NEW YORK - In a gut-busting showdown that combined drama, daring, and indigestion, Joey Chestnut emerged yesterday as the world's hot-dog eating champion, knocking off six-time winner Takeru Kobayashi in a record-setting triumph.
Mr. Chestnut, the great red, white, and blue hope in the annual Fourth of July competition, broke his own world record by inhaling 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes - a staggering one every 10.9 seconds before a screaming crowd in Coney Island.
"If I needed to eat another one right now, I could," the 23-year-old Californian said after receiving the belt emblematic of hot-dog eating supremacy.
Mr. Kobayashi recently had a wisdom tooth extracted and received chiropractic treatment because of a sore jaw. But the winner of every Nathan's hot dog competition from 2001 to 2006 showed no ill effects.
The two had each downed 60 hot dogs with 60 seconds to go when Mr. Chestnut put away the final franks to end Mr. Kobayashi's reign.
Once the contest ended, the runner-up suffered a reversal - competitive-eating code for barfing - leading to a deduction from his final total. Mr. Kobayashi finished with 63 hot dogs and buns eaten in his best performance ever.Competitors receive credit for anything in their mouths at the 12-minute mark, provided they can swallow it.
Mr. Kobayashi's previous best was 53 1/2 in the competition that dates back to 1916. The all-time record before yesterday's showdown was Mr. Chestnut's 59 1/2, set last month in Tempe, Ariz.
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