# Fierljeppen > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fierljeppen > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fierljeppen.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierljeppen > Source revision: 1347898890 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Traditional sport}} {{Lead too short|date=August 2024}} thumb|Fierljeppen in Linschoten [[File:Polsstokspringen in Winsum Weeknummer 61-35 - Open Beelden - 56483.ogv|thumb|Newsreel footage of the 1961 Fierljeppen Championships in [Winsum](/source/Winsum%2C_Friesland)]] '''''Fierljeppen''''' ([West Frisian](/source/West_Frisian_language) compound of ''fier''—"far" and ''ljeppen''—"leaping") or '''''polsstokverspringen''''' is a traditional sport of the Netherlands, and of [West Frisian people](/source/West_Frisians) in the [Dutch](/source/Netherlands) province of [Fryslân](/source/Friesland). The sport is also traditionally popular in the province of [Utrecht](/source/Utrecht_(province)) which produced record holder Jaco de Groot and Theo van Kooten. ==Description== The sport involves a long pole and a body of water. The pole is typically made of cedar wood or some composite materials. The pole is between {{Convert|8|and|13|m}} long and has a flat round plate at the bottom to prevent it from sinking into the muddy river or canal bottom. Its material has evolved from wood which was heavy but prone to breakage to [aluminium](/source/aluminium) and currently to [carbon-fiber reinforced polymer](/source/carbon-fiber_reinforced_polymer)s.[https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-canal-pole-vault-fierljeppen-a7f2aebcfee2f3a76f358b2c15ed64f4 Furtula, Aleksandar. "'You get to fly, like a plane': Why Dutch athletes pole vault over canals," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Monday 1 September 2025.] Retrieved 3 September 2025. A jump consists of a sprint to the pole (polsstok), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top of the pole while trying to control its forward and lateral movements over a body of water, and finishing by landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point.{{cite web |url=http://www.pbholland.com/info.php?context=alle&lang=en |title=Fierljeppen Netherlands |publisher=Pbholland.com |date=2013-10-12 |accessdate=2013-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002031515/http://www.pbholland.com/info.php?context=alle&lang=en |archive-date=2012-10-02 |url-status=dead }} ==History== The Netherlands has many waterways. Fierljeppen originated as a way for Frisian people to get around the waterways easily.{{cite web |url=http://www.pbholland.com/info.php?id=history_en&lang=en |title=Fierljeppen Netherlands |publisher=Pbholland.com |date= |accessdate=2014-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222002034/http://www.pbholland.com/info.php?id=history_en&lang=en |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }} Over time it turned into a competition with the first official match in 1771 but the sport was not properly structured until 1957. The sport is believed to have originated with farmers who used poles to leap over small water drainage channels to access different plots of land. In the [German](/source/Germany) region of [East Frisia](/source/East_Frisia) this sport is known as ''Pultstockspringen''. Today the sport is primarily practiced for fun or to entertain tourists, but there still is an official annual ''National Fierljepping Manifestation'' (NFM) in the Netherlands, and championships are contested in six leagues and numerous clubs. ==Record holders== The current Dutch record holders by category are:[http://www.pbholland.com/stats.php?&lang=en&context=Alle Dutch official records in fierljeppen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409201823/http://www.pbholland.com/stats.php?&lang=en&context=Alle |date=2017-04-09 }} from pbholland.com{{cite web |title=Fierljeppen or Polsstokverspringen (Netherlands) |url=https://www.traditionalsports.org/traditional-sports/europe/fierljeppen-or-polsstokverspringen-netherlands.html |website=traditionalsports.org |accessdate=17 September 2020 |language=en-gb}} *Seniors: {{convert|22.21|m|ftin}}, Jaco de Groot from [Woerden](/source/Woerden), [Utrecht](/source/Utrecht_(province)) (12 August 2017, Zegveld) *Veterans: {{convert|20.70|m|ftin}}, Thewis Hobma from [Harlingen](/source/Harlingen%2C_Netherlands), Friesland (21 June 2025, Burgum) *Ladies: {{Convert|18.19|m|ftin}} Marrit van der Wal from [It Heidenskip](/source/It_Heidenskip), Friesland (31 July 2019, Burgum) *Juniors (under 20): {{convert|21.87|m|ftin}}, Germ Terpstra from [Tzum](/source/Tzum), Friesland (5 July 2025, Jaarsveld) *Boys (under 16): {{convert|20.72|m|ftin}}, Wisse Broekstra from [Winsum](/source/Winsum%2C_Friesland), Friesland (19 September 2020, Burgum) *Girls (under 16): {{convert|17.63|m|ftin}}, Hanneke Westert from [IJlst](/source/IJlst), Friesland (24 August 2022, Burgum) *Foreigners (Not native of Netherlands):{{convert|19.64|m|ftin}}, Alan Barth from Canada 19 August 2002, Burgum) There are 532 registered active jumpers in the world; of those, 190 are from the Netherlands. ==Fierljeppen throughout the world== International tourists who have visited [Friesland](/source/Friesland) and the [Lek](/source/Lek_(river)) regions and observed the sport have helped to spread its popularity across the globe. Competitions in other locales now take place, albeit at a less competitive level due to smaller numbers of athletes and the lack of suitable locations. Many Americans were first introduced to the sport, referred to as "ditch-vaulting", on the [twelfth season](/source/The_Amazing_Race_12) of ''[The Amazing Race](/source/The_Amazing_Race_(American_TV_series))''. This same task would be performed in the [twenty-first](/source/The_Amazing_Race_21) and [thirty-first](/source/The_Amazing_Race_31) seasons as a "Switchback" task. ==See also== * [Pole vault](/source/Pole_vault) * [Shepherd's leap](/source/Shepherd's_leap) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{commonscat}} * [http://www.pbholland.com PBholland.com] {{Athletics events}} Category:Sports originating in the Netherlands Category:Sport in Friesland Category:Dutch inventions Category:Traditional sports Category:Dutch folk culture Category:Culture of Frisia Category:Pole vault --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fierljeppen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierljeppen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierljeppen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.