Japanese competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, the six-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner, stated he’s retiring.
Kobayashi, 46, published the news within the contemporary Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut” as he launched into a adventure to handle health concerns.
“I hear people say they’re hungry, and they look very happy after they’ve eaten,” he stated. “I’m jealous of those people because I no longer feel hunger.”
Kobayashi’s spouse, Maggie James, stated within the movie that he can pass days with out eating meals.
“[He] thinks he might be broken,” she stated. “He doesn’t feel hungry or full. He doesn’t feel those things at all.”
Kobayashi started his competitive eating occupation in 2000 when he scarfed down 16 bowls of ramen in a single hour at the Japanese selection display “TV Champion,” in step with USA Today. The following 12 months he set an international file on the 2001 Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest by way of eating 50 franks in 12 mins, the opening reported.
He went directly to win the Mustard Yellow Belt consecutively from 2002 to 2006 on the hot dog eating contest, held every year on July 4. Joey Chestnut, the reigning champion, held the identify from 2007 to 2014, and 2016 to 2023. Chestnut used to be dethroned in 2015 by way of competitive eater Matthew Stonie.
Kobayashi stated within the documentary that he believes he has eaten 10,000 hot canines over his occupation and has ceaselessly puzzled “what damage I’ve done to my body.”
At one level, he stated he used to crave meals like curry and cake however does not “feel that joy about eating anymore.”
Kobayashi admitted that he is nervous about stepping away from competitive eating.
“It’s all I have done for the last 20 years,” he stated. “I am worried about what my next step will bring, but I’m also excited about my future. I have mixed feelings.”
