Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship: How far can you Throw?

I just missed it. I even did not know that it existed until this morning. Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship 2006 was held in Savonlinna of Finland yesterday. It was the 7th time that this event took place. Quite amazing! Of course, the people of Finland are always innovative by nature and Nokia hails from Finland too. So, it is natural that the Finns should arrange such an event. Nearly 100 participants from different countries participated in this year’s event. If you want to know more about the tournament then you can visit this website. You can also see some cool pictures there.

The story behind the competition is:

According to the insurance companies there are lots of phones laying in the thousands of lakes in Finland. Actually the phones return to the stores in exchange for new ones and then become a toxic waste. For example the battery is toxic and must be handled properly.But before mobile phones become toxic waste they can be recycled in sport activities ie. in Mobile Phone Throwing, the only sport where you can pay back all the frustrations and disappointments caused by these modern equipments.
There are officially two categories in the Mobile Phone Throwing. Traditional style ie. over the shoulder throw, where the length of the throw is crucial. In Freestyle the style is free and the contestant gets points for aesthetics and creative choreographics from 4 to 10. In both categories the contestant with the highest score wins.

So, the idea originates from caring for the environment. That is what, I love it more. This year, there were participants from Netherlands, Canada, Russia, Belgium and of course from the host country Finland. Finn participants performed the best. Lassi Etelätalo of Finland three a mobile phone 89 meter and won the championship. 89 meter! No doubt, he is a pro and he practiced for many days.

I wish that next year, I can be there to watch the tournament. I also feel that this event should be included in Olympics. There are more than 1 billion mobile phone in the world now. If throwing mobile phone is included it will attract many spectators.