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In a competition where the goal is to do nothing but lie down for as
long as possible, one man emerged victorious after spending 60 hours
laying flat on the ground.
The village of Brezna, in Montenegro, recently held the 12th annual
edition of its “Lying Down Championship”, an unusual competition where
the end goal is to spend as much time lying down as possible. It sounds
easy enough, but as time passes by, your bones and muscles start to
ache, your limbs go numb, and you just feel the need to get up and
stretch. This year, the champion managed to lie down for about 60 hours.
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“It was not difficult. Believe me, I didn’t even warm up,” Žarko
Pejanović, known as “Knele” told reporters.
Pejanovic competed against nine other people, lying down on the ground
in a local park. Everyone was allowed to bring things like phones and
books to keep themselves occupied as they lay on the ground, but one by
one they started getting up, until only two people were left – Žarko
Pejanović from Zabjela and Vuk Koljenšić from Danilovgrad.
At one point, the two competitors started joking about splitting the
title of champion, but Pejanovic was determined to bring home the title
of 12th Lying Down Champion, and after about 60 hours, he remained the
last one lying down.
60 hours sounds like a long time, but you should know that a few years
back a new rule was implemented which allows competitors to visit the
toilet every eight hours. That definitely makes things a lot easier, and
was one of the key factors that allowed a woman named Dubravka Aksic to
set the world record by spending four days and 21 hours lying flat on
her back. Before the toilet break rule was adopted, the world record for
lying down continuously was 52 hours.
The Lying Down Championship was reportedly created by a man named Radoje
Blagojevic to poke fun at the stereotype that Montenegrins are lazy. For
winning this year’s edition, Žarko Pejanović takes home a cash prize of
350 euros ($350), a lunch for two at a restaurant, a weekend stay in the
‘Montenegro’ ethnic village, and a rafting experience. But most
importantly, he gets bragging rights for the rest of his life.
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Bizarrely enough, Montenegrin media recently reported that shortly after
being declared the winner of this unusual competition, Žarko Pejanović
was taken into custody by police for allegedly physically attacking
journalists and damaging the headquarters of a newspaper that called him
“the biggest swindler in all of Montenegro”. Now, what could that have
been about?
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