We're in this !Ploosh! together

July 29, 2023 12:42 AM

The 2023 Wife-carrying World Championships were held in Sonkajärvi FI a month ago. "The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kilos. If she weighs less, she will be burdened with such a heavy rucksack to reach the desired minimum weight.". Watch executive summary [13m YT + results in ShowMore]. MetaPrev 2012. Regular participants Elliot and Giana Storey of Westbrook ME placed 5th. No cheese was injured in these events.
posted by BobTheScientist (33 comments total)

My back is bad and I am too old, but in some alternate timeline I am very big into wife carrying.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:11 AM on July 29, 2023 [7 favorites]

That water pit at the beginning is insidious - you run the rest of the way in wet shoes, which I'm guessing makes falls much more likely.

I am also feeling for all of the wives in the popular inverted position, who have their heads underwater for who-knows-how-long.
posted by kaibutsu at 1:31 AM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Maine couple’s story made me smile - she was mad that her partner helped another couple buy better equipment in tryouts and then that couple beat ‘em. At least mad until her partner started throwing up after all the tremendous work he’d done getting them into 4th place... Competitive emotion meets vomit-empathy, a story as old as the world
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 2:27 AM on July 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

My Finnish wife at first scoffed when she saw what video I was watching while having my morning coffee, but then she made a number of astute tactical observations, which makes me think she may have thought about this more than she admits to, or just has passive cultural knowledge of this noble pursuit.
posted by Kattullus at 2:31 AM on July 29, 2023 [28 favorites]

I'm definitely on the limp side of manhood and couldn't even imagine taking part to such an event but on the other hand, I guess my wife and I could launch a husband-carrying championship, which could be pretty interesting too.
posted by nicolin at 2:35 AM on July 29, 2023 [20 favorites]

“Real words” from the 19th century
posted by thedaniel at 4:16 AM on July 29, 2023

Stating that measurement systems not native to your country of origin are 'Gibberish' is sure a ... Hot Take.

Also hella offensive.
posted by Faintdreams at 4:18 AM on July 29, 2023 [5 favorites]

Thanks OP for posting this. I enjoyed watching the races and noting the difference in holds, and also race stances.

Some strong athleticism shown by both the carriers and the carry-ees.

Must take a lot of trust to allow your partner to momentarily dunk/drown you as part of a race !
posted by Faintdreams at 4:21 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

For those less familiar with kilograms, that's 108 pounds or 7.7 stone(s), or so duckduckgo's conversion tells me.
posted by demi-octopus at 4:25 AM on July 29, 2023

Travel bloggers Kara and Nate took part in this last year. - certainly worth a watch
posted by rongorongo at 5:22 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's a lot like foreign movies, they talk all this gibberish but then they put the real words on the screen, so it;s clear they know the real words but prefer gibberish jive...

I believe the post was actually written by a ‘foreigner’, and trying to be cute about being a xenophobe doesn't make it any better.
posted by ambrosen at 5:52 AM on July 29, 2023 [6 favorites]

I tried to talk my wife into it, she's not convinced. Maybe next year, although we should probably start training now.

And friends, I don't think Dancestoblue was writing in earnest.
posted by jellywerker at 6:01 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Finland has a lot of these crazy summer events. The reason maybe being the short and often intense summer, as in everybody is on their mandatory summer vacation at some point during the couple of months and people tend to get a bit manic even. I've never seen this live but the idea is pretty heartwarming and is something I've discussed with past girlfriends, usually they have been pretty enthusiastically into the idea. Alas I'm a bit out of shape and single at the moment.
posted by fridgebuzz at 6:03 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Also hella offensive.

trying to be cute about being a xenophobe doesn't make it any better.

Ya, that was a funny comment. Not an actual sentiment. Read the whole comment in good faith.
posted by chasles at 6:24 AM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Read the whole comment in good faith.

“Non-Americans are a joke.”

There you go.
posted by ambrosen at 6:40 AM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love that there is an even basically meant entirely for couples with large size differences. I hope it is open to queer couples as well, or strong women who want to carry their small husbands.

