The London 2012 Olympic Games have officially begun: Charlotte, North Carolina hosted the US-Canada Olympic Canoe Slalom Trials in April and Saturday afternoon television broadcasts now feature a variety of competitions of preclassification. America’s favorite Olympians are taking over TV commercials, billboards and apparel. Michael Phelps endorses Subway’s healthy sandwiches as a hearty snack in his workout, while Shawn Johnson shows off his grace and agility in the latest Cola commercial. London will be center stage around the world this summer as more than 204 countries and territories cheer on their teams. Even forklift drivers are gearing up for their Olympic debut by fueling up on Doritos and Funyuns. Hey?
In Dallas, Texas, forklift operators and their co-workers host their own version of the Games: the 200-meter forklift drag race. Using traffic cones as lane lines, drivers speed up their favorite forklift in the warehouse fleet and take off at an impressive 10 miles per hour. Featured on YouTube, Erik’s Hyster “gets whipped by the old Mitsubishi” in the middle of a parking lot. With that kind of backing, perhaps the forklift brand should consider sponsoring the 2020 Olympics. Forklift companies make both internal combustion (IC) and electric forklifts. Because diesel forklifts are built for speed and endurance, they are preferred over gas or propane forklifts for drag racing.
Organizations such as the Canadian Materials Handling and Distribution Society hold annual competitions to promote Dallas forklift safety and proper driving techniques. The CMHDS BC Forklift Championship is an obstacle course that requires drivers to maneuver soft-tire forklifts and order pickers through tight aisle spaces and around cones, pylons and barrels. Efficiency points, total completion time, and written competition test scores determine the gold medalists in each field. Crashing into obstacles deducts points from the overall score, but is still a crowd pleaser.
While forklift endurance racing or forklift rally will not be accepted as an Olympic sport for London 2012, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved two new sports: tennis, mixed doubles and women’s boxing. London will showcase a total of 26 sports and 39 disciplines throughout its two-week period between July 27 and August 12. No matter how exciting forklift drag racing may seem, witness Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, break another world record. because the 100 meter race is much more entertaining and impressive. Take heart, forklift racers, keep practicing nimble turns around those barrels and maybe your dream of Olympic glory will finally come true.