American triumphs in eating battle
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
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In a gut-busting showdown that combined drama, daring and indigestion, Joey Chestnut emerged Wednesday as the world's hot dog eating champion, knocking off six-time titlist Takeru Kobayashi in a rousing but repulsive triumph. Chestnut, the American hope in the annual Fourth of July competition, broke his own world record by swallowing 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes - a staggering one every 10.9 seconds before a screaming crowd in Coney Island. 'If I needed to eat another one right now, I could,' the 23-year-old Californian boasted after receiving the mustard yellow belt emblematic of hot dog eating supremacy.
Chestnut won against Kobayashi, the Japanese eating machine who recently had a wisdom tooth extracted and received chiropractic treatment due to a sore jaw. But Kobayashi, who won every Nathan's hot dog competition since 2001 showed no ill effects as he stayed with Chestnut frank-for-frank until the very end of the 12-minute competition. But once the contest ended, Kobayashi vomited, leading to a deduction from his final total. He finished with 63 hot dogs and buns eaten - still his best performance ever.
His previous high in the annual competition was 53½. The all-time record before Wednesday's remarkable contest was Chestnut's 59½, set just last month. Competitors receive credit for anything in their mouths at the 12-minute mark, provided they can swallow it. 'Obviously, the last bit exited his mouth quite dramatically,' said Rich Shea of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Kobayashi, through a translator, promised to return for the 2008 event. Chestnut's victory ended Japan's long dominance of the contest. The only previous non-Japanese winner since 1996 was New Jersey's Steve Keiner in 1999. Third place this year went to another American, Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago, with 49.
'This title's been held by Kobayashi for six years, so it's about time it came home,' said Chestnut, holding an American flag in his arms. I knew going into this contest that Kobayashi was going to give 100 percent.'
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Pointless world-records mixed with idiotic nationalism - brilliant!
