A beer contest winner dies in Spain shortly after downing close to 13 pints of beer in 20 minutes, making a tragic addition to tales of inhuman feats in drinking.
The 45-year-old man, Joaquín Alcaraz Gracia , had defeated his opponents with the impressive but seemingly dangerous number of beers finished. But as he rose to lift his trophy into the air, the beer contest winner started to vomit and could not stop.
Witnesses held Gracia upright in his chair while they waited for medical personnel, but they said the large man started to lose consciousness .
“He vomited a lot but I sat with him for ten minutes, and he was sleeping and snoring away,” Murcia vice president Pedro Rodríguez told Spanish newspaper Hoy.
He was in cardiac arrest by the time paramedics finally arrived, and the beer contest winner died shortly afterward in a hospital.
The contest allowed participants to drink as many glasses as they could in a span of 20 minutes, but Gracia seemingly went too far.
“But it seems Joaquín’s body said enough was enough,” said witness Santiago García. “He started to vomit in his chair. I was one of the people who held him upright,” the man added.
The story of the beer contest winner who dies after downing nearly 13 pints joins the annals with other tales of drinking prowess. Another famous drinkier, wrestler Andre the Giant was legendary in his drinking abilities and even dubbed “The Greatest Drunk on Earth.” A story says he once drank 156 12-ounce beers in a single sitting.
Another story says Andre the Giant passed out after drinking more than 100 beers at a hotel bar. He was so large that the staff could not move him, and just had to wait for the giant man to wake up again.
Another famous athlete, former baseball player Wade Boggs, has his own tale of drinking prowess. Boggs was reportedly a fan of Miller Lites, and on a cross-country flight once put back 50 of the drinks (though stories have inflated it over time to more than 70).
There may not be any more tales from the Murcia drinking contest. After the beer contest winner dies, officials at the annual festival said they have suspended the drinking contest for future years.
