Sporting activities always bring a lot of people together with a host of excitement. As people in other parts of the world gather to watch and support their team in a football match, boxing game or on a Formula 1 race track, people in Finland also gather for one unique sport.
This sport has to do with racing, however, the competitors have to handle a little burden while on the race. The wife-carrying races of Finland require men to sling their wives or partners over their shoulders as they go on an hour-long race.
In the small Finnish town of Sonkajarvi, the crowd is energetic as thousands of fans gather to cheer from the stands for this unique race.
The World Wife-Carrying Championship has been going on for 25 years now. This race draws thousands of visitors to the town of 4,200 people and has gained followers across the world.
There are official qualifying competitions in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Estonia. According to the organisers, about 53 couples from 13 countries eventually take part in the competition.
The idea of wife-carrying as a sport was inspired by the 19th-century legend of Ronkainen the Robber, who tested aspiring members of his gang by forcing them to carry sacks of grain or live pigs over a similar course.
The championship is also said to stem from an even earlier practice of wife-stealing – leading many present-day contestants to compete with someone else’s wife.
Finland, which straddles the Arctic Circle and goes through long, dark winters, is no stranger to strange sports. It has also given the world boot throwing, air guitar and mobile phone throwing competitions, to name just a few.
The objective of the game is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track in the fastest time. Several types of carrying may be practised: either a classic piggyback, a fireman’s carry (over the shoulder), or Estonian-style (wife upside-down on his back with her legs over the neck and shoulders).
Since 1992, this race has been a major part of the Finnish culture where the prize is the wife’s weight in beer. What are your thoughts on this unique race?
