IT MAY not be Athens but the New Forest village of Frogham was the arena for some truly Olympian feats of strength and fleetness of foot at the weekend.

While strongman Mighty Smith pulled in a huge crowds with his mix of muscles and mirth in the main ring, visitors to the annual Frogham Fair tested their own mettle with rustic sports including tossing the sheaf, welly-throwing, and the canine capers of terrier racing.

And the day's blue riband finale event saw a dozen eager athletes take up the challenge of the lung-busting wheelbarrow race up the steep slope of nearby Blissford Hill.

A tradition dating back to the 1930s when the road was both steeper and unmade, the 100-yard sprint up the one in four slope while pushing a barrow carrying a straw dummy is still enough to make a marathon runner weep.

Local lasses Annette Tritschler from Frogham and Sarah Madgwick from neighbouring Hyde added a spot of inter-village rivalry to the course-opening ladies race.

Cheered every inch of the gruelling climb by the huge crowd which thronged the hillside, mother-of-three Sarah, 33, successfully retained the trophy she won last year.

Racing in pairs against each other, the clock and the gradient, the competition was expected to sort the men from the boys - and it did.

The youngest competitor at just 16, rugby player James Crichton, on holiday in the New Forest with his family from Gosport, tackled the hill in the fastest time of 37.14 seconds.

Runner-up just one tenth of a second slower and 19 years older was Andy Waddington from Ringwood in his first attempt in the wheelbarrow race.

"We have had an excellent day. Mighty Smith really pulled in the crowds.

"They love him and he loves coming here," said fair organiser Sue Herd.

First published: August 30