sex workers and competitive eaters
TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese man who set a world record by wolfing down dozens of hot dogs within minutes has suffered a severe jaw injury due to his rigorous training, making his next title uncertain.
Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi said he can only open his mouth to make a gap the size of a fingertip after being diagnosed with jaw arthritis.
In an entry on his blog entitled “Occupational hazard,” Kobayashi said: “My jaw refused to fight any more.”
The injury occurred only a week after the slender 29-year-old started training to win his seventh straight title at the annual July 4 Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating event on New York’s Coney Island.
“I feel ashamed that I couldn’t notice the alarm bells set off by my own body,” he said. “But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn’t stop my training so close to the competition.
“I was continuing my training and bearing with the pain but finally I destroyed my jaw.”
Kobayashi, who has become a niche celebrity in Japan and the United States, had already halted his competitive eating activities for several months due to mourning after his mother’s death earlier this year.
But he said he still wanted to go to the competition in New York.
“I want to be the pride of my mother,” he said in the blog entry posted Sunday.
jay: before the mother and the lockjaw, this movie was going to be boring. now it’s getting closer to being a (probably) totally hilarious farrelly brothers blockbuster. kobayashi, you sure do know how to reel us in.
cates: i notice that kobayashi goes by the sobriquet “tsunami”. does this describe the hot dogs on the way in or on the way out?
dan: by the way, have you seen kobayashi’s abs? here:
dan: guy’s a beast! you cannot stop a tsunami!