The Sauna World Championships   ended in tragedy at the weekend when one of the two finalists collapsed and died. Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy, a Russian amateur wrestler in his 60s, suffered severe burns in the bizarre  annual event in the southern Finnish town of Heinola. He was pronounced dead late on Saturday after he collapsed alongside reigning   champion Timo Kaukonen of Finland roughly six minutes into the final round. The "sport" calls on participants to sit in a 230-degree (110 Celsius) room as water was tossed onto a _ stove, officials and witnesses said. Medical workers pulled both men out of the sauna in front of nearly 1,000 horrified spectators. Both were shaking and bleeding from what appeared to be severe burns, said Hakon Eikesdal, a photographer with the Norwegian daily Dagbladet. Kaukonen, about 40, was in hospital in stable condition Sunday, contest spokesman Ossi Arvela said. The event, which had over 130 participants from 15 countries, had been held since 1999. It will never be held again, Arvela said. A pint of water is added to the stove every 30 seconds and the last person to remain at the sauna is the winner. There was no prize other than "some small things" Arvela said. He declined to provide details. Arvela said Kaukonen -- the defending world champion -- had refused to leave the sauna despite getting sick. Sauna bathing is a popular past-time in Finland, which has an estimated 1.6 million saunas for a population of 5 million. Temperatures are normally kept around 158 to 176 degrees (70~80 degrees Celsius). "I know this is very hard to understand to people outside Finland who are not familiar with the sauna habit," Arvela said. "It is not so unusual to have 110 degrees in a sauna. A lot of competitors before have sat in higher temperatures than that." Arvela said all rules in Saturday's competition were followed and the temperatures and times were similar to those in previous years. What can we conclude from the situation after the tragedy?
There was no prize other than "some small things", which the world champion would refuse to accept. Ossi Arvela suggested there were great risks in the sauna contest and it never be held in the future. The contest would be continued in which the temperatures were kept around 158 to 176 degrees. It was unusual to have 110 degrees in a sauna and it was hard to understand to some people outside.