Wrestling

July 28th, 2008 · No Comments

Yesterday Doucoure and I headed to the stadium to watch some Senegalese Wrestling. To make a long story short: I had a great time.

Wrestling is huge here and that was definitely the wildest and craziest experience I have had since I’ve been here. Tons of people all squished together as people play drums, sing, chant, and yell. Women are moving through the crowds selling water that is for both drinking AND for throwing, peanuts, juices, frozen milk-esque stuff.

There were eight fights that day (typical time per fight is about 1-2 minutes), but most people had come for one: the last showdown between Baboye and Yekini. Talk about powerful rivalry. The two groups of fans had taken up separate sides of the bleachers, separated by a small group in the middle who weren’t as passionate (read: crazy). This is where we sat. It also is the best section because it’s directly in line with the fight ring itself.

No alcohol is allowed in the stadium and thank the heavens for that. These people are crazy enough without alcohol. Not only do they chant, but they throw things. Water. Water bottles (sometimes filled with urine). Sticks. Shoes. Whatever they can find. They not only throw them at each other but at the opposing fighter himself! They have fireworks they shoot INTO the stadium, light flares, and generally just go crazy. A guy behind me started bleeding from his head when he got hit with a stick.

It’s an incredibly high energy event, and it’s amazing how long it lasts for only being eight fights. We left the stadium around 9:00 after arriving around 3:00. The fights don’t start until about 6:30, but you have to get there early if you want a good seat. And I’m not going to get much into demographics here, but it would have been the easiest Where’s Waldo? puzzle ever made.

Below are a couple of videos from it. The first is the general crowd and the second is after Yekini’s victory (the last fight of the day):

Wrestling Crowd from Zach Koch on Vimeo.