On the count of three: “Aussie Aussie Aussie!”. You know how to respond. The Associated Press reports this morning that we can proudly claim yet another world championship sporting crown, albeit one with a difference. Aussie lass Elaine Jung is this morning the world mobile phone throwing freestyle champion.
I’ve been more than a little tetchy at my phone on a number of occasions, and never once did it occur to me that I could turn that rage into the chance to be a world champion. Heck, I wasn’t even aware that there were world championship events for such things, although my general ignorance of most sports is rather well known. Wikipedia suggests that this isn’t the first time Australia’s been up to the winner’s podium, with Aussie Bec Hanson holding the women’s long distance chucking record back in 2006. If you are personally keen we’ve already covered an App that might help you train for such endeavours.
The championships took place in Savonlinna, Finland, and according to the report Jung took the gold in the Freestyle event, judged on style and aesthetics. If you were thinking of trying out for the long distance chuck, be warned; the men’s record this year was 76m, while the women’s record was 48m.
If the whole prospect of chucking phones has you scratching your head, YouTube has video of the competition from several years ago; I can only presume they’ve moved onto smartphones from the distinctly ancient tech on show here.
[AP via SMH]