HKFP Lens: 8 compete in Hong Kong ‘Sperm Race’ to highlight declining fertility rates

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Hongkongers gathered at a Japanese wine bar in Central on Wednesday to witness eight men compete in Sperm Race Hong Kong.

The event, which aims to raise awareness of declining sperm quality and promote men’s health, involves sperm being placed on a microscopic track. A graphical representation is then shown to the audience as the sperm “race” towards a fake egg.

Event organisers, who dubbed the competition the “world’s smallest sport,” said on Instagram last week that declining sperm quality affects the health of pregnancies and chances of miscarriage and disease.

The testosterone-fuelled competition, which was attended by several local online influencers, was won by a 19-year-old named Anton.

The first contest was launched in Los Angeles last year. The new Asian edition was hosted by Dick Gay.

An HKFP reporter on the scene was told that the competitors collected samples in a bathroom during the afternoon, and footage of the race was pre-recorded shortly after.

A 2022 study led by Hagai Levine, professor of epidemiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, showed that sperm counts fell on average by 1.2 per cent each year between 1973 and 2018.

The rate of decline has accelerated to more than 2.6 per cent each year since 2000, according to the BBC. “This [declining sperm count] is a marker of poor health of men, maybe even of mankind… We are facing a public health crisis – and we don’t know if it’s reversible,” he said.

The cause of the decline, however, is unclear. Researchers have pointed to environmental pollutants, poor diets and lifestyles, and excessive environmental heat as possible factors.

The nature of the contest has raised eyebrows among critics. Last September, Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi wrote that efforts to highlight reproductive health issues are welcome. However, “[s]perm racing reflects three trends dominating Silicon Valley: a fixation on traditional masculinity; an obsession with treating your body like a machine that can be constantly optimised; and an increased interest in fertility that overlaps with a worrying resurgence in eugenics.”