Aapo "The Angus" Rautio, 25, from Oulu, was crowned the air guitar world champion on Saturday evening in his home city.

Rautio's victory means that the World Air Guitar title has now returned to the event’s host country, Finland, for the first time since 2000.

This year, the World Air Guitar Championships also attracted an exceptional amount of interest from foreign media, making headlines as far afield as Australia and the United States.

This is the local air guitarist's first championship win, but by no means his first time participating in the competition. Rautio first competed in the event when he was just 10 years old – that is, 15 years ago.

Yle interviewed Rautio when he participated in the games for the first time over a decade ago:

He won the world championship on his seventh attempt, after making it into the finals five times.

Rautio narrowly edged out Yuta "Sudo-chan" Sudo of Japan for the gold medal, with Apolline "Lady Attila" Andreys of France coming in third. This year’s other competitors came from the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Taiwan, New Zealand and the United States.

"I knew from the beginning of the week that I really didn't want to take the competition too seriously," he told Yle. "I really just wanted to have fun."

For him, the most important thing is not the contest itself, but the community that surrounds it.

"We have a global network that’s like a family to me. These people aren’t just friends to me, they’re my sisters and brothers. And this family grows every year," he said.