SAVONLINNA, Finland Aug 18 (Reuters) – A Finnish teenager
won a mobile phone throwing contest on Saturday by hurling his
old Nokia phone 101.46 metres.
The annual contest is one of many offbeat events such as
wife-carrying that are held in the summer when normally reserved
Finns like to celebrate the warmer weather with silliness and
outdoor sport.
Ere Karjalainen, who beat around 50 contestants, including
some who had travelled from England and India, said he had
practiced only once and prepared mainly “by drinking”.
Not that the skills are totally comparable, but he bettered
the gold medal javelin throw at the London Olympics by nearly 17
metres.
Finland is home to Nokia and is one of the world’s most
mature mobile phone markets, with people paying for tram tickets
and parking spaces with their phones.
(Reporting by Attila Czer; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by
Alison Williams)
