World Wife Carrying Championships - Meet the winner

 

Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen from Finland took gold in the home race, which became their fifth title in a row.

For the championships, wives are carried over a purpose-built 831ft (253.5m) sand course with obstacles including a metre deep pool of water.

 

The objective is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track in the fastest time. The sport was first introduced at Sonkajärvi, Finland.

As concerns the rules then they are quite simple, however a few interesting points present: a) the wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbor's, or you may have found her further afield; she must, however, be over 17 years of age;

b) the minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kilograms. If she is less than 49 kg, the wife will be burdened with a rucksack containing additional weight such that the total load to be carried is no less than 49 kg.

Several types of carry may be practised: piggyback, fireman's carry (over the shoulder), or Estonian-style (the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband's shoulders, holding onto his waist).

Wife Carrying World Championships are held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland since 1992.