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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Josh Luckhurst

'Lying down' competition champion brags he 'didn't even warm up' to relax for 60 hours

The winner of the unusual lying down competition held annually in Montenegro has claimed he "didn't even warm up" after claiming the title.

Zarko Pejanovic became the 12th champion of the bizarre competition which is traditionally hosted in an ethnic village "Montenegro" in Brezna, outside of the country's second-largest city of Niksic.

The Podgorica native outlasted his rivals after remaining horizontal for an impressive 60 hours.

Speaking to local news outlet Glas Zabiela about his recent victory, Pejanovic said: "It wasn't difficult, believe me, I didn't even warm up.

"When company comes to support the competitors, it's fun, but the biggest mistake is when someone's family comes.

Zarko spent 60 hours of lying down to win the event (slobodenpecat.mk)

"When someone's family members come, it's hard not to get up."

Nine competitors started the competition but seven had dropped out by the end of day one, leaving Pejanovic and Vuk Koljensic battling it out for the prestigious title of the "biggest sloth".

The two could not be separated as the event entered its third day but it was the former who held out for victory.

The competition was set up to poke fun at the stereotype that Montenegrins are lazy, with Pejanovic claiming 350 euros (£295.80) for his troubles of remaining on the ground for hours on end.

He also won a rafting experience, lunch for two in a restaurant in his home city of Podgorica, a weekend stay in the village where the competition was held and many more prizes from the event's sponsors.

'It wasn't difficult, believe me, I didn't even warm up' (slobodenpecat.mk)

Despite his lengthy horizontal stay, Pejanovic's attempt came some way short of the record set in 2021. Dubravka Aksic smashed the previous record as she laid down for 117 hours - a total of four days and 21 hours. Her monstrous effort was helped by a rule change which meant toilet breaks were allowed after eight hours, compared to before where there was no such thing.

Speaking to the Montenegro's public broadcasting service RTCG about the record-breaking feat in 2021, event organiser Radoje Blagojevic said: "They are allowed to go to the toilet after eight hours, so maybe it was easier to break the record set two years ago, which was 52 hours continuous lying down.

"They weren’t allowed to go to the toilet. I couldn’t have managed that, so all credits go to them."

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