I have a former coworker who is an astoundingly large and strong person (easily 6' 6" with arms bigger than my thighs and thighs comparable to my waist) and is married to a petite woman. I'm not sure he'd even notice that he was carrying her.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:45 AM on July 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

Mod note: Removed comment about "foreign terminology," left in the responses so people could see what happened. Otherwise, let's avoid centering the American way of doing things or trying to make ironic jokes, thanks.

Let's move on from this derail!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:11 AM on July 29, 2023 [12 favorites]

she made a number of astute tactical observations

... which you're going to share with us here, right? Because I can't be the only one here who's suddenly fascinated.
posted by Paul Slade at 8:39 AM on July 29, 2023 [6 favorites]

Constantly on the edge of my seat! This is one of the best things ever, thank you.
posted by unknowncommand at 9:50 AM on July 29, 2023

or strong women who want to carry their small husbands

who do I need to bribe to see Michelle Rodriguez carrying tiny Bradley Cooper
posted by taquito sunrise at 9:59 AM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Nice. It does have a niche here with couples bonding over athletics. However, it needs beefy to win and the lower back and knees are waiting to remind us of our mistakes down the road. Maybe needs a team weight ratio qualifier. Or a chariot race.
posted by Brian B. at 10:11 AM on July 29, 2023

I could probably carry my wife a bit. She's on the small side. I am much taller, but I am on the weak side. I would definitely injure myself to some degree. I am a USA person, and find this topic interesting, and I applaud this post.
posted by SoberHighland at 11:44 AM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

trying to make ironic jokes

But... but... This is Metafilter !!
posted by Pendragon at 11:44 AM on July 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

Are you sure? People keep telling me that this is a Wendy's.
posted by kaibutsu at 12:44 PM on July 29, 2023 [8 favorites]

Paul Slade: which you're going to share with us here, right

In general they had to do with various carrying styles, and how they off-balanced the runner. All the things she critiqued in the various contestants were avoided by the winner (e.g. he had his hands and legs free). Her main point was that the way the wife held onto the husband was probably the most crucial aspect of the race.
posted by Kattullus at 12:46 PM on July 29, 2023 [5 favorites]

Thank you.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:53 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

trying to make ironic jokes

Further evidence Michigan contains no irony. This festival is as old as metafilter and it's not the American way, it's people way.

"The first modern day wife carrying event was held in Finland in 1992 and foreign contestants were admitted in 1995. This event is now held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland as the World Championship"
posted by clavdivs at 2:37 PM on July 29, 2023

The water hazard is interesting because it presents a trade-off between rightway-up-wife (less efficient overall) and upside-down-wife (possibility of drowning wife). Which type of couple are YOU?
posted by Paul Slade at 2:57 PM on July 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

The water hazard is interesting because it presents a trade-off between rightway-up-wife (less efficient overall) and upside-down-wife (possibility of drowning wife). Which type of couple are YOU?

It looked like most of the women were able to arch their backs and lift their heads out of the water, but at least one stayed head-down and submerged for the entire length of the pool.

I'm curious who was the first to try the head-down carrying position, since to me that is not the intuitive way to carry someone around.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:38 PM on July 29, 2023

Metafilter: the limp side of manhood
posted by btfreek at 5:13 PM on July 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Glad they had helmets, but I feel that doesn't do enough when an X00-pound man is piledriving you head-first into the ground by mistake. Ouch.

I liked making huge assumptions about each couple's personalities and relationships based on falls and finishes. Good signs: laughing, high fives. 2nd place, after finishing: the man stands there screaming and posing while his wife continues to hang upside down with her face in his ass, waiting. Most vexillologists agree: that's the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman right there.
posted by whatnotever at 6:24 PM on July 29, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm curious who was the first to try the head-down carrying position

The YouTube link describes it as the 'Estonian' method, so perhaps that is a clue
posted by eustatic at 3:00 PM on July 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

> My back is bad and I am too old, but in some alternate timeline I am very big into wife carrying.

Might be more your speed in this timeline:
Finnish Hobby Horse Championships 2023 (imgur video, 54 seconds)
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:39 PM on July 30, 2023 [4 favorites]