'It takes strength,' says world toe-wrestling champ

Lisa Shenton from Stoke-on-Trent is a seven-time toe wrestling world champion

Farmer Lisa Shenton always wears steel-capped footwear at work because she cannot risk an animal trampling on her prize-winning toes.

"If the sheep or horses stand on me, I'm in trouble."

The 44-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent is a seven-time world toe wrestling champion, known in the business as "Twinkletoes".

"I wanted something a bit nice and a bit classier, and it was also my nickname when I played football," she explained.

Fellow victors in this sport also have nicknames that include "Toe-tal Destruction", "Predatoe" and the "Toeminator".

In toe wrestling, contestants battle on a special podium, with two walls either side, by locking toes and trying to push their rival's foot or toe to the opposite wall to win.

"You need all body strength; people are actually really shocked by how much strength it actually takes," said Ms Shenton.

She took up the sport in 2008, when TV presenters and comedians Paddy McGuinness and Rory McGrath were filming a TV show called Great British Adventure that saw them try out eccentric sports, including toe wrestling.

Her then boss, who was at the venue where it was being filmed at Fenny Bentley near Ashbourne, suggested Lisa should give it a go.

"The first time I competed, I couldn't walk the next day, and I was fit," she said.

Despite the pain, the size four shoe competitor went on to be named female champion in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2023 and 2024.

She does "toe yoga", stretching her toes apart so they can fit a competitor's in the gaps, because "you never know until the day who you are competing against."

"Sometimes I've had problems fitting their toes inside the gap, which is why I have to keep stretching them as much as I can."

Locked in: Lisa Shenton battles with another contestant in the "toe-dium"

The World Toe Wrestling Championship was staged in Fenny Bentley in Derbyshire, in August and this year there was an increased prize pot of £5,000 each for the male and female winners, up from a previous total of £1,000.

Lisa started full-body strength training in May, after suffering an injury in January, and had felt the strongest she had for a long time.

But she lost in the semi-final, which has made her even more determined to come back victorious in 2026.

She has already begun training and has also signed up for a white-collar boxing competition in November to help keep building her strength.

As for insuring her prized toes, Lisa said people had suggested it, but "I don't know whether they'd be interested in insuring them or not".