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Sperm Racing World Cup Announced in San Francisco With $100,000 Prize

Organizers pitch the spectacle to destigmatize male fertility testing during a period of falling sperm counts.

Overview

  • Organizers said Monday they have more than 10,000 applicants worldwide and will select 128 men, one per country, for races slated in San Francisco next month.
  • Chosen entrants will mail semen kits to California for lab prep, and technicians will race isolated sperm on a 400‑micron microfluidic track viewed under high‑powered microscopes.
  • The competition begins with individual timing, then seeding by motility into heats and knockouts, and the owner of the first sperm across the finish line wins $100,000.
  • Races will stream online with giant screens, leaderboards and posted health data for each competitor, according to plans shared by the event’s founders.
  • The same team staged a smaller Los Angeles contest in April 2025 with two college participants, a $10,000 purse and a winning time of one minute and three seconds.