Joxe María Olasagasti

Some of us are Basque, some others are very Basque and then we have Joxe Mari Olasagasti. Olasagasti was born in Igeldo in 1959 and we could say he is a sportsman. But his thing are the Basque traditional sports: cut trunks, lift stones, reap fields, drag stones… In fact he has won many ax (aizkora) championships and the Basque Pentathlon three times.

Besides the official organized competitions, Olasagasti also accepts challenges from other sportsmen like him and bets against them. He also does exhibitions, all very common in the Basque traditional sports world. It’s in one of these exhibitions that Olasagasti cut a car in two by ax blows in just a minute and a half.

But apart from all this, he also raises oxen for dragging events. Oxen that he takes care of with more affection and love than a lot of parents their children. He cuts their hair, takes them to swim to the beach, bathes them and puts them Nenuco cologne (a very known eau de cologne for toddlers), and he plays the piano to them. Just like that. If you don’t believe me you just have to watch this video.

All in all we can conclude that Joxe Mari Olasagasti is a “jatorra” man, a true “jatorra”!