Japan’s hot-dog eating champion headed on Thursday to New York to defend his world-famous United States title despite suffering a serious jaw injury.
Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi is suffering from jaw arthritis and cannot open his mouth wide enough to even fit in two fingers. But he promised to win his seventh straight title at the annual July 4 Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating event on New York’s Coney Island.
“I want to defend my title by breaking the world record. My condition is not perfect, but I will do whatever I can to move my jaw,” the 29-year-old said in a Japanese television interview before setting off. “It’s getting better gradually. I don’t know how badly my jaw is damaged. That’s what scares me.”
Kobayashi, who has become a celebrity in Japan and the US, had already halted his competitive eating for several months after his mother’s death earlier this year.
However, he said he still wanted to go to the competition in New York. “I want to be the pride of my mother,” he said in a blog entry posted on Sunday.
Last year, Kobayashi put down a world-record 53-and-three-quarters hot dogs in just 12 minutes.
In addition to the Nathan’s Famous title, he holds world records for scoffing cows’ brains and rice balls.
Kobayashi faces a serious rival this year: Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California, who swallowed 59-and-a-half hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes earlier this month, according to the International Federation of Competitive Eating. — AFP