A group of mostly teenagers constructed a monstrous stack of black milk crates at Copeland Park yesterday in North Tampa. Some of the crates they used were already partially broken before Tampa’s first-ever (or at least most publicized) “Crate Olympics” began.
Instead of the traditional pyramid style that most milk crate challenges across the country use, Tampa organizers made theirs more difficult. At the top, the crate Olympic athletes would have to take a step up two milk crates at once to reach a peak of eight crates stacked on top of each other.
“We just wanted to make Tampa’s version a little different, a little harder,” one event organizer who wished to remain anonymous, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
The prize for whoever made it across the crates first: $100 in cold hard cash, which was funded by the crowd of more than 60 people.
The difficult top step would prove painful for the roughly eight gladiators who attempted it, and glorious for just two champs. As Olympians arrived, they had to sign a legal waiver, in case of any injuries.
Disclaimer: It’s important to mention here that doctors have warned against the milk crate challenge, telling people they should be more careful with their bodies. This is a valid point, and this story is in no way encouraging people to participate in an activity that may hurt them.
One by one they went up the pyramid but faltered at the top double-step. Some backed down in fear.
Those who tried came crashing down, but their young bodies bounced off the park floor like rubber. Friends rushed to make sure they were alright and there was a feeling of warm and comradely support in the air, which contrasted the maniacal nature of the event. Despite some scrapes, the Olympians laughed it off.
Suddenly, an older man arrived and started stomping up the crates without pause. Toward the top, he fell, but got right back up and started again. He took a pause before the double-step this time, as the crowd shouted in anxiety and cheered him on. He got to the top crate, placed both feet on it, wobbled, took a step down, and barely made it as a crate flew out from under his left foot while his other landed on a crate below.
He scrambled down the final steps into the arms of a crowd that rushed and hugged him as he screamed and jumped in pure excitement.
Because he was the first to make it across, the event organizers offered him $100. He refused to take it, waved goodbye to everyone, and walked off into the setting sun like a hero in a western movie.
The champion not accepting the money meant the $100 was still up for grabs.
A few more Olympians tragically fell as the crowd shouted about their souls leaving their bodies. Finally, another contender made it across but didn’t receive the same type of ecstatic reaction from the crowd.
Still, he smiled as he grabbed his cash.
With the initial prize money won, the crowd chatted and joked as a new pyramid was constructed. They waited with cash in hand to see if a new Olympian would step up to the challenge as night descended on Copeland Park.
You know @JustinGarciaFL writes about more than cops, right? He was at Tampa's #MilkCrateChallenge Olympics yesterday—here's video of the winner along with the story out of Copeland Park https://t.co/8Vl6vSw6Fc pic.twitter.com/K2UTAFox9V
— Ray Roa (@rayroa) August 25, 2021
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This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2021.