April 17, 2006 — The third annual "Pig Olympics" were held over the weekend in Moscow with porcine competitors vying for top honors in running, swimming and "svinoball" — a soccer ball game played with the snout.

Seven countries were represented, including six piglets from Russia and six from foreign countries as far afield as China, Canada and South Africa.

The curly-tailed competitors were introduced with national flags and anthems before Tatiana Kolchanova, director-general of the union of domestic animal businesses, formally declared the third annual games open.

The first event was a short running race along closed paths with the Russian team, wearing red, going first. The visitors wore blue and included stars from France, Latvia and Ukraine.

Coaches ran behind the piglets, encouraging them to stay on track and run quickly. Following a false start — one piglet pushed another from behind — Canada's Antoinette cruised to victory with Jean-Francois of France in second place.

Kostik Russisches Schwein of Russia also made a distinguished showing, afterwards grunting his satisfaction into a microphone.

For the svinoball competition, the piglets were divided into two teams of five. They squared off over a soccer ball coated in fish oil, a porcine treat. The piglets pushed the ball around the pen with their snouts, and a goal was scored when it rolled into one of two half circles painted on either side of the pen.

For the swimming competition, new to the games this year, the piglets were supposed to race from one side of a small pool to the other. However, the competitors seemed more interesting in bumping into one another than racing, and one piglet got its leg caught up in the ropes separating the lanes.

Sport piglets compete for several years before retiring, but will never have to end up on the dinner table. Once their sporting life is over, they get to work creating a new generation of sport pigs.