BY MEREDITH BLAIR
Singleton born Elliott Earnshaw and partner Adelaide Taylor have made Australia proud winning two gold medals at the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland last week.
Elliott and Adelaide were both the international sprint competition winners and team competition winners.
The pair were the 2023 Champions of the Australian Wife Carrying Titles hosted by Singleton Showground, which earned them a trip to Finland to represent the country against an international field.
“I’d always seen the wife carrying at the Singleton Show growing up and thought one day I’ll compete in that,” Elliott said.
“It looked like a lot of fun, so I asked Adelaide and thankfully she was instantly onboard with the idea.”
The pair have been together for a year and a half and were super excited to head to Finland, although they did have a few nerves before the competition.
“We were just stoked to be there,” Elliott said.
“It’s a really cool country and we had a hire car, to be able to drive around and see some sights over the four days we had before the competition, a big thanks to Hello World Travel and Chapmans Funerals for sponsoring the prize at the Australian Championships.
“There were a few nerves on the day, even though Sonkajarvi only has a population of 3,000, there was a large and vocal crowd and they take it pretty seriously, but we were there just to have a good time.”
Elliott admitted that the pair didn’t do much training except a couple of practice runs in the lead up, but joked he was well prepared for the component in the teams event where he had to scull a drink thanks to some practice at the pub.
“We were stoked with our results, we didn’t have any expectations going in so to come out with two gold medals and a fourth place at our first competition was awesome.”
Both Adelaide and Elliott returned home from Finland with some great memories and are excited to compete again in Singleton’s competition in September this year.
“The people really made the event, and we met so many great people, organisers, competitors and supporters who were very welcoming to us Australians and ensured we had a good time,” Elliott said.
“It’s such a great vibe at the Wife Carrying each year and we look forward to competing again.
“This year is the Singleton Show’s 150th anniversary so it would be awesome to have a large turnout for the wife carrying.”
