World Beard & Moustache Championships 2009 has ended and winners are announced.
The United States is the world’s new facial hair super power, having captured twelve world championship titles out of eighteen categories plus overall at the World Beard and Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska on May 23, 2009. Possessing home field advantage, the USA was able to dethrone Germany which had dominated this competition since its inception.
Nearly 300 competitors from 15 separate countries competed. All of the winners received engraved Alaska gold pans as trophies. Germany came in second taking first-place honors in five categories. Other countries represented on the podium were England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and newcomer Canada.
14 Photos
photo 1, 2 & 3 by tricky ™
photos by wsogmm
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What a win for Travers! He is truly the king of beards. In one quote he said “Beating California’s golden boy was better than beating the Germans”. Apparently leading up
to the championship all attention was on Jack Passions and he had only to show up
to take the top trophy home according to btusa’s founder Phil Olsen. According to a blog bio Travers has won state four times and qualifying categories nine timesand was the first American to win world champion full beard natural and third over all in the world at the 2003 event in Carson City. I found nothing on Berlin, but he won 3rd place in full beard natural with styled mustache in Brighton , England. His boldest move would come in Anchorage, Alaska at the World Beard & Mustache Championships. What gamesmanship to keep the style a secret right up to the event is genius. Brilliant! Just think he did it again and was the first American to win world champion free style category as well as the honor of “Over All Champion” crushing the over champion from 2003 and Passions who placed a distant third over all for the over all title. I’m going to make plans to go to Norway. Sadly reports say that the champion has retired from competition but not without a parting shot at his rivals who wanted a chance to beat him “No one remembers who got there second, but they always remember who got there first” and in a documentary he blasted Passions for disrespecting the Germans whom Travers felt paved the way. Truly an event for the ages and from one news report the event paid out to charity over fifteen thousand dollars . Well done!