Harrison Walmsley-Bartlett, of Hastings, won the Dunedin heats of the New Zealand Chilli Eating Champs on Tuesday night.
After beating 16 other competitors at Re:Fuel Cafe and Bar, the 19-year-old vegan declined the milk on offer to temper the heat.
After winning the $180 prize purse, he forced himself to vomit to limit the impact on his body and drank iced teas to settle his stomach.
When he woke at his normal time yesterday, his body felt slightly ''taxed'', similar to a mild hangover.
He used chilli regularly in his diet but he had never ventured beyond the standard thai chilli sold in supermarkets.
The heat levels at the competition peaked when he ate a habanero chilli pepper in round three.
He started hiccuping and he had to work to ignore the impulse to vomit.
When he got down to the final five competitors, the chilli consumption began affecting his motor skills, making it more difficult to speak.
''Everything started to get a little bit brighter.''
He used the ''rush of endorphins'' to showboat to the crowd, including taking off clothing and snapping selfies while ''riding the wave'' of crowd support.
''I was trying to do anything to distract myself.''
The biggest motivation for the win was beating Dunedin Hospital doctor Venod Skantha, who had been trash-talking to competitors and the audience during the contest.
''He was trying to get in everyone's head.''
After the win, Mr Walmsley-Bartlett was invited to enter the national final at the New Zealand Hot Sauce Festival in Auckland on May 20.
His academic workload for becoming an accountant would dictate if he would attend.
Mr Walmsley-Bartlett had never entered a chilli eating contest before and did no preparation on the competition day, which he spent working on a construction site.
''It didn't occur to me I should have eaten something to pad my stomach a bit. I went in blind but it turned out all right.''
