They carry their wives, sit on ants, throw milking stools, boots and mobile phones, here in the home of weird¹ world championships, participants will do just about anything to win their offbeat² crowns.

Normally reserved Finns say there is no better way to celebrate the short summer months than with contests that add a jolt³ of adrenaline and silliness to bright summer nights. "Maybe we are a little bit crazy ... maybe we are just bored," said Toni Hautamakix, a sauna-championship spectator from Oulu.

With foreign visitors growing by about 6 percent in 2007 and many oddball competitions taking place in distant rural areas, Finland's funny business is also a spur for tourism.

Most of the 50 or so competitions that take place over the three summer months, many billed grandly as world championships, started at summer fairs or village affairs.

But today the top competitions can each attract about 10,000 people to the Nordic country annually⁴ to watch or join in, staggering across hurdles⁵ with their spouses⁶ clinging to their backs or diving headlong into ponds of mud after a soccer ball.

Some events are so popular, swamp soccer, wife-carrying and air guitar, they have prompted other nations to hold their own contests to select who will compete in Finland.

Portuguese⁷ Olympic cross-country skier⁸ Danny Silva said these events bring out the best in the usually sombre Finns, letting them goof⁹ off, dress up, and poke¹⁰ fun at themselves.

Silva, who was taking his first stab at swamp soccer in July, said it would have taken a great marketing¹¹ effort to make such a competition succeed in his hometown.

"Portuguese players like all the glamour¹², perfume, look all nice, and here people just get down and get dirty," he said. Many of the events allow top athletes to add extra oomph and fun to their workouts. They also let them show off their "sisu", the Finnish version of perseverance¹³ and guts¹⁴.

Finnish cross-country skiers use swamp soccer to train in the snowless summer months. Both work the same muscles, but slogging through a mud-soaked field adds an element of fun.

这里正举办各种怪异的世界锦标赛——背老婆、坐蚁穴、扔挤奶桶、扔靴子、掷手机，参赛选手们个个跃跃欲试，争当“搞怪”冠军。

在平日较为保守的芬兰人看来，没有什么方式比举办这些新奇有趣的比赛来欢度他们短暂的极昼夏日时光更为美妙了。来自奥卢市、观看桑拿浴大赛的托尼•豪塔迈科斯说：“可能我们有点疯狂，可能是我们厌倦了漫长的冬日。”

去年到芬兰旅游的外国游客数量增长了约6%，而且不少赛事在偏远的农村举行，所以芬兰的“搞怪业”同时也推动了当地旅游业的发展。

约50项赛事集中在夏季三个月举行，其中大多数比赛在夏游会或村游会上开幕。很多赛事还被宣传为“世界锦标赛”。

而如今，一项热门比赛每年能吸引约一万观众前来观看或参赛，你会看到参赛选手们背着老婆步履蹒跚地过关或者在泥沼足球赛中跳进泥沼池中奋力抢球。

泥沼足球、背老婆和空气吉他等一些比赛广受欢迎，因此这些项目的参赛选手们不得不先在各自的国家参加选拔赛。

葡萄牙奥运越野滑雪选手丹尼•席尔瓦说，这些新奇的比赛激发出了芬兰人的热情，这些长期笼罩在阴郁（冬日）里的人们打扮一新，自娱自乐，轻松愉快。

席尔瓦参加了7月举行的泥沼足球大赛，他说，如果要在葡萄牙成功推广这样的赛事，可得费一番工夫。

他说：“葡萄牙人讲究衣冠整齐，外表动人，而这里的人们却不怕摸爬滚打，弄脏衣服。”很多比赛允许选手们在比赛中加入“性感”和“趣味”的元素，同时还鼓励选手们比出自己的毅力和胆量（芬兰语：sisu）。

芬兰越野滑雪运动员在夏季主要借助泥沼足球来进行体格训练，这样不仅锻炼了肌肉，同时还收获了快乐。