芬蘭舉行背老婆世錦賽 上屆冠軍成功衛冕

Finland continued to reign in the world wife-carrying championships on Saturday as Taisto Miettinen sprinted fastest along 253-metres (832-feet) track, carrying Kristiina Haapanen upside-down on his back.

The couple, who also won the world championship title last year, finished the race in one minute and five seconds.

Estonia's Alar Voogle and Kristi Viltrop tripped in the water obstacle and were second some five seconds behind the winners.

Finns Ilpo Haalisto and Satu Juurinen got bronze.

The winning couple trained together throughout the year.

"Before I have been a lot of in a gym, but nowadays I have run a lot and that is the secret," Miettinen said after the race in hot and sunny conditions.

The race, held for the 15th time attracted 55 couples from 15 countries, including Australia, Ireland and Poland, to compete in the remote eastern Finnish village of Sonkajarvi, some 485 kilometers (302 miles) northeast of the capital Helsinki.

The wife-carrying competition has its roots in alegend of Ronkainen the Robber and his gang who lived in the forests and stole food and girls from villages.

一年一度的背老婆世界錦標賽於上週六舉行，芬蘭人在本屆比賽中再度奪冠。當天，一個名叫泰斯托•米耶蒂寧的男子倒扛着他的妻子克麗斯蒂娜•哈帕寧，以最快的速度跑完了253米（832英尺）的比賽全程。

這對上屆比賽的衛冕冠軍在本次比賽中用時1分零5秒完成了比賽。

來自愛沙尼亞的艾拉•弗苟和克麗斯提•維爾特洛普夫婦在水障礙區中絆倒，以5秒之差屈居第二。

芬蘭人伊爾坡•哈里斯託和薩圖•尤瑞寧獲得銅牌。

泰斯托•米耶蒂寧和克麗斯蒂娜•哈帕寧這一年來一直在一起訓練。

比賽當天豔陽高照，十分炎熱。米耶蒂寧在賽後說：“之前我常去健身房，但現在我經常跑步，這就是我獲勝的祕訣。”

背老婆世錦賽至今已舉辦第十五屆，此次比賽吸引了來自15個國家的55對夫婦參加，其中包括澳大利亞、愛爾蘭和波蘭。比賽在芬蘭東部偏僻的鬆卡耶爾維村莊舉行，該村莊位於首都赫爾辛基東北部約485公里（302英里）處。

背老婆比賽源於芬蘭的一個“強盜龍凱寧”傳說。龍凱寧和他的同夥們住在森林裏，從附近的村莊偷食物，搶姑娘。

Vocabulary:

trip: 絆倒

legend of Ronkainen the Robber: 傳說一位名叫龍卡伊寧的芬蘭強盜在鬆卡耶爾維一帶招兵買馬，聚嘯山林。爲了招到體格健壯的部下，他想出了一個獨特的招數：在一條道路上設置各種障礙，讓所有應徵者揹着一袋玉米或者一頭活豬越過障礙，合格者才能被留下。也有說法是這項賽事來自古老部落的一種“偷妻”風俗，當地男人如果要娶媳婦，先要以這種方式與其他男人比賽，以此證明他可以帶着妻子闖過難關。