In 2009, Timo Kaukonen won the men's event taking 110 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit) for 3 minutes 46 seconds, beating Ilkka Poeyhiae by two seconds.
The women's event was won by Russia's Tatyana Arkhipenko who stayed in the heat for 3 minutes and 9 seconds.
Congratulations to the winners and all competitors!

In 2008, 160 men and women from 23 countries participated in the 10th annual sauna championships in Finland. When the heat abated, the results were... Bjarne Hermansson of Finland won after 18:15 blazingly hot minutes, and Kulin sweated her way to the Women's title, once again.

In 2007, it was won by Timo Kaukonen of Lahti with a time of 12:21. The women's champ, Leila Kulin of Helsinki, won with an even more impressive 13:38!

The contest? The Sauna World Championships. Correctly pronounced sow-na, competitive sauna bathing originated in Heinola, Finland. This contest of stamina and total heat tolerance started back in 1999. Some local guys challenged one another to see how long they could stand the heat. Before you could say Ei Kiitos! (or no thanks) a contest was born. It is a test of Finnish strength and endurance, known as Sisu or foritude.

In 2008

One August day there I sat in Heinola at the championships, known locally as, at the Loyly-MM. I had a Koff beer and a cynical attitude. C'mon I said to myself – 10 € to watch people sweat? Please. Then the women's semi-finals started, and within moments, the contest was powerfully riveting. I was so involved, tears came to my eyes. The women's determination to endure the intense heat was evident as they sat in 110°C sauna, with 1 liter of water poured onto hot rocks every 30 seconds (to make the sauna hotter).

The Sisu was profound; those ladies did not want to give in, as they grimaced and sweated. Some even cried. Many competitors emerged from the competition’s sauna box with (ouch) first degree burns on their bodies.

From 90 competitors representing 15 countries, the finalists entered the Saunas as we in the audience chanted in Finnish: Suomi! Suomi! (Finland! Finland!). It was sunny and warm that day – simply awful weather for sitting in a hot box that was 225°F. But the event was fast, just a tough few minutes of terrible heat.

According to Lahti local, Leea Airaksinen, a normal sauna is 80ºC. She told me that for Finns, the Sauna is a holy place. Bathtubs were unknown in ancient Finland, so people bathed in the sauna once a week in the old days. They would sit, sweat, and then roll in the snow to clean themeselves. She continued, Even babies have been born in the sauna, like my 75 year-old father. The sauna was the only warm place for the women to give birth.

Ms. Airaksinen has a sauna in her home and on cold winter nights, everyone (kids too) has a sauna before bed. She claims that it is the best way to relaxation. In fact, at hotels most saunas are fired up at 7 pm, never earlier. Many start their saunas as late as 11 pm.

We watched the action on the big screen mounted around the outdoor amphitheatre, the video cameras focused on the athletes in the sauna boxes. Those people did not sweat; they melted. Doctors were at the ready to help the weak, as judges monitored the competitors for the breaking of the rules. Flags from Finland, Belarus, England, Germany waved madly. The crowd cheered.

Finally, the men's and women's champion sauna bathers were announced. For 2007 year's contest, both were Finnish! How appropriate that Finns would win a competition of an activity that is pure Suomi: toasting and melting as their ancestors before them. How exciting and bizarre – and perfect for the Ocho!

2008 Update