NEW YORK—Hot dog-eating arch rivals, American Joey Chestnut and Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, met for the official weigh-in-ceremony on Thursday in the lead up to the 2009 Nathan’s Famous (Inc.) Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Competition.
At the kickoff ceremony, presided over by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the qualifiers for Saturday’s event, were sent to the scales in the bottom floor of Macy’s at Herald Square. Kobayashi weighed in at 170 lbs, while Chestnut topped 225 lbs.
“The competition is a grand international event, with participants from all over the world, and I wish everyone good luck,” said Bloomberg. This year, 20 professional eaters hailing from Japan, Germany, Thailand, Canada and the U.S. will attempt to out-eat each other on Coney Island.
In a stunning, overtime win last year, Chestnut, 25, deposed Japan’s eating legend Kobayashi, 31, ending his six-year reign as dog-eating champ.
Chestnut went head-to-head with Kobayashi in 2008, when they both downed 59 hot dogs and 59 buns in 10 minutes, establishing the first tie in the Fourth of July Hot Dog-Eating competition’s history. Chestnut ended up taking first place by beating Kobayashi by a single bite in the five hot dog sudden death eat off.
In 2007, Kobayashi suffered a jaw injury dubbed “jawthritis,” which he blames for his defeat. But this year, Kobayashi is back and confident he will beat Chestnut and regain the title of World Hot Dog Eating Champion.
Some 40,000 dog-eating fans flooded Coney Island last year to watch the world series of major league eating with another one million families following the contest on ESPN.
Nathan’s has been running the competition since the restaurant first opened on Surf Avenue in 1916. Since then, there have been only two interruptions: In 1941 to protest the escalating war in Europe, and in 1971, to protest against civil unrest in America.
At the kickoff ceremony, presided over by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the qualifiers for Saturday’s event, were sent to the scales in the bottom floor of Macy’s at Herald Square. Kobayashi weighed in at 170 lbs, while Chestnut topped 225 lbs.
“The competition is a grand international event, with participants from all over the world, and I wish everyone good luck,” said Bloomberg. This year, 20 professional eaters hailing from Japan, Germany, Thailand, Canada and the U.S. will attempt to out-eat each other on Coney Island.
In a stunning, overtime win last year, Chestnut, 25, deposed Japan’s eating legend Kobayashi, 31, ending his six-year reign as dog-eating champ.
Chestnut went head-to-head with Kobayashi in 2008, when they both downed 59 hot dogs and 59 buns in 10 minutes, establishing the first tie in the Fourth of July Hot Dog-Eating competition’s history. Chestnut ended up taking first place by beating Kobayashi by a single bite in the five hot dog sudden death eat off.
In 2007, Kobayashi suffered a jaw injury dubbed “jawthritis,” which he blames for his defeat. But this year, Kobayashi is back and confident he will beat Chestnut and regain the title of World Hot Dog Eating Champion.
Some 40,000 dog-eating fans flooded Coney Island last year to watch the world series of major league eating with another one million families following the contest on ESPN.
Nathan’s has been running the competition since the restaurant first opened on Surf Avenue in 1916. Since then, there have been only two interruptions: In 1941 to protest the escalating war in Europe, and in 1971, to protest against civil unrest in America.
