From June 30 to July 2, in the Finnish city of Sonkajärvi, the World Championships in carrying wives.
This championship has been held in Sonkajärvi annually since 1992, and it received international status in 1996.
The main competition will be held on Saturday, July 1.
The competition is organized by the Sonkajärvi Business Association.
As told in the organizing committee of the competition, 45 couples from different countries of the world, including from the USA, Germany, Great Britain, France, Norway, Estonia, Australia, Singapore and, of course, Finland, registered for participation in the championship.
In a number of countries, qualifying competitions were held before the main championship. This time such competitions were held, in particular, in the USA, Australia and Estonia.
According to the rules of the competition, the length of the track is 253.5 meters. It has sand, asphalt and grass areas, as well as one water obstacle, a little shallower than human height. A competitor must take his wife or just a woman chosen by him as quickly as possible along this route.
However, a prerequisite is that the portable "wife" should not be younger than 17 years old and should weigh at least 49 kilograms. If the “wife” comes across too lightly, then the participant is usually loaded with a backpack so that the total weight with the precious burden is 49 kilograms.
If during the passage the participant drops the "wife", then he will be fined for 15 seconds. In each "race" involved two pairs: two "porters" and two "wives". After the end of the competition and summing up, the winning pair is announced, the pair that has passed the fastest distance. Winners receive valuable prizes and, of course, beer.
The world record - 55.5 seconds, set in 2001 by Margo Uusorg and Birgit Ulricht from Tallinn, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
However, as the organizers of the competition say, in this case the result is not the main thing. The rules of the competition, among others, even recorded that all participants should have fun.
In addition to the prize, the main winners also receive the audience award for the funniest pair. Also awarded the most elegant couple and the most powerful "porter".