World Wife-Carrying Championship is a contest where men complete task or pass through obstacles with their wives slung over their shoulders. Couples from more than a dozen countries took part in the race this year in Sonkajarvi, 300 miles north of Helsinki, Finland.
Although this interesting championship which is held annually is at its 24th year, many still don’t know about it.
The Lithuanian couple who won the Championship last year defended it by winning it again for a second time in a row in the Finnish town of Sonkajarvi on Saturday.
Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife, Neringa Kirkliauskiene won the world “wife carrying” title, leaping over timber and wading through waist-high water to beat dozens of other couples for a second year running.
The couple cleared a gruelling 253.5-metre (831ft) obstacle course in a time of one minute 6.72 seconds ahead of two dozen other contesting couples.
Among the couples beaten are six-time champion Taisto Miettinen of Finland and his partner Katja Kovanen by the slimmest of margins – 0.1 seconds.
Each year, the championship draws thousands of visitors to the town of only about 4,000 inhabitants in central Finland.
Having gained followers across the world, preliminary competitions were held in countries such as the United States, Australia, Poland and Britain, organizers said on their website.
“I was looking at the watch and I thought I’m not going to make it, but we did it,” Kirkliauskas said.
Wife-carrying as a sport drew inspiration from the 19th century legend of Ronkainen the Robber, who compelled would-be members of his gang to prove their mettle by carrying sacks of grain or live pigs over a similar course.
The competition is also said to look back to an even earlier practice of wife-stealing – leading many present-day contestants to compete with someone else’s wife.
Despite the event’s title, couples do not have to be married. Organisers said male contestants can “steal a neighbour’s wife” if they do not have a companion.
Below are more photos of victorious Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife, Neringa Kirkliauskiene, winners of this year’s championship.
