Finland: This is the Wife-Carrying World Championship 2015

The Wife-Carrying World Championship was held once again in Sonkajarvi, Saturday, seeing husband and wife teams compete for the sport's highest honour. The contestants raced each other over a 253.50-metre (831.60-feet) obstacle course, in which husbands wade through water and clamber over hurdles while carrying their wives. This year's winners were Sari Viljanen and Ville Parvianen of Finland, while another Finnish couple, Miettinen Taisto and Haapalainen Kristiina, took second place. Dmitri Sagal and Anastasia Logvinova from Russia came in third. The first-placed pair won beers totaling the same weight as Sari Viljanen, who comes in at 49 kg (108 lbs). Finland's wife-carrying tradition most likely goes back to Finnish folklore of the 19th century. One theory suggests that it dates back to the legend of 'Ronkainen the Robber' who used to test aspiring gang members by making them carry sacks of corn or animals over a similar obstacle course. Another theory is that wife-carrying descended from wife-stealing; and carrying someone else's wife has reportedly became increasingly popular throughout the history of the sport.