Takeru Kobayashi

Takeru Kobayashi (小林尊, Kobayashi Takeru) (born March 15, 1978) is a Japanese competitive eater. He holds several records, including four Guinness Records, for eating hot dogs, meatballs, Twinkies, hamburgers, and pasta. Born in Nagano, Japan, Kobayashi set his first record at his rookie appearance on July 4, 2001, when he ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the Nathan's Coney Island hot dog-eating contest, doubling the previous record of 25. The record was so unexpected that when Kobayashi got to the later numbers, the organizers ran out of signs indicating how many dogs Kobayashi had eaten and had to resort to handwritten signs. Kobayashi would go on to break his own record three times in winning the contest six consecutive times (2001–2006). On June 2, 2007, Joey Chestnut broke Kobayashi's record with 59.5 hot dogs and buns in a qualifying round for the annual Nathan's contest. In the 2006 Krystal Square Off, Kobayashi's mark of 97 hamburgers was 30 better than his winning total in 2005 and 28 better than the World Record he set in 2004. At a speed-eating contest in Hong Kong on August 13, 2005, Kobayashi consumed 83 vegetarian jiaozi dumplings in 8 minutes. The next day, he ate 100