Competition |
Years Held |
Moderator |
Objective |
Champion in 2010 |
Prizes |
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest |
1916–present (except 1941 & 1971), Coney Island, NY |
IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating) |
Eat as many hot dogs as possible in 10 minutes (until 2008, 12 minutes) |
Joey Chestnut, 68 hot dogs (world record), 2009 |
Trophy, Nathan’s championship mustard belt, $20,000 |
World Beard and Moustache Championships |
1990, 1995–present (biennially), locations various |
Past hosts include Swedish Moustache Club and Handlebar Club of London |
Win in categories such as Dalí Moustache or Full-beard Freestyle |
David Traver, Beard Team USA, for his snowshoe-shaped full beard, 2009 |
Engraved commemorative gold pan, $1,000 |
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament |
1978–2007, Stamford, CT; 2008–15, Brooklyn, NY; 2015–present, Stamford, CT |
Will Shortz, New York Times crossword-puzzle editor |
Be fastest of three finalists in sudden-death match |
Dan Feyer, 2010 |
$5,000 |
Donkey Kong Record |
Ongoing contest, no official tournament (game created 1981) |
Twin Galaxies website, the Official Electronic Scoreboard |
High score in classic arcade game |
Hank S. Chien, plastic surgeon, 1,061,700 points, 2010 |
Internet glory |
Air Guitar World Championships |
1996–present, Oulu, Finland |
Oulu Music and Video Festival |
Astound judges with two 60-second performances |
Sylvain “Günther Love” Quimene, 2009 |
Handmade Flying Finn electric guitar, Golla backpack |
Rock Paper Scissors World Championship |
2002–9, Toronto |
World RPS Society, formally known as Paper Scissors Stone Club (founded 1842) |
Win the “dance of hands” by throwing the most winning hand signals |
Tim Conrad, 4 throws Rock, 4 throws Paper in final bout, 2009 |
$7,000, first; $1,500, second; $500, third |