International Federation of Competitive Eating

I swore I wasn't going to blog about this, but I can't help it. Last night, after having stuffed myself twice on pork tenderloin, grilled corn, potato salad, BBQ bread, and yellow cake with chocolate icing and homemade ice cream, Tricia's dad, Richard, and I were watching various baseball games and came across the event we had all missed earlier in the day: Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

For those of you who are unaware (which I am sure is nobody the way Sportscenter has milked this for all it is worth), every year on July 4th since 1916 (save 1941 when it was "canceled to protest the war in Europe" and 1971 when it was canceled as o "a protest to civil unrest and the reign of free love"--yes, this parenthetical statement deserves it's own paragraph, but like our competitors, I choose to remain focused), Coney Island is home to the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. What I like to call "the fastest twelve minutes on television" is a hot dog eating contest, where contestants see how many hot dogs and corresponding buns they can eat over a twelve minutes period, with no mustard or ketchup in sight (for those of you who like relish: gross). For many years, the contest was somewhat of a local fascination, but steadily went international. In 1999, American Steve Keiner won the title over Hirofumi Nakajima, taking home the coveted Mustard Belt through tears of joy. The next year, Kazutoyo Arai ate 25 1/8 hot dogs taking the belt back to Japan and out of American hands since.

The world record for hot dogs and buns (henceforth, HDB), had hovered around 20 or so for years. Then, a visitor from the East emerged. Takeru Kobayashi arrived at the contest and demolished the competition, nearly doubling the world record from the previous year by putting down 50 HDB. The next year, he put up similar numbers, with no challenge. America had not seen such dominance since 1920, when Babe Ruth hit 52 homeruns, more than any other team total in the American League, except, of course, his own. In all, Kobayashi won 6 straight Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contests, with no real challenge except for a young, Civil Engineering student from San Jose, CA--Joey Chestnut.

Last year, Chestnut started out well, putting down 15 HDB over the first three minutes, but the dreaded "six minute wall" hit, and Chestnut slowed down, finishing one HDB behind Kobayashi, 53.5 (a new world record) to 52.



Chestnut continued his training, ignoring the praise of announcers calling him the "great American eater of all time". He continued to work for the ultimate prize: the Mustard Belt. In May 2007, Chestnut broke Kobayashi's world record of 53.5 with a new WR of 59.5 at a mall in Arizona, earning his a $250 mall gift card. With a new world record, Chestnut was to face his Far East rival.

But wait, there was hitch in the competition. Kobayashi, through his many campaigns and battles through competitive food eating was suffering from what could be a career-ending injury: an arthritic jaw. Enthusiasts were skeptical whether it was true ("My jaw refused to fight anymore") or whether it was psychological warfare on Chestnut.

Despite the injury, Kobayashi elected to play through the pain, and showed up to defend his title. Chestnut was waiting, along with many other great professional eaters, including Arturo Rios (the pig's feet eating champ) and Sonya Thomas (who ate 10% of her body weight in cheesecake). Through a grueling twelve minutes, Chestnut came out ahead, setting a new record of 66 HDB (the first half of the contest can be seen here).



My favorite line is when Orel Hershiser, a great baseball player and competitor and not horrible baseball announcer, refers to Kobayashi throwing up as a "reversal". In the end, much like the 1980 Olympic hockey team, America triumphed and I, again, "believe in miracles". Thank you, Joey Chestnut, for being a great American! Enjoy your prize of "$1000 dollars and worldwide celebrity and fame."

(And don't even get me started on this website, which included eater profiles, records, and rankings.)