NEWSWEEK: You ate seven doughnuts in two minutes. How?

Andy Puefua: I’ve been training for a long time. I practiced with my cousins. I tried to beat nine. I didn’t beat nine.

What do you think held you back?

The politics.

The politics?

People were saying I couldn’t eat nine. They were just getting on me, saying I couldn’t do it. They wanted the guy representing their country to win.

How often did you practice?

Twice a week.

You would practice eating hot glazed doughnuts?

Usually we would practice on the chocolate ones. But they were too big. So we tried the glazed doughnuts. They were easier.

So how do you do it? How do you eat them that fast?

I just bite half of one doughnut and then drink water to swallow it. Not chew, just swallow it down, straight. You gotta use a lot of water.

What does a wet, glazed doughnut taste like?

Oh, it just tastes like a not-glazed doughnut. It’s good.

Do you consider yourself an athlete?

This is the first event I’ve won the gold medal in. Yeah, I guess I kind of feel like an athlete now.

A lot of athletes say that winning is mostly mental. Would you say that holds true with doughnut luging?

Oh, yeah.

Tell me about the mental strategizing.

Well, you gotta use your head. You gotta use a lot of water. Everybody was just chewing down on their doughnuts, not using enough water. So it’s harder to get the doughnut down. They were hardly taking any water. I figured maybe, if I took more water, it’d be easier to take the doughnuts down. I tried that and it worked.

Was there a moment when you said, ‘I can’t go on’?

No.

How many do you think you could have eaten if you had, say, four minutes?

In two minutes I did seven. Maybe around 16.

What held the record holder back?

I’m not sure why he couldn’t take down his nine doughnuts. I guess he was just scared of me. You shouldn’t take a Samoan down.

What possessed you to enter this contest?

I wanted to represent my country. Our country has never won any medal in any Olympic event. I guess this is the first Olympic event my country has won a medal in.

You’d be a national hero back in Samoa?

Yeah, I would.

Did the president call you?

Not yet. They announced it over the Samoan radio station. I’m pretty big now.

A lot of athletes, when they win, they thank God. Who did you thank?

God. I don’t think I would have gotten through that [without God]. I didn’t have the spirit. When I won the medal, I said, ‘Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to win this medal.’

The competition was held across the street from where Brigham Young lived. What do you think he would have thought of this?

He would have been proud of me.

Why? Because I had faith. I had faith that I’d win. He’d have given me a lot of credit for that.

NEWSWEEK: What went wrong this year?

Steve Neff, former champ: I got too overwhelmed by the pressure. This time I was trying to defend my record. And it was a little colder than last year.

So the doughnuts were colder this year?

Yes. It makes it more difficult to get them down. When they come right out of the fryers and off the machine that glazes them–oh! They slide down very quickly, very easily.

So it was just a bad day?

I didn’t want to make myself sick doing it. When I put down nine, I got a little sick. So, I thought, ‘You know, I’ll make sure I win this thing.’ And, going into my heat, nobody had gotten down more than five, so I felt pretty comfortable. Hit six. Kind of wanted to get the seventh one down, but didn’t want to push it too hard.

Did you see the Samoan coming?

I should have known he was there, but he kind of escaped my view.

He was a fierce competitor.

He was strong. He was very strong.

What does it take to be strong in doughnut luging?

Have no gag reflex. I got one but it’s not as developed as others, I think.

Andy practiced with his cousins. How did you train?

Unfortunately, I didn’t put in much training time. I’ve been known to eat plenty, and so I wasn’t too concerned about it.

Do you think you’ll regain the crown next year?

I’m looking forward to the chance to compete again.

How are you going to train differently to insure victory?

Think I’ll put down a couple dozen.

How do you train for something like this?

You take a doughnut and see how quickly you can put it down. You hit one and see if you can improve on your mark. Water’s a very important aspect of this. You have to have more water than doughnuts. I put down about 60 ounces of water to get down the doughnuts.

I asked Andy this, but I need a second opinion: What does a wet, glazed doughnut taste like?

By the time it gets to the back of the throat you can’t taste it.

Do you think there should be some sort of Olympic eating competition?

No. It’s something to do for fun, but I don’t think people should spend time trying to gorge themselves.