CROSSING THE FINNISH LINE
I suppose you could call them a bunch of tossers and they would not be offended. I’m talking about the entrants to this year’s World Mobile Phone Throwing Championships (the sixth such event, no less) which were recently held in the Finnish town of Savonlinna, possibly better known for its annual opera festival (where mobile phones are banned).
Some of the entrants in the World Mobile Phone Throwing Championships managed to achieve impressive distances of almost a 100 metres – which suggests they may have been prompted by a telesales call from a mortgage company, or a text message to say the mother-in-law is coming to stay for a week or two.
This year's major winner was Mikko Lampi from Finland -- there were contestants from eight countries, with 61 of them taking part in individual categories and 33 in team events.
Mobile phone throwing is not the only non-Olympic sport to be found in Finland, which in July also celebrated its thirteenth national and ninth world Wife Carrying Championships at the little known town (unless you happen to be an avid wife-carrying fan) of Sonkajarvi.
This event has deep roots in the local history: in the late 1800s a brigand named Rosvo-Ronkainen is said to have accepted into his gang only those men who proved their worth on a challenging track. In those days, it should be pointed out, it was also a common practice to steal women from the neighbouring villages.
The original track winding in the rough terrain with fences, rocks and brooks has been altered to suit modern conditions. Run over a 253.5 metres, the minimum weight of the wife to be carried must be 49 kilos. Not married? No problems – carry somebody else’s wife, as long as she is more than 17 years old.
While we are on the subject of championships, Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales has just staged the 20th World Bog Snorkelling Championships, an event that means swimming through a peat bog without using conventional swimming strokes. Bog snorkelling in Wales has attracted competitors from as far afield as Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zambia.
Mobile phone throwing, wife carrying, bog snorkelling: do I detect a new (Nokia sponsored) triathlon in the making?
Some of the entrants in the World Mobile Phone Throwing Championships managed to achieve impressive distances of almost a 100 metres – which suggests they may have been prompted by a telesales call from a mortgage company, or a text message to say the mother-in-law is coming to stay for a week or two.
This year's major winner was Mikko Lampi from Finland -- there were contestants from eight countries, with 61 of them taking part in individual categories and 33 in team events.
Mobile phone throwing is not the only non-Olympic sport to be found in Finland, which in July also celebrated its thirteenth national and ninth world Wife Carrying Championships at the little known town (unless you happen to be an avid wife-carrying fan) of Sonkajarvi.
This event has deep roots in the local history: in the late 1800s a brigand named Rosvo-Ronkainen is said to have accepted into his gang only those men who proved their worth on a challenging track. In those days, it should be pointed out, it was also a common practice to steal women from the neighbouring villages.
The original track winding in the rough terrain with fences, rocks and brooks has been altered to suit modern conditions. Run over a 253.5 metres, the minimum weight of the wife to be carried must be 49 kilos. Not married? No problems – carry somebody else’s wife, as long as she is more than 17 years old.
While we are on the subject of championships, Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales has just staged the 20th World Bog Snorkelling Championships, an event that means swimming through a peat bog without using conventional swimming strokes. Bog snorkelling in Wales has attracted competitors from as far afield as Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zambia.
Mobile phone throwing, wife carrying, bog snorkelling: do I detect a new (Nokia sponsored) triathlon in the making?
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