Wife Carrying
Estonian-style wife carrying
Wife carrying is a sport in which male competitors race while each carrying a female teammate. 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 carry may be practised: piggyback, fireman’s carry over the shoulder, or Estonian-style the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders, holding onto his waist.
Major wife-carrying competitions are held in Sonkajärvi, Finland (where the prize is the wife’s weight in beer) Monona, Wisconsin, and Marquette, Michigan.
The sport originated as a joke in Finland, supposedly reminiscent of a past in which men courted women by running to their village, picking them up, and carrying them off. The Wife Carrying Contest has very deep roots in Sonkajärvi’s local history, despite its humorous aspect. In the late 1800s a brigand called Rosvo-Ronkainen was staying in the area. He allegedly only accepted troops who proved their worth on a challenging track. The sport is now practised around the world and has a category in the Guinness Book of Records.