TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Ever Want to Throw Away Your Mobile Phone?

Ever Want to Throw Away Your Mobile Phone?

Anna Ringstrom, Reuters (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:00:32 -0500

Finn takes gold at mobile phone throwing contest
By Anna Ringstrom

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, August 26, drew some
100 throwers from as far afield as Canada, Russia and Belgium.

Founder Christine Lund describes the event as a good source of light
exercise with an environmentally friendly twist. "There are a lot of
mobile phones on the second-hand market, and we are recycling them
(before they become toxic waste)," she said.

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."

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.

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