The Stone Championship in Scotland is shaken by the fraud scandal

In the World Championships for the Sciences off the West Coast in Scotland, hundreds of contestants go to the distance of a champion to crown.

But at this year’s event, on the auto -free Easdale Island, some contestants went to throw the stone away.

Organizers say that a handful of very enthusiastic stone scraps was cheated through their doctorate.

This contradicts one of the rules of competition that states that the stones should be “naturally formed” on Easdale. Another rule states that the stones “cannot be broader than three inches in its widest point.”

“They must all pass through our measuring device, which is called” The Ring of Truth “,” Kyle Matthews, organizer and “Toss Master” of the event, As it happens Host Nil Köksal.

But Matthews says the stones concerned were “suspiciously rounded”.

He said: “The competitors took larger stones than the island, and they had placed for them at the bottom so that they were perfectly and completely circular and equipped almost completely the ring of the truth.”

The stone scorch is the art of throwing a stone across a body of water so that it bounces or crawls on the surface, which increases the distance that the stone travels before it is drowned. Matthews says that it should not be confused with stone skiing, which focuses on the number of bounces on the total distance.

There is a very pure thing … and very satisfying to watch stones across water.Kyle Matthews

Matthews, who provides a comment to the event, did not mention a number of competitors of more than 400 competitors. But he says about more than 1,200 stone that he saw is thrown, and doctoral stones in Al -Ghshir “go beyond his hawks -like vision”, and discovered it only after the event when other relatives reported that there were some “Shankan thorny”.

Matthews said, “They monitored the competitors who use them,” Matthews said. “Then when he caught the attention of the people concerned, they confessed to their hands, confessed their mistake and accepted the exclusion, which was the final punishment.”

Although he hesitates to give the minute details to their conversations, referring to secrecy fears, Matthews added that the disgraceful competitors “expressed their grief and grief and apologized for making this sport in bad condition.”

John Jennings, who won better prizes, said he noticed some competitors’ stones “that seemed somewhat ideal.” He became the first American winner in the tournament after he ridiculed his stones a cumulative distance of 177 meters.

“I think it is one of these fair phrases that, as you know, never win and never cheat,” he said.

Despite the lengths of these competitors, the only prize for competition is the cup – although Matthews believes that there is something intangible at stake.

Matthews said: “This snapshot was a scraping,” Matthews said. “The taste of victory was very sweet and the desire to formulate the Donald Melville Cup, which the winner wins, and he was clearly overcome. Did you blame them? In many ways, I feel satisfied.”

Cracks compete from 27 countries

This event was first born by a former resident of Estadal in 1983. After a break, it was revived in 1997, and this time Donald Melville, who held the position of Master in Terme until he retired in 2019, when Matthews says he took this event.

The tournament only grew in popularity, with competitors from 27 different countries participating this year alone – including Canadians.

Jennings, who runs the stone skiing competitions in Kentucky, says while the scandal itself is painful, he can only notice how it helped strengthen the sports identification file.

“There is something very pure … and very satisfied to see the stones across water,” said Jennings.

“It exceeds all social and economic barriers, because regardless of the amount of money you earn or the amount of money you earn, you can go to a set of water and throw the stone there and know if it will exceed.”