Before last year, Tiffany Fatima had never held an axe.
But last weekend, the 23-year-old Surrey resident competed in the World Axe Throwing League U.S. Open in Chicago, where she placed 30th out of 55 competitors.
“It was a lot of fun, I didn’t expect it to be that much fun,” Fatima told Peace Arch News Wednesday.
The grand prize for the two-day competition was a championship ring and $5,000.
“I didn’t win, or else I would be screaming and spending my money,” she said.
Fatima said she got into the sport by chance. She randomly applied for a job at Surrey’s Bad Axe Throwing company – a recreational spot for people to chuck axes at a target – without knowing what the business was all about.
“It turned out to be an axe-throwing place,” Fatima said last week. “I was really surprised because I never held an axe before and they were telling me to throw it.”
Fatima said the job training process, particularly the part where she was told to “touch sharp objects and throw it,” was unusual.
“When they were training me, I didn’t get a single axe in at all. I was scared to throw it. I was really horrible – I thought they were going to fire me. Here I am, one year later and I’m going to a competition for axe throwing.”
Axe throwing is scored on a point-base system. Hitting the bullseye will score the participant six points, and hitting the outside ring will score one point.
The U.S. open also featured a trick-shot competition. The most impressive, Fatima said, was when one of the participants juggled the axes before throwing them at the target.
More information on the axe throwing league, visit https://worldaxethrowingleague.com/
