Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", Kobayashi is a six-time champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and is widely credited with popularizing the sport of competitive eating.
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, almost doubling the previous record of 25⅛. 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).
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. However, this number has been called into question. Many of the 97 burgers dissolved when dunked, and Kobayashi (unlike his fellow competitors) let significant chunks of burger detritus fall from his mouth, instead of eating the complete burger. This led to the "No Dunking" rule in future competitions.
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 roasted pork buns in 12 minutes. Kobayashi also won the 2005 Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating, a three-hour International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), elimination tournament on ESPN, as well as the Glutton Bowl, a two-hour IFOCE eating special that aired on the Fox Network in 2002. However, on Fox's 2003 show Man vs. Beast, Kobayashi lost in an eating competition against a 1089-pound (494 kg) Kodiak bear, when he ate 31 bunless hot dogs in 2 minutes and 36 seconds to the bear's 50. In a 2014 interview, Kobayashi claims to have beaten the bear in the rehearsal. (In October 2012, Kobayashi broke the record held by the bear at the Texas state fair.)[citation needed] On August 5, 2006, Kobayashi set yet another world record at the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, by downing 58 bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes, shattering the previous record of 35 set the previous year by Sonya Thomas. On September 23, 2006, Takeru Kobayashi set the world record at the Phantom Food Festival in Boston, for eating 41 Summer Shack lobster rolls in 10 minutes, replacing the previous record of 22 rolls. Other world-eating records held by Kobayashi include 17.7 pounds (8.0 kg) of cow brains in 15 minutes and 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of rice balls in 30 minutes.

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