An unusual sport out of Japan is attracting new fans and players this week after holding its inaugural World Cup in Tokyo.
It's called “Spogomi," and it makes a game out of picking up trash.
The word comes from a combination of the Japanese word for sport and for garbage, or “gomi.” Three-person teams go into a city with bags, gloves and metal tongs. Each team is assigned about 2 square miles of urban territory.
A referee comes along with each team to make sure there isn't cheating. Participants can't run and must get their garbage directly from the street or the sidewalk. Rules say they can't follow any other teams, although there are no penalties for trash-talking.
Two sessions take place before a winner is crowned. Each team gets two rounds of 45 minutes to collect, and 20 minutes to sort into categories. However, it's not just weight that counts. Items such as cigarette butts are light, but they score very highly.
Qualifying tournaments have been going on for months for each country to select a national champion.
Out of the 21 teams from all over the world that took part in this week's competition, Britain came out on top. Together, all the teams picked up more than half a ton of trash.
The sport's founder hopes to eventually transform “Spogomi” into a demonstration event at the Olympics.
