What a toe-riffic champ
BUT ALAN CLAIMS HE’S UNABLE TO INSURE VITAL DIGIT FOR £1M
A WORLD championship toe wrestler who has dominated the Derbyshire-based sport for a quarter of a century has tried to insure his title-winning digit for a whopping £1 million.
But Alan “Nasty” Nash, who has won the world toe-wrestling championships a staggering 15 times, is struggling to strike a deal with insurers, he has told a national newspaper.
The 59-year-old JCB worker, from Stoke, told the Metro: “I’m the 15-time world champion because I scare people before I even walk into the ring, people know my reputation – I won’t lose no matter what, I don’t care if I’ve got to break my leg, I won’t lose.
“I have the mindset of a champion all year round, I don’t believe anyone can beat me. This is one of the most violent sports out there. I’ve beaten hundreds of people and done damage to all sorts of people – broken kneecaps, toes.
“I just don’t like losing, and because people know I won’t back down, it gives me a psychological edge. I would say I have the world’s strongest toe. Matches are played out of a best of three and normally last between three to four minutes, but people only last a couple of seconds against me.
“I’ve tried to insure my toe for £1 million but they wouldn’t agree to it. They wouldn’t take me seriously – I think they thought I was having a laugh.”
Alan first stepped into the “toedium” – as it is officially known – in 1994 and even applied for toe-wrestling to appear in the 2000 Olympics.
The contest is held in Fenny Bentley and sees competitors interlock their big toes, just like in arm-wrestling, where thumbs are crossed, and the winner is the first person to press their opponent’s foot on to the board below.
Despite the fact he is approaching his 60th birthday, Alan still dedicates four nights a week training his legs and back. He said: “I start training around Christmas, so it’s a six-month process. I don’t just work on my legs, but I work on my shoulders. I do a couple hundred squats a day to get myself in shape.
“I used to go to Britannia Stadium [home ground of Stoke City] after hours and two nights a week I’d run up one row of the seats, back down, and do it around the entire stadium – it would take about an hour.
“My legs would be so pumped, I couldn’t even walk back to the car in the car park.”
With a trophy room boasting 23 honours, Alan is now training his nineyear-old stepdaughter Ruby Mae Parkes, who is the current junior world champion.
He said: “I look forward to the championships every year – I’ve got to go on shows and do all kinds of things I would have never had to chance to do. I like to think of myself as an ambassador of the sport, and I want to push the sport to its limits. I’m 60 next year and have won many trophies, and Ruby is also a champion so toe wrestling will always be part of our family.”