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There’s only so much athletes can do to suppress certain bodily functions that tend to rear their head when nature comes knocking at the door, and pro darts player James Wade offered a very unlikely explanation for a viral clip of him unleashing a fart during a tournament.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the vast majority of people reading this aren’t intimately familiar with the world of professional darts.
That particular pastime is yet to take the United States by storm, but it’s pretty popular in Europe and attracts a sizeable and loyal legion of fans primarily focused on the elite competitors who comprise the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which is considered the top tier of the sport.
On Tuesday, 126 members of that league made their way to Mattioli Arena in Leicester, England for the 22nd installment of the 2024 Players Championship, a tournament where Gary Anderson (who currently sits in the 23rd spot in the PDC rankings) ultimately walked away with the win.
Anderson punched his ticket to the finals with a win over 18th-ranked James Wade in the semis, who had earned his spot in the second-to-last round with a 6-5 victory over Callan Rydz.
A camera captured Wade heading backstage in the wake of that win before he briefly glanced around prior to getting into a power stance to deliver a voluminous fart for the ages as another competitor strolled past him.
Blessing the timeline with James Wade ripping a fat fart after beating Rydz #darts pic.twitter.com/j0dasTPtjS
— Joe’s darts (@JoesDarts) September 24, 2024
Wade decided to have some fun after the clip went viral, as he jokingly claimed he didn’t actually fart in a tweet where he said that unmistakable sound actually originated from the Velcro on his sneakers.
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but this is far from the first time farts and darts have made headlines. Earlier this year, Darren Webster accused his opponent of purposefully passing gas to distract him during a match, and in 2018, Gary Anderson and Wesley Harms each pointed the finger at each other over a “rotten” smell that permeated their showdown.