The World Burping Federation, who hosted its annual championships in New York City over the weekend - let contestants gulped down bottles of soda to prepare for the event.

According to their website, the World Burping Federation - with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, oversees duration and decibel belching competitions in all G-8 nations, as well as in Brazil, India, Spain, Singapore, Maldives, and the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands - believe:

Burping "is a fundamental part of the digestive process, and the near universal stigma surrounding it has planted the seeds of shame in countless number of people, contributing to a subtle, but significant, degradation of the human experience.

"By conducting a series of promotional belching competitions in nations throughout the world, the WBF hopes to usher in a new era when belching is accepted as it was in millennia past."

The WBF says it "promotes belching best practices and the pursuit of lifelong learning, while also seeking to remove the stigma that has become associated with belching in recent centuries."

Pizza chef Timothy Janus, a professional burper who says he downed 2 gallons of Diet Coke and Mountain Dew to achieve his epic release, proudly took home the big prize with a belch that lasted 18.1 seconds.

The championship was held at the Hudson Station Bar and Grill in midtown on Friday, reports the Gothamist. It was done in conjunction with the release of the Major League Eating: The Game app on iPhone and iPad.

"I was just trying to condense all the air in my stomach and bring it to the surface," the 165-pound Janus told DNAInfo. "You just have to force every last bit of air up. It's beautiful, really."

Janus, who normally wears a mask during competition, took home a plaque and a $500 prize - and of course has been immortalized on YouTube.

Here's the big burp for your viewing pleasure.