Hundreds of the best yo-yo-ers in the world descended on Cleveland this week to meet, greet, trade tricks and compete.
The 2019 World Yo-Yo Contest brought more than 300 international competitors from 20 countries for the largest gathering of competitive yo-yo players in the world, and they're all after the title of World Yo-Yo Champion.
It鈥檚 exciting to watch the tricks, organizers say, but it鈥檚 just as enthralling to watch something as simple and low-tech as a yo-yo 鈥� string and plastic 鈥� bring the world together.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got kids from rural Ohio hanging out with players from Tokyo,鈥� said organizer Steve Brown. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of other sports where kids that age will have the opportunity to interact with so many different people from so many different cultures.鈥�
Competitions, which are open to the public and run through Aug. 10, include single hand trick, two hands looping trick, two hands string trick, off-string, counterweight, and artistic performance.
The competition, currently overseen by the International Yo-Yo Federation, has been around since 1932. The event hits locations around the world and makes a stop in North America every three years. In 2018, Shanghai, China, was the host city; it was last held in Cleveland in 2016.
The contest is also attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most people yo-yo-ing at once, taking place in Public Square on Friday night. More than 2,100 people are needed, organizers say, and the event is free and open to the public. More .