College Student Eats 59 1/2 Hot Dogs In 12 Minutes

[matcom]

<snip>

He did it.

San Jose college student Joey Chestnut shattered the world record for hot dog eating Saturday in Arizona, downing 59 1/2 franks and buns in 12 minutes flat.

The old record was 53 3/4, set at last year's Coney Island championship on July 4 by Chestnut's hot dog-eating nemesis, Takeru Kobayashi -- a six-time world champion.

On that day, Chestnut fell short by one dog.

He has been training for a rematch ever since.

Chestnut's record-breaking win at a regional qualifier got him a seat at that rematch: Nathan's Famous July Fourth International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

For Chestnut on Saturday, it was a hard-fought world record but an easy victory -- the guy who came in second ate 33 hot dogs with their white bread buns.

"I had been training for this contest for a little bit," Chestnut said in a phone interview from Arizona about five hours after the contest in Tempe.

For those unfamiliar with the world of competitive eating, that was an understatement.

Chestnut, 23, started training six weeks ago with what he calls a "hot dog run" two days per week. Each time, he consumed as many hot dogs as possible in 12 minutes, doing his "weird" dance, flexing and wiggling to push the food down.

Then, he didn't eat for three days to prepare for the next time.

"You have to mentally have a reason to eat that much and maybe convince my body that it's OK -- it's not going to hurt it," he said.

One day each week he ate normally. He also took "tons of vitamins," amino acids and protein supplements.

Before Saturday's contest, he didn't eat Thursday or Friday.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/03/MNG7EQ6T501.DTL

[AllegroRondo]

1. but can he do it July 4th?

against Kobayashi?

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. USA! USA!

:rofl:

I suppose competitive eating is a sport, but it's very unappetizing to me.