China bars older people from tug-of-war games over health concerns

Chinese authorities have limited the age for participants of tug-of-war games to up to 55 years old for men and 50 for women after an elderly woman was injured in a game and sued the organizer.

Male participants of competitions should be between 18 to 55 years old and female must be older than 20 and younger than 50, according a regulation published published June 27 in contest rules for two competitions in Northwest China’s Gansu Province.

The players also need to submit health certificate issued by local medical authorities, according to the official website of the association.

The limit was reportedly made after the General Administration of Sport (GAS) received a judicial suggestion from the People’s Court of the Lianyungang Economic and Technological Development Zone.

The court recently heard a case in which a woman in her 60s was injured in a tug of war competition. The woman and organizers of the event both shared responsibility for the accident, the WeChat account of the Intermediate People’s Court of Lianyungang reported on Tuesday.

Tug of war is a popular recreational team sport across China, with experts saying it enhances participants’ awareness of team work. However, the sport is risky.

“It is a very intense sport even though it does not appear so. And Women above 50 years old and men above 55 begin to suffer from the rarefaction of the bones,” Wang Renwei, a professor at the Shanghai University of Sport, told the Global Times on Thursday.