Cups Runneth Over as Stacking Goes Big Time

Stifle that laugh. Cup-stacking is a sport in its own right, complete with a championship tournament, an ESPN following—even its own Tiger Woods. That’s Steven Purugganan, an 11-year-old who so masterfully piles plastic cups into pyramids that fans and reporters chase him for attention. Last week’s tournament in Denver—the sport’s spawning ground—drew 700 global competitors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“We’re the first to admit stacking cups sounds silly,” says the teacher who, dubbing it “upside-down juggling,” helped push it into the mainstream. He touts the sport as great for hand-eye coordination, and cheap. At the Denver games, the crowd roared as Purugganan set another world record. In 2.15 seconds, he made three stacks with nine cups. His reaction? “That’s really fast.” (More cup stacking stories.)