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July 05, 2005
As American as apple pie
Every year, there is a hot dog eating championship at Coney Island (Brooklyn, NY) on the Fourth of July. In terms of holiday celebrations, this kind of contest is as traditional as you could get. But, here's the kicker. In recent years, the Japanese have been the hot-dog eating champions. And this year, they have done it again.
Takeru Kobayashi ate 49 hot dogs, easily outpacing his competitors but falling short of his personal best of 53.5 hot dogs (set last year). Needless to say he was disappointed. The closest was an American woman who runs a fast food restaurant, who ate 37 - good enough for the American record, but, in context, not even close.
The prize is a year's supply of Nathan's hot dogs. I wonder how they determine that. Because 50 would be more than a year's supply for me. But he managed to get that down in 12 minutes. They have opened a Nathan's in Tokyo's Harajuku district. I would love to see their faces when he comes in to collect his prize.