Tragedy Strikes Sauna World Championships

aapold writes "Tragedy has struck the Sauna World Championships in Finland, as Russian competitor Vladimir Ladyzhensky collapsed and died six minutes into the final, and reigning champ Timo Kaukonen was also hospitalized. The organizers said they used the same rules as in previous years, but also announced the event will never be held again. Rick Reilly of ESPN wrote an interesting piece on the Sauna World Championships last year, detailing his experience entering the competition and his encounter with Kaukonen, who described his training regimen of 20 sessions a day in saunas set to 284 (F) and drinking 10 liters of water a day for several days leading up to it."