- 11 Hours of Seldom Seen Sports on the Flagship Network, Saturday, May 2
- Includes Fan Favorites Jelle’s Marble Runs, Cherry Pit Spitting, Stupid Robot Fighting League—Among Others
For the first time in the fictitious network’s storied history, ESPN 8: The Ocho will take over ESPN for an 11-hour slate of seldom seen sports on Saturday, May 2. A world record deadlift attempt by Thor Bjornsson kicks-off the schedule at noon ET live from Reykjavik, Iceland. Other featured events include Jelle’s Marble Runs, Cherry Pit Spitting and the Stupid Robot Fighting League.
Bjornsson—2018 World’s Strongest Man champion, three-time Arnold Strongman Classic and “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones—will attempt to deadlift 1,104 pounds live on ESPN 8. The current world record deadlift is held by Eddie “The Beast” Hall at 1,102 pounds, achieved on July 9, 2016 in Leeds, England.
This fifth iteration of ESPN8: The Ocho will also include fan favorites from the initiative since inception in 2017:
- 2019 Jelle’s Marble Runs: Marble Runs are simulated races in which both participants and spectators are marbles.
- Cherry Pit Spitting: The 46th Annual Cherry Pit-Spitting Competition, held each year in Michigan, challenges its competitors to do one thing and that is to spit his or her cherry pit the farthest.
- Stupid Robot Fighting League: Created in New Zealand, Stupid Robot Fighting is a unique form of fighting that pits two life-sized hanging puppets controlled by an operator sitting behind each Stupid Robot.
- Sign Spinning: The 12th Annual World Sign Spinning Championship brought together talented sign spinners from more than 50 cities and a dozen countries to multiple aspects of sign spinning ability.
- 2019 Death Diving World Championship:An amateur diving sport performed from a 10m platform with separate competitions for Classic and Freestyle.
The ESPN 8: The Ocho programming initiative got its start in August 2017, inspired by “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” featuring Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller. Since then, The Ocho has taken over ESPNU, ESPN2 and now the flagship ESPN. Line-ups have included everything from Kabaddi and Disc Golf to the Tram Driver Championship and Moxie Games.
Full ESPN8: The Ocho Schedule
| Date | Time (ET) | Seldom Seen Sport | Network |
| Sat, May 2 | Noon | World Record Deadlift Attempt by Thor Bjornsson (Live) | ESPN8 |
| 1 p.m. | Professional Arm Wrestling | ESPN8 | |
| 1:30 p.m. | 2006 KrystAal World Hamburger Eating Competition | ESPN8 | |
| 2:30 p.m. | E:60 – Cheese Rolling, Frog Jumping, and Japanese Monster Wrestling | ESPN8 | |
| 3:30 p.m. | 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 4 p.m. | 2019 Golden Tee World Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 4:30 p.m. | 51st Annual Stone Skipping Competition | ESPN8 | |
| 5:30 p.m. | 46th Annual Cherry Pit Spitting Championship | ESPN8 | |
| 6 p.m. | Dodge Juggle | ESPN8 | |
| 7 p.m. | Putt Putt Championships | ESPN8 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | 2019 Stupid Robot Fighting league | ESPN8 | |
| 8 p.m. | 2019 World Sign Spinning | ESPN8 | |
| 8:30 p.m. | 2019 Jelle’s Marble Runs | ESPN8 | |
| 9 p.m. | Lawn Mower Racing | ESPN8 | |
| 9:30 p.m. | Slippery Stairs | ESPN8 | |
| 10 p.m. | Death Diving | ESPN8 |
-30-
-
-
-
-
-
