BOGOTÁ, Colombia—Colombia’s national sport is not for the faint of heart–or liver.

Called tejo, it involves heaving 2-pound metal disks 64 feet toward clay-filled pits dotted with packets of gunpowder. Direct hits crack like sniper fire. Rather than Gatorade, players hydrate with some of the 30 to 60 bottles of beer their teams typically purchase for the privilege of using the tejo court.

As...