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Man dies in final of sauna championships

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1 of 2. Russia's Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy (L) and Finland's Timo Kaukonen take part in the finals of the Sauna World Championships in Heinola August 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Sari Gustafsson/Lehtikuva

HELSINKI | Mon Aug 9, 2010 12:23pm EDT

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A Russian man died in the finals of the world sauna championships in Finland after spending some six minutes sweltering in temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius (230.00F), organizers said Sunday.

"After this incident we decided that this game is over and done," Saija Jappinen, cultural secretary at Heinola city told Reuters, announcing the end of the event.

The world sauna championships, where competitors try to outlast others in the heat and steam, have been held 12 times in Heinola, some 138 km (86 miles) northeast of Finland's capital Helsinki.

Dozens of competitors were whittled down to just two, but six minutes into the final judges noticed something was wrong with Russian champion Vladimir Lazyzhenskiy and dragged him and Finnish finalist Timo Kaukonen from the sauna.

Police are investigating the cause of Lazyzhenskiy's death.

Kaukonen was treated for burns in hospital.

(Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Oddly Enough
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Comments (5)
redbeard1983 wrote:
So..water boils at 100C..humans are 70-80 percent water..shouldn’t the competition have ended with a draw when it reached a lethal level?

Aug 09, 2010 1:12pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Bobo_9 wrote:
The contest sounds like Darwin’s theory of natural selection . . . anyone dumb enough to sit in a sauna that hot for that long maybe earned his fate for sure.

Aug 09, 2010 2:00pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
WKaraki wrote:
Who is dumb enough to do this!

Aug 09, 2010 4:58pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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