Finland dominates World Mobile Phone throwing competition

As expected, Finland dominated the World Mobile Phone Throwing Championships, held last month in Kesamaa, Punkaharju in the country’s Eastern lakes district. This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows that Finland is the world’s capital of weird sporting events.

Perhaps the most famously odd-sporting event is the Wife Carrying Championship held each year in Sonkajarvi, where strongmen husbands can win their wife’s weight in beer by carrying her in a variety of positions, including ‘Estonian’ where she hangs upside down with her legs around his neck, over an obstacle course.

Other events of note in Finland include the Ant-Nest Sitting Competition, Mosquito Swatting Championship, Snowshoe and Swamp Football World Cups and a variety of ice-swimming races. The Air Guitar World Championship in Oulu has been running since 1996 and has even been made into a documentary that follows the path of one of the competitors as he raises funds to compete via bake sales and busking. The current world champion is Frenchman Sylvain “Gunther Love” Quimene.

For the record; The 10th International Mobile Phone Throwing Championships saw Pauli Kosunen take top honours with a throw of 79 metres, roughly the same as an Olympic discuss throw. Home-grown hero Keikki Hamalainen won the women’s event with a 37 metre heave. Finland also took out the junior title with Verneri Aleksejev reaching 43 metres.

Unfortunately, the clean sweep was destroyed when a group of Japanese singers called Team Happi was triumphant in the Freestyle section, heading off the challenge of the all-female team of Paivin Parhaat, who were on a hen party at the time.