What greater way to show pride for your home country known for overconsumption than to beat out a rival country in a contest rooted in the love of overconsumption?
After winning the competition six times in a row, Takeru Kobayashi saw his reign as champion go down, or in his case, up, as he was defeated by American Joey Chestnut in Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition on Independence Day.
Held annually in Coney Island each year, the competition pits contestants from all over the world in a battle of who can eat the most fusion of leftover beef and pork parts wrapped in a bun in a single setting.
Chestnut, who turned out to be America's great digestive hope, broke his own world record by eating 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. The AP reports that Chestnut inhaled a hot dog once every 10.9 seconds before a screaming crowd. I'm not surprised at the crowd's enthusiasm given this is a country that consumes fried oreos, fried pizza, and probably a fried roadkill sandwich if it came as a combo at a drive-thru.
“If I needed to eat another one right now, I could,” the 23-year-old Californian said after receiving the mustard yellow belt emblematic of hot dog eating supremacy.
As for yesteryear's champion, it should be noted that despite throwing up some of the mystery meat, which lowered his score and handed the win to Chestnut, Kobayashi - known as the Japanese eating machine - fought until the very end despite recently having a wisdom tooth pulled. He also received chiropractic treatment due to a sore jaw.
