'Captain America' Wins Worldwide Rock Paper Scissors Competition

Tim Conrad chugged a beer. He strutted in his Captain America muscle suit, and he worked the crowd into a frenzy before he hunkered down and focused in on his final opponent, who happened to be his best friend, Tom Buskin.

Tensions were high at the eighth annual Yahoo! Rock Paper Scissors World Championship in Toronto Saturday, and all eyes were on Conrad and Buskin as they leaned in for the final set of the competition.

Conrad developed a 3-1 lead over Buskin, but clearly these opponents were evenly matched. In a nail-biting finish, Conrad only needed one final strategic throw for victory. They leaned in. They shook their fists three times, and ... both threw paper. They repeated the exercise ... and both threw paper again. But finally, Captain America prevailed, throwing paper again as his opponent threw rock. Victory was his! (Watch a video of the final round below.)

"I am a Michigan man who won it for the nation; I brought it home," Conrad told the Detroit Free Press two days after his win while still wearing his gold medal around his neck.

Conrad, a 22-year-old employee of the Aeropostale at his local mall, bested 512 competitors who flew in from all over the world, including Australia, China and Mexico, and in the end squared off against his best bud, one of five teammates who participated in the competition from his hometown. For his win, Conrad received that nifty medal, a trophy, $7,000 and the endless envy of his friends.

"I went there not so much with a strategy, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to let anyone get into my head," Conrad said.

It's unclear whether the Captain America suit gave his some extra superpowers, but Conrad is the undisputed Rock Paper Scissors champion of the world. Until next year, anyway.

Photo courtesy of dafeba via stock.xchang.