August 20th, 2024

Icelanders, Bretons & the Grasmere Sports Wrestling Buzz

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Jane Hunt talks to three of the overseas wrestlers who head, with their compatriots, to compete at the traditional Lake District event of Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show each year, in the Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling events.  With this being an event that Catapult PR has promoted and handled social media for (four months per year) from 2022-24, the podcast is part of its travel and tourism PR and PR and content work for rural businesses and shows.

Interviewees Guðmundur Stefán Gunnarsson and Jana Lind Ellertsdóttir, from Iceland, explain how a similar style of wrestling is conducted in their country, where it is called Glima and involves the use of a belt. Léa Qlin, a Breton wrestler from Brittany in France, then explains about the Breton version of the sport – Gouren – with another variation, the wearing of a jacket by the wrestlers.

All highlight their passion and love for their sport but also the strong Celtic tradition underpinning it, whilst also conveying the buzz they get out of coming on tour to England and competing at Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show, the pinnacle of the Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling events calendar, with its 170+ year history, as an event

Their fascinating insights into the sport, its European footprint and the success in growing it in their countries, makes for an absorbing listen.