The latest cult hero in Australia showed that country the meaning of determination when he devoured nearly an entire watermelon, skin and all, while watching a cricket game at a Melbourne stadium.
Dubbed "Watermelon boy" by his fans, Mitchell Shibecki skyrocketed to Internet stardom after he was caught on the big screen at Saturday's Women's Big Bash cricket match eating a whole watermelon.
#WatermelonBoy spotted at #WBBL01! pic.twitter.com/qBDrMiambE— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) January 2, 2016
"I've never seen that before in my life," an announcer for TEN Sports said before the boy shook the fruit heartily at the camera when he realized all eyes were on him.
Soon after, the hashtag #WatermelonBoy started trending on Twitter in the country. People were freaking out--admirably--about the food feat, sending shoutouts to their newfound hero and Photoshopping him into memedom.
#watermelonboy you are an absolute inspiration mate.— Simon Masterton (@OiSimmo) January 2, 2016
Dad probably said, you can't have a pie and chips until you finish that whole watermelon. #WatermelonBoy— Reignman40au (@KJDaveE) January 2, 2016
Turnball considering a frontbench reshuffle to include #watermelonboy pic.twitter.com/cVET1zqbuI— Peter Higginbotham (@PeterHiggo) January 2, 2016
I'm sure #watermelonboy would be impressed with what I've just made for this afternoon's picnic. #shark pic.twitter.com/2INOUAXZ1P— Brianna Casey (@briannacasey1) January 3, 2016
That kid is an absolute champion! I want him to eat the whole thing! #watermelonboy #BBL05— Lisa Maurice (@leaseM_87) January 2, 2016
I have seen some weird things, but this just about tops it #watermelonboy #WBBL01 pic.twitter.com/5oDjkaQNBn— Shaun (@Shaun21873383) January 2, 2016
His father, a reporter for a Melbourne radio station, tweeted the final attempts at finishing the watermelon.
Here is the final effort from #watermelonboy @tensporttv @mcg @BBL pic.twitter.com/XQ2blGugTA— Tony Schibeci (@theschibecsta) January 2, 2016
Shibecki later admitted on The Today Show that his funky eating habit was a ploy to get noticed.
"I've seen people do weird stuff and they got on the big screen and I thought I might do it myself," he said.
Now that's a kid who knows how to make a name for himself.