chestnutHow many of you knew that July 4th is Nathan’s Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, New York. Joey Chestnut, from California, defeated the champ, Kobayashi (who held the record at 53.75 dogs), by eating 66 hot dogs (buns included) in only 12 minutes. You can imagine the mess. But can you believe this thing is for bragging rights and televised on ESPN? Crazy!

According to the rules there is an automatic DQ for what they call a “reversal”, which Kobayashi seemed to have this year, when the results were delayed while officials reviewed the rules. Check out the Legacy of Kobayashi, he doesn’t mess around (he also holds titles for Hamburger eating and lot’s of other foods, check out his blog):

2007: Second place (63 hot dogs)
2006: First place (53.75 hot dogs)
2005: First place (49 hot dogs)
2004: First place (53.5 hot dogs)
2003: First place (44.5 hot dogs)
2002: First place (50.5 hot dogs)
2001: First place (50 hot dogs)

The Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest is sanctioned by the Major League Eating (MLE), the world governing body of all stomach-centric sport. The Nathan’s Famous International Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Championship has been held each year on July 4 since 1916, according to archives.

I watched the 2006 Contest on ESPN, and let me tell you - it’s pretty intense, and very hard to watch. I guess these guys are trained athletes and train their bodies to take down the dogs, but man 66 dogs!