Rematch of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Champions

Yesterday's Birmingham News ran a profile on Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut, the reigning champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut is currently preparing for next week's Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga. His primary objective in the contest is to beat his Japanese rival, Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi. Kobayashi was the Nathan's Hot Dog champion for six years, before being toppled by Chestnut, who is quite proud of this victory:

"Whenever I'm traveling to a contest and I tell the person next to me on the plane that I'm going to an eating contest, they say, `Oh, are you going to compete against that little Japanese guy who eats all the hot dogs?'

"Now, I'm finally able to tell them that I beat him."

Chestnut is eager to prove to the world that he is superior to Kobayashi in not only hot dog eating, but hamburger eating as well. Last year, Chestnut lost to Kobayashi, 91 hamburgers to 97 hamburgers.


Competitive Eater Readies For Rematch With Biggest Foe [Yesterday's Birmingham News: Food Fight]

- post by Ben Nadler