Bunducksliga
The Bunducksliga is a rubber duck race created by the Bundesliga, the professional association football league in Germany. The race is held annually, with its first race uploaded to YouTube on 25 January 2015, with a total of 18 competitors from the 18 top-flight Bundesliga teams. Although officially a "duck race", some clubs have chosen to send non-duck representatives, such as VfL Wolfsburg's Wolfgang the Wolf. There have been 3 championships held since the forming of the competition, with the most successful teams being Hertha BSC, Bayer Leverkusen, and Bayern Munich all having won a single championship.
Championships
2015
The 2015 championship was held in January in an indoor circular water course, with all clubs participating, and with the exception of Otto the garden gnome representing Werder Bremen, all participants were rubber ducks. The qualifying round was held in 3 groups of 6, and the first 2 participants in each group to complete two full laps would advance to the final. The video was uploaded to the official Bundesliga YouTube channel on 25 January 2015.
Place |
Group A |
Time |
Group B |
Time |
Group C |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Borussia Dortmund(Q) |
0:49.60 |
1. FSV Mainz 05(Q) |
0:44.20 |
Werder Bremen(Q) |
0:45.88 |
2 |
Borussia Mönchengladbach(Q) |
0:50.24 |
FC Bayern Munich(Q) |
0:46.72 |
Hertha BSC(Q) |
0:46.48 |
3 |
Schalke 04 |
0:52.08 |
VfB Stuttgart |
0:47.00 |
Hannover 96 |
0:48.20 |
4 |
Bayer Leverkusen |
0:53.12 |
SC Freiburg |
0:50.68 |
VfL Wolfsburg |
0:49.36 |
5 |
1. FC Koln |
0:55.04 |
1899 Hoffenheim |
0:52.12 |
Hamburger SV |
0:49.60 |
6 |
SC Paderborn 07 |
DNF |
Eintracht Frankfurt |
0:55.96 |
FC Augsburg |
0:50.04 |
The final was contested between 6 teams, and the fastest participant to complete 5 full laps was the winner of the 2015 Bunducksliga Championship.
Place |
Team |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Hertha BSC |
2:00.69 |
2 |
FC Bayern Munich |
2:00.70 |
3 |
Borussia Dortmund |
2:08.50 |
4 |
SV Werder Bremen |
2:09.22 |
5 |
Borussia Mönchengladbach |
2:10.36 |
6 |
1. FSV Mainz 05 |
2:13.04 |
The winner of the 2015 Bunducksliga Championship was Hertha BSC, which beat FC Bayern Munich by 1-100th of a second to become the inaugural champion.
2016
The 2016 championship was held in January, in an outdoor creek. Two clubs were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, namely SC Freiburg and SC Paderborn 07, and were replaced by two newcomers, FC Ingolstadt and Darmstadt 98. Out of the 18 clubs, 15 sent ducks, the least amount in the championship's history. The qualifying rounds were held in 3 teams of 6, with the first two competitors to cross the line advancing to the final.
Place |
Group A |
Time |
Group B |
Time |
Group C |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Darmstadt 98(Q) |
00:58.04 |
FC Ingolstadt(Q) |
00:55.00 |
Bayer Leverkusen(Q) |
00:54.76 |
2 |
Hertha BSC(Q) |
0:59.40 |
FC Augsburg(Q) |
0:56.96 |
FC Schalke 04(Q) |
0:55.32 |
3 |
Werder Bremen |
1:00.48 |
Bayern Munich |
0:58.88 |
1. FSV Mainz 05 |
0:55.96 |
4 |
Hamburger SV |
1:00.80 |
Eintracht Frankfurt |
0:59.76 |
Borussia Mönchengladbach |
0:57:28 |
5 |
VfL Wolfsburg |
1:01.48 |
1899 Hoffenheim |
0:59.88 |
Borussia Dortmund |
0:58:40 |
6 |
Hannover 96 |
1:06.48 |
VfB Stuttgart |
DNF |
1. FC Köln |
1:09:04 |