There are various accounts of exactly how “sport” came to be, but the roots of “women’s wear” lie in Finland.
According to one version, it happened after a group of thieves kidnapped women from a Finnish village, according to another version, men trained with heavy bags on their backs to get strong, gradually replacing these bags with their wives.
Sure, “women’s wear” is currently regulated just for the enjoyment of couples, but they often take the sport very seriously.
There are also rules. The track must be 253.6 meters long and have two dry obstacles and one water barrier. Only men are allowed to carry a wife or neighbour, and each woman must weigh at least 49 kilograms. Everyone is in the same category. Whoever completes the course as fast as possible is the winner.
The United States Championship was hosted last Saturday in Newry, Maine. The winning pair – Caleb and Justin Rosler – completed 253.6m over logs and sand and across a muddy puddle in 54.64 seconds.
The winners are Justin’s weight in beer and a cash prize five times her dollar weight. In the summer of 2023 they can go to Finland to show their skills at the World Cup.
