Logrolling (sport)

Log rolling, sometimes called "burling", is the skill of balancing on a floating log, developed by lumberjacks while guiding logs downriver. It has developed into a logging sport involving two athletes, each on one end of a log in a body of water. The competitors fight to stay on the log by sprinting and kicking the log as they attempt to cause their opponent to fall off.

There are four different sizes of logs currently used in competitions, though there are many other custom sizes used in training. Each log size has a number and color associated with it. In the United States the dimensions of the logs are standardized by the United States Log Rolling Association (USLRA) while CAN-LOG standardizes the sizes in Canada.

The US Log Rolling Association is the national governing body of the sports of log rolling and boom running. It is the first nation member of the International Logrolling Association (ILRA). The Association is responsible for overseeing rules, regulations, and rankings, and also works to grow and promote the sports of Log Rolling and Boomrunning in the United States.

Can-Log was established in the late 1960s to promote the sport of logrolling in Canada, set rules and regulations, and allow for the allocation of Canadian Championship events to the participating competitions. canlog.com

The match begins when the whistle is blown or “Time in” is called by the head judge and continues until a fall occurs or the time limit expires (The judge may recall a quick whistle if s/he feels that the rollers did not have equal control.). The first athlete to lose contact with the log with both feet and fall off the log loses the fall. The last athlete to lose contact with the log wins the fall. For all amateur and professional divisions, matches consist of three out of five falls.

Tournaments can either run with a round robin format (each athlete competes in a match against everyone in their division once) or double elimination bracket (a consolation bracket system in which rollers move higher in the competition each time they win a match or fall lower in the competition each time they lose a match).

J.R. Salzman is a 9-time world champion professional logroller. In 2006, he suffered a serious limb injury while deployed in the Iraq War.

Judy Scheer-Hoeschler, a seven-time world champion, has founded many of the world's most successful logrolling programs and currently teaches logrolling in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Darren Hudson of Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada, is a five-time world champion and has competed at many of the highest level competitions in the history of the sport.

Shana (Martin) Verstegen is a five time logrolling world champion. She is a personal trainer in Madison, Wisconsin, USA and is the co-owner of the Madison Logrolling Program, which has produced some of logrolling's best all-time competitors.

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Wikipedia