World's Wackiest Competitions

From the Wife-Carrying Competition in Finland to the worldwide sport of extreme ironing, the spirit of competition is alive and well outside the world of the more … traditional … sports.

First introduced in Sonkajärvi, Finland, wife carrying is a sport in which male competitors race through obstacles while each carrying a female teammate -- not necessarily their wife. Different types of carrying are included in the competition: piggyback, fireman's carry, or Estonian-style (pictured here). Major wife-carrying competitions are held in Sonkajärvi (where the prize is the woman’s weight in beer), Hong Kong, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.