Finalist dies at World Sauna Championships

[Eldritch]

Sauna endurance finalist collapses and dies in 110C

A Russian finalist in the world sauna championships collapsed and died after withstanding a temperature of 110 degrees Celsius for six minutes.

Vladimir Ladyzhensky and Timo Kaukonen of Finland, the other finalist, were rushed to hospital after fainting when the competition was cut short and the sauna doors were opened.

Ossi Arvela, the head of the sauna-sitting competition, said in a statement: "The Russian competitor has died in the sauna world championships.”

He added that Kaukonen had been taken from the competition site in Heinola, 86 miles north of Helsinki, to a hospital further south in the larger city of Lahti for treatment.

Kaukonen, last year’s winner, and Ladyzhensky were among the favourites to win the competition in which participants were asked to withstand a temperature 110 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit) for as long as possible.

The event “was halted immediately after the accident", he said, adding: "We are all deeply saddened by this tragic event."

Mr Arvela said police had launched an investigation and he insisted that “all the rules were followed” and that all contestants had undergone medical checks before the competition.

The contest was halted after about six minutes and when the doors were opened both finalists collapsed, according to STT, the Finnish news agency.

One witness said the finalists had both suffered serious burns, but Mr Arvela could not confirm the claim.

The championships have been held in Heinola since 1999, and this year’s event drew 135 contestants from 15 different countries.

Link. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7932694/Sauna-endurance-finalist-collapses-and-dies-in-110C.html)

"Serious burns" sounds about right:

http://wwwmedia.kaleva.fi/plus/img/mega/20100807/mega_100807j072105i.jpg

Just for the record I've thought this an idiotic event, and I'm glad it will most likely be discontinued. It's just a pity someone had to die for them to come to their senses.

[Bloodeagle]

Well it is apparent that the Russians can't hang with the Finns in the Sauna!

The Finnish competitor merely fainted from the heat.;)

Will this prompt the Finns to have special Russian only saunas with the heat turned down appropriately?

[nisse]

"Serious burns" sounds about right:

http://wwwmedia.kaleva.fi/plus/img/mega/20100807/mega_100807j072105i.jpg

:puke:

Clearly a mental health assessment is not part of the health checkup...no one in their right mind would willingly be steamed alive :ohwell:

[Aemma]

That's horrible. Why would such a contest even exist? And at such temps? The whole thing is quite ridiculous. Very sad indeed.

[Eldritch]

I've never understood the idea of this event anyway. It's like organising a contest on sunbathing, or sitting in a jacuzzi.

Timo Kaukonen, the other finalist, is a complete loonie who spend more time in saunas than outside them, btw.

[Ilya.S]

I think that saunas should be for pleasure, not for competition.

[Falkata]

Gross, I´ve watched it today in the news.In the picture the man seems to be cooked like a beef :puke:
I´ve never liked saunas btw. Maybe they weren´t made for the swarthies but after 2-3 minutes I start to feel bad, with problems to breath and an anxiety feeling. Imagine if you can´t open the damn heavy door!
They are not very popular around here anyway as you can imagine..I´ve just seem them in good hotels or expensive gyms. And also in Chueca , the gay neighbourhood of Madrid. But I dont have any intention to go there. :cry:

[Eldritch]

Two articles from Russia about the tragedy:

Here (http://kp.ua/daily/090810/238855/print/) Vladimir Ladyzhenski apparently boasts that he'll win even if it costs him his life. As we have seen unfortunately it did not happen that way -- although he did die trying.

This story (http://www.lifenews.ru/news/33911) comes with a short video of the event.

The heat that ultimately killed Ladyzhenski in seven minutes drove this competitor out in under a minute:
http://kuvat.uusisuomi.fi/sites/default/files/imagecache/suurennettu/kuvat/sauna2.JPG

[Agrippa]

Humans always made stupid things, yet that seems to be part of THAT competition.

In the past that was a heavy torture, now they do it at their own will, just to prove that they can stand it, even though it is absolutely clear that it ruins and mutilates the individual. Absurd.

[Moonbird]

Gross, I´ve watched it today in the news.In the picture the man seems to be cooked like a beef :puke:
I´ve never liked saunas btw. Maybe they weren´t made for the swarthies but after 2-3 minutes I start to feel bad, with problems to breath and an anxiety feeling. Imagine if you can´t open the damn heavy door!
They are not very popular around here anyway as you can imagine..I´ve just seem them in good hotels or expensive gyms. And also in Chueca , the gay neighbourhood of Madrid. But I dont have any intention to go there. :cry:

I don't get sick in saunas but I can't say I like them. Can't understand why people want to take part in this kind of competition but I guess tastes differ.

[SS-Nordland]

Sauna competitions have been held in Finland for ages, but maby that goes a bit too far. Still the main fault is on the russian guy who didn´t leave the sauna in time. If you don´t recognize your limits, then almost everything can kill you.
The heat increases pretty fast and gets very high, but the competitors can get out exactly when they want to so its on their own responsibility if something happens.

[Agrippa]

this kind of competition

Morons try to compete in everything in which they think they are good at these days...

[The Ripper]

Dayyuuumm. Russkiboy couldn't take the heat!

This is great P.R. for Finland. Sauna competition is won by Finn, second place goes to Russian, who dies in the process. Its worth gold, I tell you.

Why aren't the nation branders interested?

[Eldritch]

Why aren't the nation branders interested?

They're probably waiting for someone (preferably a foreigner) to be fished out of a lake inside a man-sized ice cube in the aftermath of an ice-swimming contest, and for some poor woman to break her neck as her husband drops her during a wife-carrying competition.

