Skip to content

Kobayashi edges Chestnut in Fourth of July Brooklyn Weiner War

Jul 4, 2012, 6:31 PM EDT

28 Comments
kobi1

Despite the best efforts of the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest establishment to ignore his existence, Hot Dog Rebel Takeru Kobayashi still managed to steal the spotlight from Joey Chestnut in the weiner eating war. At Coney Island, Chestnut gobbled 68 hot dogs to win the Nathan’s 2012 title, and the people rejoiced. But a couple of miles away, Kobayashi — banned from the Nathan’s event in 2010 due to a contract dispute — scarfed 68 1/2 dogs to win the inaugural Crif Hot Dog Classic.

Kobayashi may have had an advantage in one respect — the Crif Dog Classic began at 3 p.m. ET, while the Nathan’s event took place at about 1 p.m. But while Nathan’s is calling Chestnut’s sixth straight win (tying him with Kobayashi for the record) the “official” 2012 hot dog eating title, Kobayashi can point to the fact that his victory netted a $15,000 first prize, while Chestnut took home only $10,000.

The Crif Dog Classic was held at Roberta’s, a popular restaurant in Brooklyn’s Bushwick district. It was streamed live on SI.com and on UStream, while the Nathan’s contest was streamed live in ESPN3.com. Both were held under the same rules and the same conditions. So, who’s to say which victory was more significant?

Women’s winners? Sonia “The Black Widow” Thomas won Nathan’s for the second straight year, with 45 dogs. As for Crif Dog, it looks like the women competed in the same field as the men — with Stephanie Torres tying for second place with Tom Gilbert at 31 dogs.

Skip to Comments (28)
More Off the Bench
Back to Homepage
  1. tigersgeaux - Jul 4, 2012 at 8:18 PM

    Glad Joey won Nathan’s. Maybe they can resolve this impass and Kobayashi can be in Nathan’s next year, but I doubt it, Kobayashi would rather be an independent and not be part of the association that governs Nathan’s. Such is the competitive eating world today.

    • milltec - Jul 4, 2012 at 10:03 PM

      Yeah Kobayashi is the actual champ. How can you deny someone who ate more under the exact same conditions but did it without a contract that choked him from doing other forms of competitive eating. Kobayashi is the champion in my eyes!

      • p1nch3dloaf - Jul 4, 2012 at 10:12 PM

        If the ruling was based on ratio of hotdogs to bodyweight…Kobayashi would be undefeated.

  3. thraiderskin - Jul 4, 2012 at 11:56 PM

    pretty sure 68 1/2 is just 68 hot dogs… There is no half in this, you either did or you did not. If anything, they tied.

    • haggertyb - Jul 5, 2012 at 12:56 AM

      Actually, Nathan’s counts half hot dogs also.

      • thraiderskin - Jul 5, 2012 at 11:09 AM

        well my apologies, guess I never really saw them count 1/2 a dog. my bad.

  4. The Real Spiffy - Jul 5, 2012 at 1:50 AM

    Joey only had 10 minutes Kobi had 12

    • antioch3000 - Jul 5, 2012 at 7:58 AM

      Come on now, no need to post lies… The video clearly shows Kobayashi had 10 min.

  6. craig33mack - Jul 5, 2012 at 3:14 AM

    Who cares?

  15. bbk1000 - Jul 5, 2012 at 5:47 AM

    Kobayashi started acting a bit crazy after repeatedly getting beaten by Joey, he looked for a way out so they would not have to go head to head anymore, so he got thrown out.

    The time factor was in Kobayashi’s favor, but regardless of how many dogs he really ate, he would have won by that ½ dog margin as they want to bring credibility to this other event.

    Kobayashi should just go away, Joey is the champ, if you want to call it that, of this ridiculous competition.

  17. rmfields - Jul 5, 2012 at 7:38 AM

    Kobayashi was banned by Major League Eating, the federation that runs Nathan’s contest, because he wanted to be able to compete in other events. If a competitive eater signs with MLE, you can only enter official MLE events. It’s part of their contract.

    • bbk1000 - Jul 5, 2012 at 4:09 PM

      I thought he rushed the stage that one year and got hauled off, he was looking for a way out.

      The events he is looking to join are more easily won….

  18. jimguida - Jul 5, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    Meanwhile, within a few miles of Coney Island, children go hungry.

    • ishwishfish - Jul 5, 2012 at 5:51 PM

      They should enter the competition!

      • bbk1000 - Jul 6, 2012 at 5:03 PM

        As wrong as this is I find myself snickering…

Leave Comment

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

More Off the Bench
Back to Homepage

Most Commented

  • None found