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Man wins dumpling eating contest, then dies

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KIEV | Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:08am EDT

KIEV (Reuters) - A 77-year-old Ukrainian man won a jar full of sour cream for coming first in a dumpling eating contest and then promptly died, local media reported on Wednesday.

Ivan Mendel ate 10 dumplings in half a minute to win first place and a one-liter jar of sour cream in the contest held in the town of Tokmak in the southeastern Zaporizhya region on September 18, Fakty I Kommentarii newspaper said.

Shortly afterwards, Mendel became unwell and died, according to local news websites.

Dumplings, called "vareniki" in the former Soviet republic, are a staple of Ukrainian cuisine and are often stuffed with a range of fillings from mushrooms to cherries.

(Reporting By Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Paul Casciato)
Oddly Enough
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Comments (7)
AnotherNobody wrote:
I´ve never understood the purpose of these contests. Why would you eat until you reach the point of possible death?

Sep 21, 2011 12:10pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
sighthndman wrote:
What makes you think his death had anything to do with his eating? He was 77. Given that he was Ukrainian, there’s a possibility that he had liver damage, or other alcohol-related ill health. There was almost no information in the story other than the odd coincidence that he ate a lot and then died. (“Oddly enough”.) Related? How would we know, when any potential relevant information is hidden in the interest of increasing circulation?

Sep 21, 2011 7:11pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
McBob08 wrote:
What makes you think he had any liver or alcohol problems, just because he’s Ukraine? That’s pretty damn racist.

Sep 22, 2011 2:23am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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