Top stacker Laura Beacom wins the WSSA 2023 European Sport Stacking Championships in Cambridge
Held for the first time in the UK, the WSSA 2023 European Sport Stacking Championships took place at the University of Cambridge Sports Centre in Philippa Fawcett Drive from last Friday to Sunday (August 4-6).
The event, highlighting the popularity of this growing sport, involved 183 stackers who also participated at this year's AAU Junior Olympic Games Sport Stacking Championships.
But what is sport stacking, also known as cup stacking or speed stacking?
Belfast-based Laura Beacom, the winner of the women’s event, who also happens to be the coach of the national team, explains that there are three different events in sport stacking – “the three three three, which is three pyramids of three, the three six three, which is a pyramid of three, a pyramid of six and pyramid of three, and then the cycle, which is a slightly longer one.”
She adds: “They take your best time from each event and add them together. So my added together time is first in the UK and I think 17th female in the world.”
Laura first took up the sport seven years ago and has now been competing for six. She won the first European Championships in Denmark last year and earned a Guinness World Record in 2018 for doing 30 x three six three on an Italian TV show.
She achieved first place in the World Championships in her age category (15-16 female) in 2019 and has also been UK champion three years in a row.
Recalling how she initially got into the sport, she said: “I used to solve Rubik’s cubes, and they have the same timing system as stacking does.
“So my YouTube recommended that because I liked Rubik’s cubes, I might like cup stacking – and I saw the video and thought it looked really cool.
“Then I remembered I had a set of cups in my house that I got for Christmas when I was like five years old that I’d never touched. I was like, ‘Oh, I have to get those out and give it a go’ and obviously it went quite well.”
Laura says the atmosphere over the weekend was “really nice, it was really busy and I think there was a really good vibe about the place”.
While Laura was crowned champion in the women’s category, the winner in the men’s event was a Dutchman named Liam van der Rea, who also won the doubles competition, which is one hand each, with compatriot Jerry Wu.
Laura added that there was also a relay event, which was won by a German team, and notes that another team came from Fenland.
Is it fair to say that the sport is more popular in mainland Europe than it is in the UK? “It depends on the country,” replies Laura, who says you need good hand-to-eye co-ordination and a good reaction speed to be a successful stacker.
“I’d say it’s definitely more popular in Germany, Denmark, maybe Switzerland – but Germany’s definitely the biggest in Europe.”
Laura hopes to travel to Florida next March for the World Championships, while the 2024 European Championships are to be held in the German town of Achim.
