Takeru Kobayashi continues to beef up his competitive eating record. Yesterday, the Japanese speed-eating demon defeated two-year reigning champion Joey Chestnut in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, TN. Before a live televised audience and a crowd of 10,000, Kobayashi crushed the competition by eating 93 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes over Chestnut's 81. In addition to reclaiming the title, which he's taken four out of six years, the Japanese victor also won $20,000. 
Although Chestnut won the Square Off last year with a record of 93 hamburgers, Kobayashi set a new standard by adhering to the contest's new rules. This year, Krystal imposed a "no dunking" rule, which prevented eaters from dipping their burgers in liquid. The competitors were also given five Big Angus Burgers at the start of the competition, each equal to five Krystal burgers in size. While I find competitive eating horrifying, I am still in awe of Kobayashi's accomplishment. I don't think I've ever eaten more than a large cheeseburger in one sitting. What's the most burgers you've ever eaten?
To most people, the Fourth of July means barbecue, fireworks, and a long weekend. However, in the world of competitive eating, the all-American holiday brings to mind one thing: Nathan's annual hot dog eating competition. The Super Bowl of competitive eating, Nathan's contest is the most-watched, most-hyped competition of the season. Earlier today on Coney Island, the darlings of the competitive eating world, Takeru Kobayashi and two-year reigning champ Joey Chestnut, faced off in an epic battle.
The rivals are both seasoned, serious, and adorned professionals, but in the end, after chowing down 68 hot dogs — a new world record — Chestnut won. Throughout the 10-minute competition, Chestnut maintained a two-dog lead against Kobayashi. "I've been practicing hard," Chestnut said after winning. "I knew it would be hard to beat me."
In an exciting start to the season, the famed Japanese competitive eater, Takeru Kobayashi, has beaten his long time rival, Joey Chestnut, in battle pizza. The two faced off in a 6-minute pizza eating challenge last weekend. It wasn't your ordinary pizza, however, it was sponsor Pizza Hut's 12-inch, one-pound pepperoni filled calzone, known as the P'zone. 
The extra thick layer of dough proved to be Chestnut's Achilles heel, "it's doughy," he said, "It takes a lot of chewing." Kobayashi consumed 5 3/4 P'zones to narrow out Chestnut, who chowed down 5 1/2 P'zones. The Tokyo native, who is recovering from a painful jaw disorder, came into the competition ready to win: "I wanted to prove that I'm champion. A champion will stand up to any battle."
Chestnut hopes to bounce back and uphold his title of hot dog eating champion. The much hyped competition takes place every year on the 4th of July. To check out a gallery of images of Chestnut and Kobayashi consuming the P'zones, read more
Takeru Kobayashi, once the unbeatable star of the competitive eating world, failed to break the fruitcake eating record last Friday. This isn't Kobayashi's first fall from grace: He was beat by Joey Chestnut in Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competition and the Krystal Square Off World hamburger eating championship.
To break the record, Koby had to eat more than 4 pounds and 14 ounces of fruitcake in ten minutes. He had never tasted fruitcake before and came just 6 ounces short, consuming 4 pounds and 8 ounces of the dense cake. While competitive eating may seem like an excessive, useless sport, this competition, held in Queens, was a charity event that raised money for the Food Bank of New York City.
Although the majority of you are done with competitive eating, would you think differently of the sport if every competition supported a charity?
In general, sports have been known to have a positive impact on one's health. The exception might be in the case of competitive eating, a sport that has developed a massive following this year. Although I have yet to understand the appeal of competitive eating, there's no question that it holds some aura of mystique, as it made multiple headlines in 2008; here are just a few of them.
Yesterday competitive eaters Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi met for a highly anticipated rematch at the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, TN. The dynamic duo last faced off at Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition. Chestnut slammed Kobayashi with his quick consumption of 93 hamburgers in eight minutes. Rising star Patrick Bertoletti out ate Kobayashi by one burger and came in at second place. According to Richard Shea, the president of Major League Eating, the event was a momentous one:
There are precious few moments in professional sports when you can watch as a competitor affirms his place in the history books. With this win today, Joey Chestnut just said to the world: I am Krystal King hear me growl.
Chestnut was awarded $20,000 for winning. Although the sport of competitive eating continues to gain momentum and popularity, I remain grossed out. How about you? Have you warmed to over-eating as a competition? How many burgers could you stomach in eight minutes?
The excitement was incredible this morning at Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition. The reigning champ Joey Chestnut and the Japanese firecracker Takeru Kobayashi faced off in a shorter — 10 instead of last year's 12 — minute competition to see who could eat the most hot dogs. For the first time in history, after the ten minutes, there was a tie: both Chestnut and Kobayshi, who eat at basically the same pace, had eaten 59 hot dogs.
What happened next was a dog off: whoever could eat five more hot dogs the quickest would win. Although it was neck and neck, Joey Chestnut was victorious and walked away with the coveted mustard belt. When ESPN asked why he had won, Chestnut remarked,
It's fourth ofJuly and you can get through something like this. It came down to who needed it more, he wanted it but I needed it.
Anybody that needs to win a hot dog eating competition seems a little crazy to me. If you missed the competition be sure to check out the video: read more
You may have eaten a lot of food on Thanksgiving, but did you eat enough to feed ten people? Tim "Eater X" Janus did. In a strange publicity stunt aimed to draw attention to New York City's hungry, competitive eaters from around the globe gathered to see who could eat the most during a Thanksgiving battle. Janus pushed out his competitors — including hot dog champ Joey Chestnut — by chowing down on a 10-lb. turkey, 4 lbs. of mashed potatoes, 3 lbs. of cranberry sauce, and 2.5 lbs. of beans. The event raised $6,000 — enough for 30,000 meals — for the Food Bank of New York City. The week prior, the league donated $4,000 to Second Harvest food bank.
On one hand it's fantastic to see that they're donating the funds, on the other it's a sad that a waste of food is needed in order to donate food. What do you think?
To see the video from the earlier preliminary competition — it's quite long, fast-forward to 30 minutes for the turkey portion of the battle — read more
