The Sport Called Eukonkanto

Eukonkanto: Wife Carrying Competition

Wife carrying (Finnish: eukonkanto) is a contest in which male competitors race while each carrying a female partner. The objective is for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track at the fastest time. The sport was first introduced in Sonkajärvi, Finland.

Several types of carrying may be practiced: 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).

History

Eukonkanto originated in Finland. Tales have been passed down by a man named Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen (aka Ronkainen the Robber). This man was thought to be a robber in the late 1800s who lived in a forest. He supposedly ran around with his gang of thieves causing harm to villagers. From what has been found, there are three ideas as to why/how this sport was invented. Firstly, Rosvo-Ronkainen and his thieves were accused of stealing food and abducting 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 neighboring villages, and abduct women to forcibly marry, often women who were already married. 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 this sport evolved. 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.