Finn takes gold at mobile phone throwing contest..
SAVONLINNA, Finland (Reuters) - Anyone wanting to throw away their mobile phone can do it in style and may even win a medal -- at the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship, Finland's latest contribution to offbeat athleticism.
Originally a local event in this small town close to the Russian border, the seventh annual contest on Saturday drew some 100 throwers from as far afield as Canada, Russia and Belgium.
The inventive Finns had already given the world the Sauna World Championships and the Wife Carrying Competition before coming up with a new way to make mobile phones even more mobile.
This year's gold medal went to Finland's Lassi Etelatalo, who flung a scrapped Nokia unit a forceful 89.00 metres. "I prepared by javelin throwing, I haven't really practised throwing mobile phones," Etelatalo told Reuters.
In the freestyle event, Dutchman Elie Rugthoven's phone landed outside the designated area, but he still won silver thanks to a phone juggling performance that impressed the judges. Lund says competitors all have their favorite throwing brand. "People choose by size, by color or by how it fits in the hand ... Some believe a heavy model will ensure a long throw, some want a light one."
For those who live on stats: the world record for a mobile-phone throw is 311.58 feet (or 94.97 meters) - better than the length of a football field - set by Finland's Mikko Lampi in last year's games. And if you missed the cable-TV coverage of last year's phone- throwing championship (we think that would be everyone, because we don't know when that broadcast happened), the organizers have a neat video of last year's action online.
Need I say more?
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