Corey Bellemore Defends Beer Mile World Title & Newcomer Melanie Pozdol Takes Women's Crown
The Beer Mile World Classic, the world’s premier drinking race, took place in Leuven, Belgium for the 8th annual edition on October 15, 2022. Athletes from 13+ countries competed for both individual and team world titles, making this the largest and arguably deepest world championship field ever assembled.
World record holders, Corey Bellemore (Canada) and Allison Grace Morgan (USA), both competed to defend their world titles. This was the first-ever world championship requiring all competitors to use cans instead of bottles to go back to the roots of the beer mile, which slowed times overall but made for extremely competitive, tight races.
On the women's side, we almost saw Elizabeth Laseter (USA) take down the world record of 6:16. She crossed the finish line in 6:15, but was ruled disqualified because she stepped out of the chug zone while guzzling her final beer. Laura Riches (UK) was the next finisher in 6:39, but had too much beer remaining in her cans so she too was also disqualified.
That resulted in the crown going to Melanie Pozdol (USA), finishing in 6:41. She was followed closely be teammate, Kassandra Marin (USA) in 6:45. The moral of the story: finish your beers! The US Women handily took the team crown, winning their 4th straight world team title. World record holder, Allison Grace Morgan, struggled from the gun with the cans and was ultimately disqualified for excess leftover beer after finishing in 6:49.
On the men's side, no one was shocked to see Corey Bellemore dominate the field yet again, this year setting a new beer mile world record with cans in a time of 4:49. Emil Granqvist of Sweden easily secured runner-up in a personal best time of 5:05.
With both the US men and Canadian men lacking full teams this year, the team title was up for grabs. The UK men took home the team title, ending a 5-year winning streak for the US men (2017 - 2021). The shock was not that the UK men won, per se, but how they pulled it off. All three of their team scorers had exceptional races in the 'B' and 'C' heats of the competition to place 4th, 5th and 10th overall. Quite the sneak attack.
Next year's Beer Mile World Classic is coming back to the United States for the first time since 2015. It will take place in Chicago on July 1, 2023 and the event will be back to using bottles, which means the men's 4:28 and women's 6:16 world record times will be under threat.
Outside Media Coverage
Food & Wine: A Switch to Cans Creates Chaos at the Beer Mile World Classic
Outside: American Women Dominate the 2022 World Beer Mile Title
Women's Running: American Women Dominate the 2022 World Beer Mile Title
Official Results
Results to be posted here after the event: 2022 Beer Mile World Classic results
Watch
Watch the men's and women's championship race videos below (also posted on the Beer Mile Media YouTube channel). The original live stream is also linked below, which also contains the Men's C Heat, Men's B Heat, and the 4 by Beer 400 country relay.
Men's Beer Mile World Championship Race
Women's Beer Mile World Championship Race
Photos
About the Beer Mile
The Beer Mile is equal parts gastric challenge and athletic endeavor, requiring competitors to drink a 355ml beer (5% minimum ABV) before every quarter mile of the race, totaling four beers over the one-mile course.
About the Beer Mile World Classic
The Beer Mile World Classic is the world’s premier drinking race. Since 2015, the BMWC has crowned the men’s and women’s world individual and team champions. Notably, BMWC hosted several world records, including Canadian Corey Bellemore’s current mark of 4:28.1 in 2021, and Allison Grace Morgan’s 6:16.5 at the 2020 BMWC. Envisioned as a team race, the National Teams compete for the Kingston Cup (Men) and Queens Cup (Women).