American defeats Japanese for 2nd year in hot-dog eatoff
NEW YORK (AFP) — American Joey Chestnut choked down five frankfurters in a tense two-man eat-off to defeat legendary Japanese eater Takeru Kobayashi for the second year running in the annual hot dog eating contest at Coney Island Friday.
Wiping his sleeve over his food-caked face, Chestnut claimed the victory in the tiebreaker after he and Kobayashi tied in the first round, both downing 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Californian Chestnut, 24, who weighed in at 102 kilograms (225 pounds), dominated the first round from the outset, but six-time champ Kobayashi chowed his way back in the last minutes to tie the incumbent at the final bite.
The organizers of the televised event, which according to legend first took place 92 years ago at the Nathan's hot dog stand on Coney Island, then set the rare eat-off, where Chestnut kept his hold on the champion's "Mustard Belt."
"I lost because I wasn't quick enough in the rematch," said the much smaller Kobayashi, 30, who held the belt from 2001 to 2006.
In 2007, Kobayashi came to the tournament after suffering jaw problems, and Chestnut went on to win with a world record 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
This year the tournament changed the time limit to 10 minutes, based on the information that the first contest in 1916 was also 10 minutes.
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Joey Chestnut in 2006.
For the second year in a row, American competitive eater Joey Chestnut defeated his Japanese rival Takeru Kobayashi at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City, after a tie forced a five hot dog eat-off to be held.

After ten minutes of hot dog eating, two shorter than in previous years, Chestnut and Kobayashi were tied at 59 frankfurters. But after the rare tiebreaker, 24-year-old Chestnut emerged as the winner, claiming a $10,000 prize and a mustard-yellow belt. "It was crazy," he said. "I'm just a normal guy eating hot dogs on the Fourth. You can't overcomplicate it."

Kobayashi, whose loss last year shattered a six-year winning streak, said that a sore jaw and a tooth problem may have altered his performance. "If I put one more mouthful in, I could've won", the 30-year-old Nagano native said through a translator. "I lost because I wasn't quick enough in the rematch."

This year, the 22 competitors were under a 10 minute time limit, unlike the 12 minutes used for previous contests. The reason for this, according to Nathan's, was the discovery of a document from 1916, which revealed that the original competition was 10 minutes long.

Thousands gathered at Coney Island to watch the annual event, which has become one of the more colorful traditions of America's Independence Day.