ODD SPORTS

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

WIFE CARRYING

Wife carrying (Finnish: eukonkanto or akankanto, Estonian: naisekandmine, Swedish: kärringkånk) is a contest in which male competitors race while each carrying a female teammate. Traditionally each team was composed of a husband and a wife couple, however this is no longer standard practice. 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.

Several types of carrying may be practised: either a classic piggyback, a fireman's carry (over the shoulder), or Estonian-style (wife upside-down on his back with her legs over the neck and shoulders).

The Wife Carrying World Championships have been held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland, since 1992 (where the prize is the wife's weight in beer).

Eukonkanto originated in Finland. Tales have been passed down of a man named Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen (aka Ronkainen the Robber). This man was considered a robber in the late 1800s, lived in a forest, and ran around with his gang of thieves causing harm to the villages. From what has been found, there are three ideas as to why/how this sport was invented. 

Firstly, that Rosvo-Ronkainen and his thieves were accused of stealing food and women from villages in the area he lived in, then carrying these women on their backs as they ran away (hence the "wife" or woman carrying). The second suggestion is that young men would go to neighbouring villages, steal other men’s wives to marry themselves. These wives were also carried on the backs of the young men; this was referred to as “the practice of wife stealing". Lastly, is the idea that Rosvo-Ronkainen trained his thieves to be "faster and stronger" by carrying big, heavy sacks on their backs, from which evolved this sport. Though the sport is often considered a joke, competitors take it very seriously, just like any other sport.

Wife carrying contests have taken place in Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, India, Germany, the UK and other parts of the world besides Finland and nearby Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. And the sport has a category in the Guinness Book of Records. I hope you liked this post and as always have a chilled day from the Viking.