If you have seen Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Padnekar’s Dum Laga Ke Haisha, you probably remember the part where Ayushmann’s character had to carry his wife on his back to win the race. Seemed bizarre right? Turns out the world has a real ‘wife carrying’ race competition and a Lithuanian man just won it.
The race was pretty much like that in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, and now we are wondering if this was indded the inspiration for the concept of the movie. Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife Neringa Kirkliauskiene who participated from Lithuania, leapt over obstacles, waded through waist-deep water to defeat many other couples for the second year now. The prize of the competition? Beer equivalent to the wife’s weight.
The first obstacle course was 253.5 meter (278-yard) which they cleared in 1 minute 6.72 seconds. That’s just a tenth of a second more than the Finland's Taisto Miettinen and his partner Katja Kovanen, six-time former world champions.
Kirkliauskas reportedly said, "After the second obstacle I thought I wouldn't make, but it's a great result" and added "my wife, she is the best."
Couples from various countries like France, Germany, Australia take part in this annual race that takes place in the central Finnish municipality of Sonkajarvi, 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of the capital, Helsinki.
Couple of rules of the race state that the woman should be above the age of 17 and should weigh at least 49 kilograms (108 pounds). The couple does not necessarily have to be married. The organizers jokingly say that the contestants could "steal a neighbor's wife" if they are on the lookout for a female companion.
There are no rules about how the men have to carry their teammates and they use different ways for the same. Though the most common method is for the woman to be hanging upside-down on the male participant’s back with her legs on his shoulders.
The wife carrying races are now becoming popular even outside Finnish borders with such competitions being held in countries like England, Poland, Australia and even the United States. China is also going to hold its first national wife carrying race this August and the winners will participate in Finland world’s championship in 2020.
The competitions founder, Eero Pitkanen said, "It's summertime and we just want to have some fun together,". "It's great to see our small town put on the map because of this," he added. Though it is all fun the participants take it seriously. Pitkanen further reportedly said, "The heavier the wife, the more beer for them."
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