The World Conker Championships are facing controversy as the men’s winner, David Jakins, was found with a steel chestnut in his pocket, leading to cheating allegations. Despite winning the title for the first time after participating in the competition since 1977, Jakins denied using the metal conker during the tournament. Interestingly, Jakins was responsible for drilling and inserting strings into other competitors’ chestnuts as the top judge, known as the “King Conker”. The competition’s top spokesman mentioned that they are investigating the cheating claims, including suspicions of swapping the real conker for the metal one, and marking the strings of harder nuts. The event saw over 200 participants, with Kelci Banschbach becoming the first American to win the competition.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/oct/14/cheating-alleged-after-mens-world-conker-champion-found-with-steel-chestnut