Sonkajarvi, July 8: While 53 other men slung their wives and struggled to win an hour-long race, a Lithuanian couple managed to grab the world wife-carrying championship title in Finland. Lithuanian parents of two Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene won the race which involved running, wading through a slippery pool and getting through a lot of hurdles.

With cheers from thousands of fans, the couple competed with 53 couples from 13 countries at the Wife Carrying World Championships 2018 in Sonkajarvi, Finland.

Take a look at the World Wife-Carrying Championship held in Finland on Saturday:

(Video Credits: CBS47 KSEE24, YouTube)

With this win, the two defeated six times world champion Taisto Miettinen, a Finn. Reports inform that the couple first competed in Sonkajarvi in 2005.  A total of 53 men held their wives over their shoulders and ran off the race in the small Finnish town of Sonkajarvi on Saturday.

Reports inform that the World Wife-Carrying Championship is now in its 23rd year. The Championship draws thousands of visitors to the town of 4,200 and has gained followers across the world, a report by Reuters stated.

As per details by organisers of the Championship, there are official qualifying competitions in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Estonia. Wife-carrying as a sport was inspired by the 19th-century legend of Ronkainen the Robber. He had tested aspiring members of his gang by forcing them to carry sacks of grain or live pigs over a similar course.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2018 08:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).