Champ retains NYC hot-dog eating title in overtime (AP)

NEW YORK - Joey Chestnut achieved frankfurter immortality Friday, outdueling his celebrated Japanese rival in an epic hot-dog eating contest that pushed both of the gluttonous gladiators to the brink.

In a seesaw struggle for the ages, Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi each consumed an eye-popping 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes, forcing an unprecedented showdown that tested the very depths of their distended stomachs.

Under the glare of ESPN and facing a boisterous and sweaty crowd of thousands on Coney Island, Chestnut, the reigning champ, and Kobayashi, the six-time title holder, were forced to gobble down another five hot dogs in overtime.

Staring into the wiener abyss, the pair found the pluck to continue, devouring the beef and buns with renewed gusto, before Chestnut finally prevailed to chants of "USA!"

When it was over, Kobayashi was left holding a soggy mush of bun in his hand, and Chestnut had achieved nearly mythical status in the annual event held by Nathan's Famous since 1916.

It was a frankfurter photo finish.

"It was crazy," said the 24-year-old Chestnut, who was mentally prepared to eat 70 hot dogs and acknowledged that his body at times almost failed him. "It pushed back against me. I had to push harder. It just didn't want to swallow."

The diminutive Kobayashi had hoped to reclaim the throne after last year's disappointing three-dog loss shattered his six-year winning streak.

Kobayashi said he was one mouthful from recapturing the famed Mustard Belt.

He lamented not finishing off the resilient Chestnut during regulation, which was two minutes shorter than in previous years.

"If I put one more mouthful in, I could've won," Kobayashi said through a translator.

Both men said the shortened contest threw off their game. They said they had a hard time finding a rhythm despite leaving a slew of other competitors — including a renowned female professional eater known as the "Black Widow" — in a trail of mustard.

"I wasn't able to show my best, which is really the last two minutes," Kobayashi said.

The regulation time was changed after it was revealed that the original 1916 competition was just 10 minutes long, instead of the 12-minute limit used in more recent years. The switch made for a tense competition.

When the eating began, Chestnut quickly pulled ahead, with cheeks puffed as he crammed hot dogs into his mouth and the veins in his forehead beginning to bulge. At one point, the Californian led Kobayashi 14-11. But Kobayashi ate his way back, taking the lead, 46-45, with about three minutes left.

"I knew I was behind," said Chestnut, of San Jose. "I'm always afraid of falling behind because it's hard to come back."

With fear in his gut, Chestnut rallied, and the two went dog-to-dog in the final stretch.

Richard Shea, one of the founders of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, said it was the first time in his memory that the contest went into overtime.

As usual, Kobayashi's strategy was to eat all the dogs first, then dunk the buns and eat them. But a pause in overtime to swallow the spongy buns meant defeat. He had handed an opening to Chestnut, who once ate 118 jalapeno poppers in 10 minutes and 7.5 pounds of chicken wings in 12 minutes.

"He should've won it — it was his to win," judge Gersh Kuntzman said of Kobayashi, 30, of Nagano, Japan.

Rumors circulated all week about Kobayashi: that he had been given a spot in the contest without qualifying, and that he was too injured to compete.

The 128-pound competitive eating legend, known as "The Tsunami," told a Brooklyn newspaper he had a tooth problem and sore jaw that hampered last year's performance.

After this year's contest, he said his jaw was fine.

Their competitors included a pizza cook from New York City, a fishmonger from Chicago and a 110-pound mother of two from Maryland.

Chestnut, who clocked in at 210 pounds before the contest, downplayed his win, which carries a $10,000 prize.

"I'm just a normal guy eating hot dogs on the Fourth," he said. "You can't overcomplicate it."

Then he burped. He was clearly tired. The hot dogs had staggered him. No doubt he'll need recovery time, said Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor at the New York University School of Medicine.

"Hot dogs are extremely unhealthy, especially when eaten at high volume. They're really processed. They have high cholesterol and too much salt," he said.

And thanks to the quantities the competitors ate, they'll likely suffer nausea, bloat, headache and possibly high blood pressure for several days as the body slowly digests the food.

"One is bad for you, five's worse and 50 is terrible," he said.

Kobayashi says he'll be back for a rematch next year and promises he'll win in a clear fashion.

But before that, the two will face off again at the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship on Sept. 28 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Ali-Frazier III, anyone?

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