Kobayashi Cooks Up Drama at Hot Dog Eating Contest

Takeru Kobayashi has made this weekend’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest one of the most talked about competitive eating events in history. For the first time in ten years, the six-time champion won’t eat.

“I really want to compete in the event,” Kobayashi said this week, “but I cannot agree to the conditions.”

The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) has reportedly asked all entrants to sign a contract that will keep them from participating in eating contests outside the league. Joey Chestnut, who beat Kobayashi the past three years, has signed it. So too has Bob “The Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt, who last year ate 23 pounds of salmon chowder in just six minutes. But Kobayashi won’t budge.

“We have never stopped negotiating with Kobayashi to bring him here,” IFOCE executive director George Shea said at a press conference on Friday. “We want him here. Nathan’s wants him here. The fans want him here. And he himself has said he wants to be here. So why won’t he work out [a contract] with us that will bring him here?”

Nobody knows the answer to that question except Kobayashi, though it probably has something to do with the stacks of cash he brings in through eating competitions outside the IFOCE. Either that or he’s scared of Chestnut, who last year ate a world record 68 hot dogs & buns (HDBs) in ten minutes. Kobayashi’s 64.5 HDBs was a personal best.

Many thought 2010 would be the year Kobayashi took back the crown. Last fall, he destroyed Chestnut at the Krystal Hamburger Eating Championship, scarfing down 93 square sliders, a dozen more than Chestnut. In March, Kobayashi moved to New York – the capital of competitive eating and the home of the Nathan’s Famous hot dog.

“Kobayashi is like the people’s champion,” 10th ranked eater Tim “Gravy” Brown tells The Wall Street Journal. “To hear the crowd cheer for him is electrifying.”

At Coney Island on July 4, you can be sure there will be room at the table for one highly respected, last-minute guest.

Photo by Nate "Igor" Smith via Wikimedia Commons.