Sports Night at Jaialdi 2010 drew a boisterous crowd to Boise’s Qwest Arena Thursday night July 29 as top athletes from the Basque Country put on displays of amazing strength.

People roared and clapped as the athletes lifted 450-pound wagon carts and hoisted huge marble balls that weighed 250 pounds. Other sportsmen lifted hay bales with pulleys and tossed hay bundles over 15-foot-high bars in an event that announcer Edu Sarria described as a “Basque pole vault.”

Related Euskal Kazeta article:
Top Athletes Featured at Sports Night

Some of the top athletes from the Basque Country showed feats of strength during Sports Night at the Basque extravaganza known as Jaialdi 2010 in Boise on July 29, 2010. The display of rural sports (herri kirolak) included tug of war (soka tira), hay bale pulling (lasto altxatzea), oxcart lifting (orga jokoa), relay racing, log chopping (aizkolaritza) and stone lifting (harri jasotzea). All these events developed from farm chores that Basques have turned into competitions.
The unique event was presented at the Boise arena and attracted a sold-out crowd.