Britain finally wins the world cup - but not for what you're expecting
A British trio have won an unusual World Cup, and absolutely smashed their competition in the process.
A British sporting team has become world-beaters in their profession after a stunning victory at the inaugural World Cup for litter picking.
The "Samurai Litter Pickers" trio - Alexander and Jonathan Winship, and Sarah Parry - secured victory by a landslide in Japan, causing an international media frenzy.
The competition sees teams of three rush to collect as much litter as possible in an hour - although only within a space of five square kilometres, reports the Times.
Parry explained the sport, officially called SpoGomi - a mixture of 'sport' and the Japanese word 'gomi', which translates to 'rubbish' - is "such a good sport".
She added: "It's so strategic and intense; physically, psychologically."
READ MORE: The country constantly named world's safest where nobody even dares drop litter [LITTER]
She said it's "absolutely exhausting" and this is partly down to the complicated rules and points system which contestants have to bear in mind.
Not all litter is worth the same amount of points.
Parry explained "you have to decide what type of litter you’re going to pick up depending on how many points each category is worth".
Burnable and non-burnable rubbish earned ten points per 100g, cans and bottles 12 points, PET plastic bottles 25 points and cigarette butts 100 points.
As the trio scuttle off, their every move is watched by a referee to ensure they don't break three key rules. Nobody is allowed to run, shadow other teams and - perhaps most importantly - scavenge from litter bins.
Despite this, the team did Britain proud as they smashed second-placed Japan by almost 3,000 points - a full 28kg more.
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The Brits assigned each other a role, with Parry using her small stature to slip through narrow spaces to scoop up heavy glass bottles - a type of litter worth a lot of points - for the team, Jonny "dotting around" and Alex lugged about the bag of trash behind - "at one point he was carrying about 18kg worth of rubbish".
Parry has run 31 marathons in her time, and says this competition had a similar physical impact as a 26-mile run.
Having beaten off 25 other teams in heats in Hackney, London, the trio were sent off to Japan to compete in the World Cup. The whole thing had started with a huge 1,746 teams worldwide in heats, the majority coming from Japan.
The team would now like to see more litter-picking competitions in the UK.
