Takeru Kobayashi
Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (
Japanese: 小林尊
Kobayashi Takeru, b.
March 15 1978 in
Nagano) is a
Japanese
competitive eater and a member of the
International Federation of Competitive Eating who holds the
world record for
hot dog eating as six time consecutive champion of
Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competition. The record of 53 3/4 hot dogs was set by Kobayashi on
July 4,
2006. He is considered by experts to be the greatest competitive eater in the history of the sport. [
1]
Kobayashi has won
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for six years in a row.
[Staff Writer. "Champ a top dog again with 49 wieners." CNN. July 4, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] A * denotes a victory that broke the previous world record.
* 2006: 53 3/4 hot dogs
* 2005: 49 hot dogs
* 2004: 53 1/2 hot dogs
* 2003: 44 1/2 hot dogs
* 2002: 50 1/2 hot dogs
* 2001: 50 hot dogs
He set his first record on
July 4,
2001, when he ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the Nathan's
Coney Island hot dog eating contest, shattering the previous record of 25 1/8. The record was so unexpected, that when Kobayashi got to the later numbers, the organizers ran out of signs indicating how many dogs Kobayashi had eaten and had to resort to handwritten signs. In 2002, he broke his own record by eating 50 1/2. In 2003, he won again by eating 44 1/2. In 2004, he triumphed again by eating 53 1/2 hot dogs in 12 minutes, beating his old record. There was a small conflict over this result, as some fellow competitors accused him of expelling vomit during the 12-minute competition.
Vomiting is not prohibited
per se, but the vomit is not allowed to leave the mouth of a contestant. In 2005, he managed to eat 49 hot dogs and win his fifth straight contest. In 2006, he ate 53 3/4 hot dogs for his sixth consecutive win and a new world record.
Kobayashi is also the reigning champion of the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Contest; in 2004, he ate 69
Krystal hamburgers, and in 2005, ate 67 hamburgers in eight minutes.
[Staff Writer. "Japanese man repeats as hamburger champ." HappyNews. November 21, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]At a speed-eating contest in
Hong Kong in August 2005, Kobayashi consumed 83 vegetarian
dumplings in 8 minutes. The next day, he ate 100
steamed pork buns in 12 minutes. Kobayashi also won the 2005 Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive eating, a three-hour
IFOCE elimination tournament on ESPN, as well as the Glutton Bowl, a two-hour IFOCE eating special that aired on the
Fox Network in 2002. However, on Fox's 2003 show
Man vs. Beast, Kobayashi's sole loss in an eating competition came against a 1089-pound
Kodiak bear, when he ate 31 bunless hot dogs in 2 minutes and 36 seconds to the bear's 50.
[Getlen, Larry. "The Miracle That Is Kobayashi." The Black Table. May 19, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]On
August 5th, 2006, the "Tsunami" set yet another world record at the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, by downing 58
Johnsonville brat sausages in 10 minutes, shattering the previous record set the year before (34 1/2 by
Sonya Thomas).
Other world eating records held by Kobayashi include 17.7 pounds (8.0 kg) of cow brains in 15 minutes and 20 pounds (9 kg) of rice balls in 30 minutes.
Kobayashi expands his stomach for a competition by eating larger and larger amounts of food, and then exercises to ensure that fat will not impede expansion of his stomach during a competition.
[Talmadge, Eric. "Pigout champion Kobayashi limbers up for hot dog gold." Japan Times. June 25, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] According to a 2006 documentary on MTV's "True Life," Kobayashi has a condition called
gastroptosis, an abnormal downward displacement of the stomach. It plays a role in his eating ability because his stomach is able to expand below the rib cage unlike most people, allowing him to take in large portions of food.
Physically Kobayashi has undergone drastic change from his earlier appearances on the competitive eating circuit (weighing in at a mere 110 lb in his beginning competitions and then 144 lb in later events.) This is due in large part to his more recent endeavors in weight training. By training with weights and working out Kobayashi has increased his metabolism, which in turn has helped him to burn more calories. This training is used by Kobayashi to maintain his overall health as well as helping him to elude excess calories from being stored as fat. Kobayashi's official web site gives his height as 5 feet 7 inches and his weight as 165 pounds, but in a June 29, 2006, entry on his blog, he says that his weight grew to over 196 pounds during 2006, still being under 10 percent bodyfat.
Kobayashi is also known for his trademark body wiggle, affectionately known as "The Kobayashi Shake" which he uses to force food down his
esophagus and settle more compactly in his stomach.
[Farley, David. "Curious Gorge." Time Out. January 15-22, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] He eats the hot dogs by splitting the frankfurter in half, swallowing both parts at once, and then dipping the buns in water, Sprite, or 7-Up and stuffing it in his mouth. He calls this the
Solomon method.
[Poon, William. "Nathan's Famous Hotdog Eating Contest." ThinkQuest. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]*On a 2006 episode of the
ESPN show
Cheap Seats Kobayashi was glorified in an episode showcasing the 2005 U.S. Open of Competitive Eating. In the same episode he was spoofed in a commercial called "Feed Me Kobayashi"- a doll that consumes 20 human-sized portions and screams in his native Japanese.
*Kobayashi has said in recent years that he consumes an average of 6,000 calories per day. That is 42,000 calories per week, and 3 times the amount of calories recommended for an average human to consume. Despite this enormous intake, he has claimed in his blog on his website that his body fat percentage is less than 6%.
*
List of winners of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest*
International Federation of Competitive Eating*
Official web site*
Kobayashi's blog, with his name lettered in a Nathan's-style font, and with a Japanese-style Big Boy mascot
*
Profile on IFOCE Website*
Sports Illustrated feature on 2006 contest
