Finland hosts a “Wife Carrying World Championship”

No we’re not kidding… it really does exist

The Wife-Carrying World Championship is a real and gloriously bizarre sporting event from Finland 🇫🇮.

🏆 The Basics

• Official name: Sonkajärven vaimonkanto
  
• Location: Sonkajärvi, Finland
  
• First held: 1998 in it’s current modern championship form
  
• When: Every July
  

🏃‍♂️💨 The Race

• Course length: approximately 253.5 metres
  
• Obstacles: varied and includes sand, grass, and water
  
• Objective: Very simple – to carry your wife or partner across the course as fast as possible
  

📏 Rules (yes, there are rules)

• The “wife” must:
  
  • Be at least 17 years old
    
  • Weigh at least 49 kg extra weight s can be added if lighter
    
• Carrying styles allowed:
  
  • Piggyback
    
  • Fireman’s carry
    
  • Estonian carry (upside-down over the shoulders, the fastest and most common choice)
    
• Helmets are recommended for the event for obvious reasons, but are not compulsary

🥇 Prize

• The winner receives their partner’s weight in beer 🍺 This has of course led to very strategic marriages taking place.
  

📜 Origins

The event traces its roots back to 19th-century Finland, when so-called “wife stealing” (actually bride kidnapping or elopement contests) featured endurance trials. 

The modern race is a tongue-in-cheek reincarnation, which of course is a fully consensual revival.

🌍 International Fame

Teams now compete from:

• Finland
  
• Estonia who are now frequent winners
  
• UK
  
• USA
  
• Australia
  
• Japan