And I await the day Germans and Brits discover beer floating with horror. :eek:

[ikki]

Sauna competitions have been held in Finland for ages, but maby that goes a bit too far. Still the main fault is on the russian guy who didn´t leave the sauna in time. If you don´t recognize your limits, then almost everything can kill you.
The heat increases pretty fast and gets very high, but the competitors can get out exactly when they want to so its on their own responsibility if something happens.

he was evidently all drugged up on pain medication.. wouldnt have noticed it if you nailed his foot to the ground,, only by noise and by finding it difficult to move that foot..

and as people that feel no pain die at age 20 on average.. just because they get so many injures they dont react to, so too did this russian go beyond whole body burns, and didnt react.

[Aemma]

They're probably waiting for someone (preferably a foreigner) to be fished out of a lake inside a man-sized ice cube in the aftermath of an ice-swimming contest, and for some poor woman to break her neck as her husband drops her during a wife-carrying competition.

And I await the day Germans and Brits discover beer floating with horror. :eek:

Vaz is dis beer floating of which you speak? :confused:

Heh, well you do know that the Brits have the rolling of the cheese, eh? Ok, not as macho as the running of the bulls but wha'd'ya want? :D

[Eldritch]

Vaz is dis beer floating of which you speak? :confused:

Well, you climb in a cheap inflatable boat, and instead of rowing or paddling, you just float down the river, drinking beer in your boat. No life vest, obviously, because of course nothing bad could possibly happen to you.

It takes an entire day, and by the end people are so shitfaced they can barely get out of their boats and back on dry land.

The events have been held since 2005 and seriously, it's miracle that no-one's drowned yet. They would ban this in an instant, except for that these events don't have "official" organisers and therefore it's sort of hard to ban them.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs134.ash2/40056_426441667161_548112161_4747128_1056165_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs227.snc4/38673_426441677161_548112161_4747129_5978614_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs132.ash2/39923_426441642161_548112161_4747126_1214356_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs225.snc4/38601_418098609885_659724885_4455685_5111440_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs283.snc4/40504_1473676516590_1073992163_31388441_743906_n.j pg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs225.snc4/38601_418098599885_659724885_4455683_3478459_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs595.snc3/31346_396564574759_599109759_4345618_3545604_n.jpg

As for the Germans, well, they're wonderful people and I love them to pieces (I can be sarcastic now and then, but I absolutely am not sarcastic here), but they have two qualities which can be deadly in combination:

1. an interest in trying out exotic fun activities in foreign countries, and,

2. a not-always but all too often misplaced sense of superiority and invulnerability, that they always know everything better than others and that nothing bad can happen to them because they're always in control.


Heh, well you do know that the Brits have the rolling of the cheese, eh? Ok, not as macho as the running of the bulls but wha'd'ya want? :D

And those Aussie daredevils have breakneck excitement in the form of Trugo! :eek:

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/07/27/n-trugo,0.jpg

http://www.extremecroquet.org/images/trugo1.jpg

:thumb001:

[Cato]

Severe burns, doubtful, severe scalding, yes. I've had 2nd degree sunburn before, never steamburn. The poor guy's innards were probably cooked and shut down vital functions. The epidermis is actually pretty heat-efficient, being able to sweat and whatnot, assuming it doesn't get cooked... But, even the outer layers of skin can't prevent the innards from getting steamed if the heat's too high. :eek:

[nisse]

The epidermis is actually pretty heat-efficient, being able to sweat and whatnot, assuming it doesn't get cooked... But, even the outer layers of skin can't prevent the innards from getting steamed if the heat's too high. :eek:

Well...sweating relies on the fact that you cool when the liquid evaporates - that doesn't happen so much when the air is already saturated with 100+C steam :ohwell:

His innards wouldn't have cooked (no way you can steam cook a whole person in 6mins). The issue was likely that all the chemicals released by dying skin cells placed the whole body in shock/overload.

[Eldritch]

http://crap.fi/images/archive/7367.jpg

[Bloodeagle]

http://kuvat.uusisuomi.fi/sites/default/files/imagecache/suurennettu/kuvat/sauna2.JPG

This looks like me after spending the day in the sun trying to get that M3 tan that I have been bragging about! :)

[Lithium]

What a ridiculous way to die...

[Loki]

Very sad indeed. But, he did die trying so will be remembered for his bravery. Not many humans would even dare to go into such a hot sauna. So yeah ... let's jump into a pot of boiling water and see who survives the longest. :rolleyes2:

I personally do like saunas a lot ... but more so steam rooms. It seems quite healthy for detox purposes. But as with everything else, moderation is the key.

[ikki]

Very sad indeed. But, he did die trying so will be remembered for his bravery. Not many humans would even dare to go into such a hot sauna. So yeah ... let's jump into a pot of boiling water and see who survives the longest. :rolleyes2:

I personally do like saunas a lot ... but more so steam rooms. It seems quite healthy for detox purposes. But as with everything else, moderation is the key.

110C hot?

tss.. starting from age 6 or so kids here go to 120C :p
before that kept sitting on the lower bench

[Eldritch]

110C hot?

tss.. starting from age 6 or so kids here go to 120C :p
before that kept sitting on the lower bench

The problem (and almost certainly the cause of that man's death) was not the heat itself, but rather the humidity. A dry sauna at 110C doesnt seem that bad, actually (never been in one at 120), but six minutes at 110C in one where they pour half a liter of water on the stones every 30 sec ... the humidity must have been close to 100%. The man was boiled alive.

[Wölfin]

I enjoy saunas very much, but as much as I think this is sad, I also think it wasn't the smartest type of event to organize. As someone else said Saunas should be for relaxation, bonding and cleansing/detox (be it pores or simply getting rid of the toxins in your body).