Recovering alcoholic won stein holding contest

A man from Taranaki, New Zealand, who won a beer stein holding competition is used to holding alcohol at arm's length as he's a recovering alcoholic. Adam Hope hasn't drunk a beer in 18 years and didn't even realize he was headed for the competition before his win on Saturday night. He said a friend picked him up on and took him to Decanta Tapas Bar in New Plymouth where the competition was held.

"I thought 'well okay'," he said, and entered. He said holding the beer at the right height for seven minutes was far more difficult than ignoring any temptation to take a drink. "It was getting hard physically. It was quite a challenge," he said. Because he didn't know about the competition, Hope didn't have the chance to do any training for it, but said he'd had enough before he became sober.
"I think I did all my training for it two decades ago," he said. "Lots of training." He said the only rules for the competition were that entrant's arms had to be kept straight at the elbow and the beer had to be kept above shoulder height. He said he started out fine, but began to feel the strain towards the five minute mark. However his competitive nature saw him through to the win. "I hate losing," he said.

Hope won tickets to Mike's Oktoberfest, but said he would be giving them away to a family member of a friend. "When I heard what the prize was I thought that could be good to go to," he said. "But when I was waiting for the competition to start, I thought it could be a bit threatening. I would have got a bit brassed off at all the drunks." Instead of celebrating with a drink, Hope said he went home and watched a cop show. "It was really exciting," he said.