Finns win Wife-Carrying World Championship

Winners Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapalainen of Finland compete during the Wife-Carrying World Championship in Sonkajarvi, central Finland, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Finland continued its reign in wife carrying Saturday as Taisto Miettinen sprinted fastest along a 253-meter track, carrying Kristiina Haapanen upside-down on his back.

The couple, who also won the world championship title last year, finished the race in 1 minute and 5 seconds.

Estonia's Alar Voogle and Kristi Viltrop tripped in the water obstacle and were second, some five seconds behind the winners.

Finns Ilpo Haalisto and Satu Juurinen got bronze.

The race, held for the 15th time, attracted 55 couples from 15 countries, including Australia, Ireland and Poland, to compete in the remote eastern Finnish village of Sonkajarvi, some 485 kilometers northeast of the capital Helsinki.

The wife-carrying competition has its roots in a legend of Ronkainen the Robber and his gang, who lived in the forests and stole food and girls from villages.

Reuters