US man gets unforgettable win – in memory contest

NEW YORK – Talk about a memorable day.  On Saturday, mountaineer Nelson Dellis won the USA Memory Championship for the second year in a row.

The Florida man and mountaineering enthusiast outlasted seven other finalists, known in contest circles as mental athletes, at a packed event in New York.

Contestants’ hyper-fit brains performed serious gymnastics, including remembering 99 names and faces, a 50-line poem, and the order of a shuffled deck of cards.

Dellis, 27, turned in an unforgettable performance, even smashing his own record in the random numbers category, in which he managed to memorize an amazing 303 figures in five minutes.

The founder of the 15-year-old contest, former IBM executive Tony Dottino, said his goal was to show how brains can be trained and improved, just like any other part of the body.

“Exercising actually helps growing bigger brains,” he said. “We have more brain cells that grow through our life.”