Get you up to speed: Sperm Racing announces first World Cup competition with $100,000 prize
Last year, the world’s first ‘sperm race’ took place, where two chubby cells raced along a 20cm track modelled after the female reproductive system. Sperm Racing has announced a ‘World Cup’ for 128 athletes, competing for a grand prize of $100,000.
The University of Southern California student Tristan Milker, 20, won the inaugural sperm race in Los Angeles, securing a prize of $10,000. According to Eric Zhu, one of the organisers, the concept for sperm racing emerged from discussions regarding the decline of male fertility, which has reportedly decreased by half over the past 50 years.
Sperm Racing announced plans to host a ‘World Cup’ featuring 128 athletes competing for a grand prize of $100,000. Organisers have yet to confirm the date and timings of the event, which aims to raise awareness about declining male fertility.
You can now apply to be represent the UK in the ‘Sperm Racing World Cup’ | News World
For once, the point is to finish first and as soon as possible (Picture: Sperm Racing/Instagram)
Start your engines, and may the best sperm win.
Last year saw the world’s first ‘sperm race’, where two chubby cells raced along a 20cm track modelled after the female reproductive system.
University of Southern California student Tristan Milker, 20, won the fertility showdown in Los Angeles and bagged $10,000.
But Sperm Racing, which describes itself as a sports league, announced on Instagram yesterday that it’s hosting a ‘World Cup’.
‘The race will immortalise a nation. Your country is watching. The world is waiting.’
The 128 athletes will be competing for a grand prize of $100,000. Though we’re not sure if the sperm or the man gets to keep the money.
The tournament’s website says: ‘Sperm racing is a science-based competitive sport.
‘During the 2026 sperm racing world cup, athletes compete by representing a country, advancing through qualifiers, matchups, and tournament rounds that are broadcast and shared publicly.
‘This is not a lottery or a game of chance. Selection and advancement are based on eligibility, performance, availability, and competitive structure.’
Athletes must be at least 18, free of sexually transmitted diseases and be able to ‘provide biological samples’ to compete.
The tournament was made to promote awareness over declining male fertility (Picture: Sperm Racing)
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This could be you, dear reader (Picture: Sperm Racing)
A poster for last year’s sperm race (Picture: Sperm Racing)
Organisers have yet to confirm the date and timings of the event.
Eric Zhu, one of the masterminds behind sperm racing, told WTX last year that he’s all too aware of how much of a joke this sounds.
‘It’s so, so stupid,’ the analytical platform Aviato founder said, ‘but it just might work.’
Despite being the tiniest cells in the human body, sperm can slither, spin and dash at speeds of 28mph all to wriggle into an egg cell.
Sperm, of course, don’t have eyes. Instead, they know where to go because egg cells let out a chemical which they sniff out, called chemotaxis.
To replicate these bodily conditions for the 0.05mm racers, the racecourse was fit with ‘chemical signals’ to fool the spermatozoa into swimming.
From left to right: Shane Fan, Eric Zhu, Nick Small and Garrett Niconienko. The four men are behind Sperm Racing (Picture: Sperm Racing)
Eric said that the idea for the F1 of spermatic fluid came from discussions around the decline of male fertility.
Sperm counts have declined by half over the past 50 years for reasons researchers aren’t entirely sure about.
‘If you look at cigarettes, 50 years ago, no one was talking about [the negative health effects],’ Eric added.
‘When people started talking about it, people were getting healthier when they got rid of cigarettes. And I think the same with sperm.
‘In the last 50 years, not enough people have been talking about it.’
Together with three friends, the spunky entrepreneur founded a start-up and nabbed hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments in a week.
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Interesting read, though I think there are some points that could have been explored further. Would love to see a follow-up on this topic.
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