A pair of Vienna’s own tram drivers took first place last weekend in the world’s first World Tram Driver Championship, beating out 24 teams from other cities in such activities as tram bowling and precision braking before as many as 50,000 spectators.
It was the first world championship, since Vienna opened the gates beyond the previous European championship which has been running for years. Among the teams that showed up to show off were Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro and San Diego, California. Each team included a male and a female driver. For Vienna, the event marked the 160th anniversary of trams in the city.
Vienna swept ahead of favorite Budapest, whose three-time champion team fell to fourth place, behind Poland and Norway. Fifth place went to Germany, followed by Czechia, Ukraine and Belgium.
Next year’s competition will take place in Warsaw.
Bizzare – but I’m not surprised it attracted a large crowd.