athletes to a Farmer's Life

Tractor wheel race
© Bard Finsveen

What do you do once you have won Olympic gold? What is next when you’re the fastest man in the world in a single scull? For Norway’s Olaf Tufte the answer is: do more.

Earlier this month Tufte opened up his farm in Horten, Norway to a select group of top athletes to compete in the first Tufte Farmer Challenge. Not for the cautious, the challenge included 10 events chosen personally by Tufte:

– Running with corn bags
– Mountain biking
– Milk churn throwing
– Pulling a car
– Ergometre rowing
– Digging
– Lifting lumber
– Sawing
– Moving a tractor wheel 50 metres
– Firefighter steeplechase

“I’ve been dreaming about doing this,” says Tufte. “My friends don’t know anything about farming. I wanted to show them how it is.”

Over the last six years two-time Olympic medallist and two-time World Champion, Tufte has thrown a party at the end of the rowing season for his local club, Horten Roklubb. But this year the rowers got to see a piece of Tufte’s life.

Log race
© Bard Finsveen

What started off as a small event suddenly grew. “It got a bit out of hand,” says Tufte who secured sponsors for each of the 10 events. “Next year it will be even bigger.”

Corn bag race
© Bard Finsveen

Tufte invited 17 athletes to compete including Norway’s Athens gold medallists from a variety of disciplines. Winner of K1 kayaking, Eirik Veraas Larsen, javelin gold medallist Andreas Torkildsen and the women’s single-handed dinghy winner, Siren Sundby joined the action. The participants also included Olympic men’s double rower Nito Simonsen of Norway, lightweight World Champion Sam Lynch of Ireland and former Norway national team rower Stian Kjennvold.

Competitors were paired off into nine teams winning points in each event. In a close finish, Tufte, teamed up with Torkildsen, held onto first position by a mere point ahead of Veraas Larsen and Kjennvold.

“It was almost all about power,” says Tufte of the events. “But the mountain biking was the toughest. Even for the cyclists.”

The events were spread over an afternoon and, despite little advertising, Tufte estimates that about 250 people came to watch.

For more photos and information: http://www.olaftufte.com

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