Hungary wins International Grave Digging competition on home soil… literally

Grave-diggers from around the world gathered to compete in the eighth International Grave Digging Championships in Hungary on September 6, 2025.

While athletics events are often the most popular types of competitions, you’d be surprised to learn that there’s a competitive scene for all sorts of unusual disciplines.

For example, there are official contests for bed-making, table-setting, rolling cheese down a hill, chessboxing, and even grave-digging.

Yep, you read that right; every year, the Hungary Association of Cemetery Operators and Maintainers invites professional grave-diggers from around the world to their country to participate in the International Grave Digging Championships.

Hungarian duo claim victory at international grave-digging contest

The event has been running since 2016, tasking teams of two grave diggers to carve out a hole in the ground that meets specific dimensions. The grave must be two meters long, 80 centimeters wide, and 1.6 meters deep.

There’s also a time limit, as competitors must complete the project within two hours. They even have to put all the dirt back inside the holes and neatly pack it, just as they would with a regular grave site.

As reported by Oddity Central, participating grave-diggers are judged on a 10-point scale for their speed, accuracy, and attention to detail.

This year marked the eighth annual International Grave Digging Championship, with a Hungarian team from Parakletosz Nonprofit Kft taking first place for the second time in a row.

The duo, László Kiss and Robert Nagy, finished their grave in one hour, 33 minutes and 20 seconds, crediting their victory to “the routine they developed in their daily work without any special training,” as per a press release from the MTFE.

According to Al Jazeera, the fastest time for the contest was an eye-popping 34 minutes total.

While it might seem like an unusual competition, the Championships are organized to help shine a light on the hard work and physical skill it takes to dig graves, as well as attract new workers to take on an increasingly esoteric job as cemeteries struggle to find employees.

In modern times, skilled professionals use large, heavy equipment like excavators and backhoes to dig graves, although human strength is also used in certain instances and areas of the world.

This is the latest odd competition to go viral after competitive eater Joey Chestnut consumed 26.5 pounds of poutine to win an eating contest earlier this month.