Sauna world championship

The Sauna World Championship ( Finnish saunomisen maailmanmestaruuskilpailut ) was an event held annually from 1999 to 2010 in the southern Finnish city of Heinola .

The competition had the character of a festival. The two-day competition in the Heinola Summer Theater, which was held in August, attracted around 2000 spectators annually. After the death of one of the finalists in the 2010 competition, the Heinola municipal council decided in April 2011 not to hold any further sauna world championships.

Set of rules and implementation

The last participation fee was 50 euros, and a medical certificate was also required. During the two days of the competition, the consumption of alcohol was strictly prohibited for the participants.

The competitors wore normal swimwear. The seats in the sauna were raffled. The sitting posture had to be upright, meaning that the elbows had to be above the knees and the upper arms had to be kept vertical. The participants were not allowed to disturb one another in any way. The competition management could punish the disregard of the rules with disqualification.

The temperature in the sauna was 110 ° C at the beginning. About half a liter of water was poured onto the stove every 30 seconds. This was done through a permanently installed shower head. The winner was the participant who was the last to leave the sauna without assistance.

There were usually several preliminary rounds. In the men's competition, there were preliminary rounds from the sixteenth finals to the semi-finals before the six finalists were determined due to a higher number of participants than in the women.

Belarusian Natalia Tryfanawa, a music teacher from Minsk , won the first title in 2003 that went to a non-Finnish person. After extremely long times of over 18 minutes were achieved at the 2008 World Cup, the sauna chambers were made smaller and more powerful ovens were installed.

At the 2010 World Cup, the finalists Vladimir Ladyschenski (Russia) and Timo Kaukonen (Finland) collapsed in the sauna. Ladyschenski, who was doped with a painkiller, died. Kaukonen had to be hospitalized with severe, permanent damage from burns. The organizers around Ossi Arvela then announced that they no longer wanted to hold a World Sauna Championship. However, shortly after the accident, a Finnish businessman declared that he wanted to continue the tournament. In April 2011, the Heinola municipal council decided not to hold any more sauna world championships, as the competition could no longer take place “in the same carefree spirit”.

Winners list

(Note: Due to rule changes, the winning times are not comparable with each other)

year	Men	time	Women	time
1999	Finland Ahti Merivirta		Finland Katri Kämäräinen
2000	Finland Leo Pusa		Finland Katri Kämäräinen
2001	Finland Leo Pusa	13:47 min	Finland Annikki Peltonen	9:19 min
2002	Finland Leo Pusa		Finland Annikki Peltonen
2003	Finland Timo Kaukonen		Belarus Natalia Tryfanawa
2004	Finland Leo Pusa	11:35 min	Belarus Natalia Tryfanawa	8:08 min
2005	Finland Timo Kaukonen	13:06 min	Belarus Natalia Tryfanawa	8:38 min
2006	Finland Timo Kaukonen	12:21 min	Finland Leila Kulin	13:38 min
2007	Finland Timo Kaukonen	12:26 min	Finland Leila Kulin	10:31 min
2008	Finland Bjarne Hermansson	18:15 min	Finland Leila Kulin	5:21 min
2009	Finland Timo Kaukonen	3:46 min	Russia Tatiana Archipenko	3:09 min
2010	Finland Ilkka Pöyhiä	4:15 min	Germany Michaela Butz	3:55 min