It never ceases to amaze us how people find weird and wonderful ways to use ladders unconventionally, and the sporting world certainly provides some out-there examples.  In a previous article we brought you a viral craze where people challenged each other to climb up a freestanding ladder.  This is obviously not a safe thing to do – ladders should always be firmly supported and secured so they don't tip or wobble, but for daredevils like parkour specialist Ole Morland Johnsen that takes all the fun out of it. 

Not content with merely climbing the freestanding ladder and seeing how far he could make it before falling, Johnsen made it nearly all the way to the top, cheered on by friends and bystanders, before perfectly timing his impressive dismount.  As the ladder started to fall, Johnsen grabbed hold of a tree branch and then performed a backwards somersault dismount that Simone Biles would have been proud of.  We don't suggest anyone tries this at home, unless you happen to be a professional acrobat and you've got somewhere soft and safe to land.

The England rugby team did a fantastic job at the World Cup, and although they might not have won it since 2003 they had a secret weapon on their side this time.  When they practiced line-outs their coach, Steve Borthwick (himself a former captain) used a step ladder on the side-lines to gain extra height, so he could throw further and really test the team.  Pictures of this training technique were published in February 2019, and eagle-eyed businessman Tom Kitching spotted an opportunity to help out. 

Kitching is the MD of ladder manufacturer Henchman, who makes professional tripod ladders for use in the garden and landscaping industries. After seeing the pictures he realised that his ladders were a much better fit than the rickety stepladder they had been using, so he sent the team one of his tripod ladders.  Tripod ladders are designed to be used on softer ground, as they don't sink in so much and they are much easier to balance than a ladder with four legs – this might sound counter-intuitive but if you don't believe us try it out for yourself.

This revolutionised the team's line-out training as Borthwick could balance much better and be much more effective at throwing the ball in.  The team took it with them to Japan, so they could carry on practicing with it and after the tournament ended Borthwick called Kitching to thank him for the difference it made in their preparations.  Other teams will no doubt follow this example and use the sturdy tripod ladders in their training too.

Ladders are an integral part of wrestling, as they're one of the props used in certain matches to provide a bit more excitement to proceedings.  The first ladder match in WWE history was in 1992, but they had been used in other wrestling leagues as early as 1983.  It was famed wrestler Bret Hart, who suggested the ladder could be a good prop for WWE matches, and he was also involved in that 1983 match as well.  Although this match never aired on television, it does hold the record for the first ever WWE ladder match; the second would not come until 1994.

Ladder matches are often part of a ‘Money in the Bank’ match, where a briefcase containing cash is suspended above the ring and won by whoever gets there first.  This means having control of the ladder to ensure your opponent does not get there before you, and Kofi Kingston made a huge spectacle when he used two sides of a broken stepladder as stilts to try and snatch victory.  He also tried to climb one half, but without the skills of Ole Johnsen he failed in this endeavour.

One ladder in the wrestling ring is dangerous enough, but there are now 4-way ladder matches where 4 ladders are available to contestants.  These 4 ladder matches are usually held for tag team duos, after all, you can only use one ladder at a time.  Jeff Hardy is responsible for one of the most shocking moments in ladder match history, when he dropped from the top rung onto his opponent Cesaro.  We all know you should never stand on the top of a stepladder, but Hardy either didn't get the memo, or more likely didn't care about health and safety in pursuit of a win.

We don't recommend that anyone tries to recreate these stunts, but if you're interested in seeing just how a ladder can be creatively used as a weapon, there are plenty of WWE videos out there to shock and surprise you.