A New Dynasty In The Making? Lithuanian Couple Win Back-To-Back World Wife-Carrying Championship
Reuters – A Lithuanian couple won the World Wife-Carrying Championship for a second time in a row in the Finnish town of Sonkajarvi on Saturday, triumphing in a contest where men complete an obstacle course with their wives slung over their shoulders.
Each year, the championship draws thousands of visitors to the town of only about 4,000 inhabitants in central Finland. Saturday’s competition was the 24th year it has been held. Having gained followers across the world, preliminary competitions were held in countries such as the United States, Australia, Poland and Britain, organizers said on their website.
Among the two dozen contesting couples, Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife Neringa Kirkliauskiene came out on top for a second straight year, completing a 253.5 meter (277 yards) obstacle course featuring a water trap in 1 minute and 6 seconds.
They say that with every death comes new life. I don’t know who “they” are but I just know that they say it. Anyhoo, when the Golden State Warriors lost the 2019 NBA Finals while simultaneously having all of their players pretty much die, it opened up some space in the world for a new sports dynasty to fill the void. The Warriors had won 3 NBA Championships in 4 years but their time had officially come to an end. So who was there to step up and become the next greatest dynasty in the world of sports?
The US Women’s National soccer team did a pretty good job with winning back-to-back World Cups. Joey Chestnut just won his 12th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in 13 years. But the true dynasty of all dynasties right now? Easy answer.
It’s Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife Neringa Kirkliauskiene from Lithuania, who have just won their 2nd straight World Wife-Carrying Championship and show no signs of slowing down now.
Just think about all of the incredible athletes who these two have had to go up against over the last couple of years. They were competing about the best the world has to offer and they kicked everybody’s ass for 2 straight years. They haven’t even hit their prime yet, which is the scary thought. Obviously things will start to get a little tougher for them now that they have the massive target on their back. But they still have at least 5 or 6 really strong years of wife-carrying ahead of them. If they can lock up another 3 or 4 world championships in that time? Well then I don’t even think there would a conversation about the GOAT anymore. Just an unbelievable accomplishment by these two and we are all so incredibly lucky to be living in the same time period as them.
