Newsmaker – American is Top Dog in Eating Contest

By Adam Goldman

NEW YORK – Joey Chestnut reclaimed the top spot at the annual hot- dog-eating contest in Coney Island on Friday after first tying arch rival Takeru Kobayashi in a 10-minute chow-down and then beating him in a five-dog eat-off.

The men tied at 59 hot dogs in 10minutes before gobbling another five in a tiebreaker.

“It was crazy,” said Chestnut, who said his body almost failed him. “It pushed back against me. I had to push harder. It just didn’t want to swallow.”

Kobayashi had hoped to reclaim the throne after a three-dog loss last year ended his six-year winning streak.

“He wanted it, but I needed it,” Chestnut said of his Japanese rival.

Chestnut emerged victorious for the second year in a row, beating 20 others who had 10 minutes to scarf down as many hot dogs as possible, two minutes less than in previous years. The regulation time was changed after research found that the original competition in 1916 was just 10 minutes long, instead of the 12 in more recent years.

Chestnut quickly pulled ahead, with cheeks puffed as he crammed hot dogs into his mouth. At one point, the 24-year-old Californian led Kobayashi 14-11. Kobayashi, who weighs 128 pounds, fell to third but ate his way back, and the two went dog-to-dog down the stretch. After a photo finish, the judges declared a tie.

As usual, Kobayashi’s strategy was to eat all the frankfurters first, then dunk the buns and eat them. A pause while swallowing the soggy buns meant defeat. He had handed an opening to Chestnut, who once ate 118 jalapeo poppers in 10 minutes and 7 1/2 pounds of chicken wings in 12 minutes.

“If I put one more mouthful in, I could’ve won (in regulation),” Kobayashi said through a translator.

Their competitors included a pizza cook from New York City, a fishmonger from Chicago and a 110-pound mother of two from Maryland.

Chestnut, who weighs 210 pounds, downplayed his win, which includes $10,000 and the mustard-yellow championship belt.

“It was crazy. I’m just a normal guy eating hot dogs on the Fourth,” he said. “You can’t overcomplicate it.”

Originally published by Adam Goldman Associated Press .

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