New York – The biggest challenge of his life awaits Joey Chestnut on the Fourth of July – and he doesn’t want to choke.
It’s a legitimate worry. Chestnut aims to inhale more than four dozen frankfurters in 12 minutes at the annual Coney Island hot-dog-eating competition. And there’s the pressure of going jaw-to-jaw with the world’s foremost competitive eater, five-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Chestnut is warming up for his East Coast showdown by downing 40 hot dogs or more in a single sitting, twice a week.
“If I’m not eating hot dogs, I’m not eating much,” said Chestnut, whose U.S. record of 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes earned him a mention in May in Sports Illustrated.
Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif., is the great American hope at reclaiming the mustard-yellow belt symbolic of gastronomic greatness (or sheer gluttony). Since July 4, 2001, the belt has been wrapped around Kobayashi’s incredibly thin waist.
