'Wife carrying' anyone?

For a non-PC sport, men moving as fast as they can through an obstacle course carrying a woman on their back would be a prime candidate. Estonia is one of few countries that practise it, along with the sport’s inventor, Finland, which hosts the world championships annually in Sonkajärvi, this year on 4-6 July.

Estonia’s claim to fame is the invention of the Estonian lift, in which the runner carries his “wife” upside down over his back, while the wife wraps her arms around the runner’s torso to grab her own legs, and squeezes his neck with her thighs.

The Estonian lift

A rule change in 2023 has made wife carrying - naisekandmine in Estonian - a progressive sport; there are no more rules around sex or gender.

A scan of world champions since world champs began in 1997 reveals, in practice, that the carrier is a man, and the wife, a woman. Estonia won 11 years in a row between 1998 and 2008, and Estonians Margo Uusorg and Birgit Ulrich still hold the world record of 55.5 seconds, posted in 2000. The following year the pair won in 55.6 seconds.

At that point, the Finns changed the rules on observing that Ulrich weighed slightly less than 40kg, and that no competing Finn could match that weight. Therefore, the wife’s minimum weight became 49kg (and if less, a compensatory weight is added), and she or he must be at least 17 years old.

In 2005 Margo Uusorg won the title back from his brother Madis, this time running with Egle Soll (45.8kg + 3.2kg added). “When you carry this way,” Margo says of the Estonian lift, “it’s much easier.” She is slightly less enthusiastic: “It’s not so bad. But you don’t see much.”

Wife-carrying pairs are an odd sight, a large runner and a light wife. Despite the name, married couples are rare in the sport. A Lithuanian husband-and-wife team won the world title for the first time in 2018. Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene are the defending champions for the 2025 contest. 

The world championships are held at a 254-metre course, which includes a fairly deep water trough, and two hurdles of piled logs. In total, Margo Uusorg won five world titles, a record eclipsed in 2017 by Finnish pair Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen (68.6 secs).

Miettinen won his eighth in 2023, with Katja Kovanen.

The rules of wife-carrying read like a Monty Python comedy skit, a sample:

·        The most important rule is to have fun when carrying a wife

·        The wife to be carried may be your own, or the neighbour’s, or you may have found her further afield

·        All participants must enjoy themselves

·        The only equipment allowed is a belt worn by the carrier and a helmet worn by the carried

·        Each contestant takes care of his/her safety and, if deemed necessary, insurance

·        The most entertaining couple, the best costume, and the strongest carrier will be awarded each a special prize

The sport is also practised in Sweden, Russia and Canada, and, apparently, as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. Which is encouraging, and who knows: the sport may yet gain in worldwide popularity as a team-building exercise.

For other unusual sports in Estonia, try extreme swinging, or ski jumping.