Takeru Kobayashi is like a god in the competitive eating world. He’s brought a sport that used to be in the shadows of Coney Island and eateries all across the world into the spotlight, even gaining coverage from ESPN of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. His current world record is 53 1/8 dogs during the 12-minute competition. When he first broke the previous world record of 25 1/8 dogs in 2001, he passed it by so much that they didn’t have any number signs to count how many he had eaten, so they wrote them by hand as he went on to consume 50 dogs. He’s invented moves such as “The Kobayashi Shake”, his trademark body wiggle, and the Soloman method, where he splits the hot dogs in half, dips the bun/hotdog in water, and then stuffs both halves in his mouth. On average, Kobayashi consumes 6,000 calories per day, or 42,000 per week, three times the recommended daily consumption. Despite this amazing feat of consumption, he claims to have less than 6% body fat. Recently, at the World Lobster Roll Eating Challenge in Boston, he defeated a team of four young men to take the title. The four took down 25 rolls, while Kobayashi, having just tasted his first roll the night before, managed to consume 41. As with most of his eating endeavors, that is now the new world record for that event. Part of his skill is due to gastroptosis, a condition where his stomach is set lower in his abdomen, allowing it to expand past his rib cage. Despite this physical advantage, he trains extremely hard to maintain his edge. Kobayashi, long considered the greatest competitive eater in the history of the sport, is sure to be setting more records in the future, so be on the lookout for this Michael Jordan of dogs at a buffet line near you.
[Wikipedia - Takeru Kobayashi]
[Via: Slashfood]
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