Badger State Games to extend opportunities to even more athletes. Otto Breitenbach became the executive director of the Wisconsin Amateur Sports Corporation in 1988, and he was credited with raising the profile and scope of the games during his nine-year tenure. By 1997, when Breitenbach retired, the Badger State Games was "considered by many to be the current standard bearer" among statewide multi-sport events, and the country's largest relative to state population. At the 2006 summer games, Bill Wambach of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, a long-time competitor, broke the national high-jump record for the 80- to 84-year-old division with a jump of 1.26 meters.
Badger have been used for centuries to make shaving brushes, a purpose to which it is particularly suited owing to its high water retention. Virtually all commercially available badger hair now comes from mainland China, though, which has farms for the purpose. The Chinese supply three grades of hair to domestic and foreign brush makers. Village cooperatives are also licensed by the national government to hunt and process badgers to avoid their becoming a crop nuisance in rural northern China. The European badger is also used as trim for some traditional Scottish clothing. The American badger is also used for paintbrushes