Call Him Mr. Potato Dead: Man Wins Dumpling-Eating Contest, Keels Over

Back in the early days of Gut Check, I was much more vocal in my dislike of eating contests and challenges. Old age -- and the fact that you, the readers whose clicks help pay my salary, seem to love the damn things -- has softened me somewhat.

Still, I serve the following news with a heaping side dish of Told You So.

Last weekend, a 77-year-old man in the Ukraine won a dumpling-eating contest, consuming ten in 30 seconds -- and then promptly dropped dead.

The winner, Ivan Mendel, had just won his prize, a one-litre jar of sour cream, when he began to feel ill.

"The old man got sick and fell to the ground," an unnamed witness told Interfax news agency. "The ambulance arrived when he was already dead. The doctor said that he probably choked on vomit."

I know. I'm asking the same question that you are. "The prize was a jar of sour cream?"

Amazingly, our satellite package at Gut Check International Headquarters includes the Ukrainian channel that was broadcasting the dumpling-eating contest. Watch exclusive footage of the tragedy after the jump. (Warning: It's not for the faint of heart.)