Events

Laseter Wins the Closest Race in Beer Mile World Classic History and Bellemore Claims His Eighth World Title

Three women under six minutes in one race, a 1.8-second spread across the podium, and a sixth straight crown for Corey Bellemore headline the 12th Beer Mile World Classic in Cologne, Germany.

Tinny

Sep 26, 2026 • 6 min read

Team USA Men and Women After Winning Both Team Titles at the Beer Mile World Classic 2026

The 12th edition of the Beer Mile World Classic came to Cologne, hosted by the German Beer Mile Team. It was Germany's second time hosting the Official World Championship of the Beer Mile, after Berlin in 2019, and Cologne delivered a night that will be hard to top.

Women's Championship: Laseter Wins by Eight-Tenths of a Second

We called it the fastest women's field ever assembled. It turned out to be the closest race the Beer Mile World Classic has ever seen.

For the first time, the three biggest names in women's beer miling met head to head: world record holder and US Olympian Shelby Houlihan, three-time defending champion Elizabeth Laseter, and 2022 world champion Melanie Pozdol, the fastest women's chugger on the planet. Going in, only two women in history had ever broken six minutes. By the end of the night, three had, in the same race.

Melanie Pozdol, Shelby Houlihan, and Elizabeth Laseter (from left to right) in the chug zone

As expected, Pozdol got a jump on the field with her unmatched chugging skills. The surprise, however, was that Pozdol held the lead with 150m to go. Despite superior running speed, Laseter and Houlihan could not overcome Pozdol drinking them under the table each lap in the chug zone. It took ferocious kicks the last lap to turn it into a 3-way sprint for the finish.

Laseter had just enough to hold off Houlihan in the final stretch, crossing in 5:56.10 to win her fourth straight world title and lower her own championship record.

Houlihan was eight-tenths of a second back in 5:56.90. She did it five days after racing at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, with barely enough time to unpack, let alone practice her chug.

Pozdol finished in 5:57.90, roughly ten seconds faster than her previous best. That makes her the third woman ever under six minutes and moves her to #3 on the all-time list.

Elizabeth Laseter Holds Off a Charging Shelby Houlihan and Melanie Pozdol Down the Homestretch

One second separated the top two. Less than two seconds covered the entire podium. After four beers and four laps, a single slow swallow would have changed the result.

Hometown favorite Anna Kamp was the top European in fourth (6:26.60), cheered on by a Cologne crowd that was very much hoping for German glory. Sweden's Frida Hellstadius (7:07.00) and Germany's Jenny Defontaine (7:23.90) rounded out the top six.

Men's Championship: Bellemore Makes It Eight

The men's race had one fewer plot twist. Corey Bellemore of Canada won his eighth world title and his sixth in a row, running 4:42.10 and finishing nearly 15 seconds clear of the field.

Bellemore entered this race fresh off of signing with athletic apparel brand Sprints, whose motto of "Funner Gear for Athletes" might be the most beer mile–appropriate mission statement in sports. Its sock and hat lineups literally include "Here For The Beers" gear.

No world record this time. Bellemore's 4:27 from Lisbon is safe for another year, and Josh Kerr can keep doing the math. But nobody else in the field came close. Bellemore has now spent the better part of a decade treating the World Classic like a victory lap with beer stops.

Corey Bellemore Chugs a Shoey After Winning His 8th World Title

Canadian teammate Maxime Lapierre made it a Canadian 1-2 punch in 4:57.00. Americans Hayden Bunnell (4:58.20) and Joe Kehoe (5:00.40) both ran PRs in third and fourth. Kehoe missed the five-minute barrier by four-tenths of a second, a margin that will probably keep him up at night.

Sweden's Emil Granqvist, the Swedish record holder, led a strong Swedish contingent in fifth (5:02.90), with Jonas Andersson sixth (5:07.50) and Markus Liwing eighth (5:12.70).

Team Titles: USA Takes Back the Kingston Cup

The men's team race came down to just a couple of points, and Team USA came out on top to reclaim the Kingston Cup from Canada. It is the Americans' eighth Kingston Cup and their first without #2 all-time performer Chris Robertson in the lineup. Bunnell, Kehoe and Michael Cunningham (ninth, 5:15.70) scored for the US.

Sweden took second, crushing their hopes and dreams of a first world team title for at least one more year. The Swedes brought depth, volume, matching yellow singlets, and a post-race party no one remembers. Defending champion Canada, missing Jeff Mountjoy from last year's winning squad, finished third despite going 1-2 at the front.

On the women's side, the American sweep of the podium left no doubt about the Queen's Cup. After holding off Germany on an aggregate-time tiebreaker in Lisbon, the US women made this one a formality.

Houlihan, Laseter and Pozdol Bring Home the Team Title for Team USA

Beyond the Podium

A new Swiss record. Switzerland's Pascal Schneider ran 5:07.80 for seventh, the fastest beer mile ever by a Swiss athlete.
The B heat was no joke. Belgium's Neel Corstjens won the heat in 5:18.20, which would have placed him 10th in the championship heat. Brendan Bena (USA, 5:18.50) and Cedrik Rund (Germany, 5:19.50) followed him in with PRs.
The C heat went to Belgium too. Pieter Berben won the third heat in 5:37.30.
The beer mile giveth, the beer mile taketh away. Sweden's Stella Holmboe and USA's William Purifoy were disqualified for chundering. It happens to the best of us, and the rules are the rules.