FINLAND: Competitors pitch, dunk and juggle to win a gold medal in the mobile phone throwing championships.

Contenders from eight different countries employ a variety of different styles in the mobile phone throwing world championships in Savonlinna, eastern Finland. Competitors from eight different countries took part in the mobile phone throwing world championships in Savonlinna, eastern Finland, on Saturday (August 25, 2007). Men, women and children competed in different heats; traditional style with traditional over the shoulder throwing, where the length of the throwing is crucial, and freestyle heats, where the performance, aesthetics and creative choreography all help influence the result. Martin Puehl from Germany, who finished outside of the podium, told Reuters Television why he was taking part in the competition. "I am just here for fun, having fun. I like the idea of the competition and it's just great fun..Olympic spirit." This year, Finnish competitor Tommi Huotari took gold in the traditional heat, with a throw of 89.62 metres in the distance event, a few metres short of the world record. "I am sure that everybody would like to throw his phone every once in a while so now I got to fulfill this dream and it felt nice," he said. To highlight the playful side of the competition, a freestyle event judged on aesthetics is included. The gold in this event was shared by Taco Cohen from the Netherlands and the youngest competitor Elina Pitkanen of Finland who is only 1 year and 11 months old. Cohen, who also celebrated his 19th birthday on Saturday and whose act included acrobatics and juggling. "For this event I have not really practised. I have just seen the Dutch championship and I was nearby so I enlisted," he said. "Because I won the Dutch championships, I was told to come here, and they flew me in," he explained further. Before taking the podium as the world champion in mobile phone throwing Tommi Huotari admitted: "Actually this was the first time..I have never tried before but it seems good so I will be here next year also."

ITN Source | September 3, 2007

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