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Mustache, beard enthusiasts compete for facial hair championship

ANTWERP, Belgium — Mustache and beard enthusiasts from around the world competed in Antwerp Saturday, in the World Beard and Mustache Championship, proudly displaying their sometimes extravagant facial hair style.

Hundreds of hairy men participated in the 2019 edition of the competition in categories such as "Imperial Mustache" and "Natural Full Beard More Than 11-and-a-half Inches."

Garey Faulkner from the United States won third place in the "Freestyle Full Beard" category.

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"I came all the way from America for this, for the World Beard and Mustache Championships. The freestyle category, which is usually the last, I think it's the hardest to win. I create something different every time I compete and never the same thing, so I try to use my comb-over beard and create something new that's never been done. You can see there are a couple circles I got up there, took a little bit of time. Yeah, I just like try to create something that's not really been done before," said Faulkner.

Meanwhile, second-place winner Anthony Cardy got lucky with a style he created last minute. "This inspiration? Honestly? I came here with a whole different theme in mind but I got told last night that I can't do it otherwise I'll be disqualified. So I just came up with this totally random this morning when I woke up. I was so sick this morning too and I got lucky really, I don't know. It's crazy," said Cardy.

The championship has been held every two years in a different country since 1995.

Beard and mustache enthusiasts will meet for the next competition in Auckland in New Zealand in 2021.