Hot Dog Eating Contest goes berserk after ex-champ creates havoc
By ANIMonday, July 5, 2010
NEW YORK - A hot-dogs eating competition turned awry when Sidelined hot dog titan Takeru Kobayashi stormed the stage after he could not participate in the event due to a contract dispute.
The 128-pound former champion got furious when he saw as rival Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut win Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Joey took the prized mustard yellow belt for the fourth year in a row.
Kobayashi tried to make his way to the stage at Coney Island during the awards ceremony.
He struggled with the police who finally arrested him and handcuffed him.
“It’s unprofessional and unsavory and, frankly, rather frustrating,” the New York Daily News quoted contest organizer Richard Shea as saying.
Kobayashi was barred from competing this year after he refused to sign a contract that he claimed took away his freedom to eat in other tourneys.
“He’s trying to upstage Joey,” Vincent Oliveri of Marine Park, whose wife Kobayashi climbed over in his dash for the stage, said.
“He should have just competed and signed the contract,” he added.
“He just wanted a chance to eat and break the record and prove that he was the real champion. Unfortunately, he was unable to reach an agreement with the organizers,” said Kobayashi’s manager, Yuki Nagura. (ANI)
