Skip navigation
Site powered by
Latest news:
msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines: Beryl soaks Fla., Ga; thousands lose power

Hot dog! Kobayashi wins 5th straight crown

5-7 champ misses world record, eats 49 dogs; U.S. woman 2nd with 37

NEW YORK - For the fifth straight year, it was a victory Takeru Kobayashi could truly relish.

Kobayashi, 27, captured the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest Monday, gobbling a nauseating 49 dogs in 12 minutes — but missing his own world record of 53, set at last year’s July Fourth competition.

The win means the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt will return to Japan for the ninth year out of the past 10. New Jersey’s Steve Keiner, who won in 1999, is the only American to capture the title in the past decade.

Kobayashi, of Nagano, stands 5 feet 7 inches and weighs just 144 pounds.

The runner-up was Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, Va. — known as The Black Widow on the competitive-eating circuit — who set an American record by downing 37 hot dogs in the same 12 minutes.

Thomas, who manages a Burger King restaurant, separates the hot dog from the bun and eats them separately. She dips the bun in water to make it easier to swallow with less chewing.

“I want to be No. 1 in the world, so I practice,” she told CNN shortly after the contest. “I’m working on more speed.”

She said she was planning a light dinner — maybe a salad.

“My stomach doesn’t hurt,” she said, “but my jaw is tired.”

Slide show: The Week in Sports Pictures
QUALLS GIPSON
  Oct. 3 - 9
Images from the baseball playoffs, NFL, college football, and more.
Thomas, who weighs a remarkable 105 pounds, is a rising speed-eating star. Last December in Atlantic City, N.J., she finished off 89 meatballs — about six pounds’ worth — in 12 minutes. And in August, she captured a lobster-eating contest in Maine by consuming 38 of the creatures in 12 minutes.

The hot dog contest takes place outside the original Nathan’s in Coney Island. The contest was first held there in 1916.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement
More news
Image:
AP
War vet aims to walk on at Clemson

CFT: Purple Heart honoree Daniel Rodriguez is awaiting clearance to walk on as a football player at Clemson.

Florida selected as top seed in baseball tourney

NEW YORK (AP) - Florida, ranked No. 1 in every major preseason poll, was selected Monday as the top seed for the 64-team NCAA Division I college baseball tournament.

Police: 5-time champ Tapia found dead

Johnny Tapia, the five-time boxing champion whose turbulent career was marked by cocaine addiction, alcohol, depression and run-ins with the law, was found dead Sunday at his Albuquerque home. He was 45.

FREE VIDEO
Hot dog!!
Takeru Kobayashi eats 49 hot dogs -- shy of his world record of 53 -- in 12 minutes to win his fifth straight hot dog eating title.
Slide show
Image: Duets free routine synchronized swimming finals
  The Week in Sports Pictures
Swimmers get synchronized, a tennis star gets cloned, and much more.

more photos

Special feature
"American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity" Met Gala - Arrivals
When athletes and celebs get together
A look at the many links between sports and Hollywood stars.

NBCSports.com

Slideshow
Image: ROMNEY
  Presidential candidates and sports
How do Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stack up when it comes to their sports backgrounds?