Rolling Estonians gather some wives

Two Estonian students won the country’s seventh straight wife-carrying world championship held earlier this month in northern Finland, winning the “wife’s weight” in beer, and a sauna.

Using the “Estonian Carry,” where the woman clamps her thighs to the sides of the man’s face while hanging upside down on his back, Madis Uusorg carried Inga Klauso 830 feet through a pool and over hurdles in just over a minute.

The race has its roots in local legend, according to which it was common in the late 19th century to steal women from the neighboring villages. It is also based on the story of Ronkainen the Robber, who made aspiring gang members prove their worth by carrying sacks of rye along a challenging track.