|  | | Hot dog No. 48 barely slowed Takeru Kobayashi's remarkable pace. |
NEW YORK -- A man inhaled a record 50 hot dogs in just 12 minutes Wednesday to destroy his stunned competition in the annual Nathan's frankfurter eating contest.
Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, in his first-ever attempt at the contest, left competitors with their jaws agape as he knocked back more than four dozen franks with obvious relish.
The 5-foot-7, 131-pound Kobayashi surpassed the old record of 25
in just 5 minutes, 13 seconds. Kobayashi didn't stop until he had
doubled that number, complete with the buns.
Eyewitnesses said it was by far the most amazing performance since the annual Fourth of July contest began in 1916.
"I have never seen anything like this before," said Tom Maher, a spokesman for the Nathan's-sponsored International Federation of
Competitive Eating. "He has truly redefined the sport."
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Greatest feat ever?
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Takeru Kobayashi doubled the previous record in the hot dog-eating contest. To reach the same relative accomplishment level (RAL), this is what some other great record-holders would have had to achieve or what some likely candidates would have to do to double some current records (*actual record-holder):
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Record
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RAL
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Athlete
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HR/Season
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140
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Barry Bonds
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Long jump
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58' - 5"
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*Mike Powell
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K/9-inn. game
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40
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Randy Johnson
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Longest FG
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126 yards
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Sebastian Janikowski
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Points/game
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200
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Michael Jordan
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Mile
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1:51.6
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Alan Webb
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Yards/game
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550
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*Corey Dillon
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Kobayashi, 23, employed a technique dubbed "the Solomon
method" -- snapping the hot dogs in half, then shoving both pieces
into his mouth. By the end of the 12-minute event, the rest of the
19-member field had stopped eating to watch Kobayashi.
The runner-up was last year's winner, Kazutoyo Arai of Japan, who knocked down 31 hot dogs. Arai had set the record of 25 during last year's contest.
For dessert, Kobayashi ate two more hot dogs while posing for
pictures and camera crews at the Coney Island event. Through an
interpreter, the new champion bragged that he could knock off
another twenty hot dogs.
Thankfully, no one took him up on the offer.
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