Finland takes gold at phone throwing contest

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

The inventive Finns - the same bunch to give the world the Sauna World Championships and the Wife Carrying Championships, now bring us a way to "get fit" while making our mobile phones even more mobile.

The Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships -- originally a local event in Savonlinna, Finland, is now in its seventh year, and boasts more than 100 competitors from as far away as Russia, Belguim, and Canada.

Founder Christine Lund describes the event as "A good source of light exercise with an environmentally friendly twist. "There are a lot of mobile phones on the second-hand market, and we are recycling them (before they become toxic waste)," she said.

Lassi Etelatalo of Finland took home the gold medal this year, throwing a Nokia phone a whopping 89 metres. "I prepared by javelin throwing, I haven't really practiced throwing mobile phones" Etelatalo said. In the freestyle event, Elie Rugthoven of Netherlands won the silver thanks to a phone juggling performance that impressed the judges, even though his phone throw landed outside the designated area.

"Competitors all have their favorite throwing brand." Lund says. "People choose by size, color, or by how it fits in their hand ... Some think a heavy phone will ensure a long throw, while some want a lighter phone."