Joey Chestnut proved once again why he is competitive eating’s biggest star on Sunday by besting a field of the finest gurgitators in the world at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. As the video below shows, Chestnut jumped out to a three Krystal-lead in the first minute and never looked back as a massive crowd of 10,000 plus cheered him on.

It was also in the first minute that the race for second was defined as Pat Bertoletti let it be known that this wasn’t just a two-eater race between Takeru Kobayashi and Chestnut, as most had expected. The young Chicagoan with the trademark mohawk drew even with the Japanese eating star during that first 60 seconds and the two went virtually bite-for-bite the rest of the way. In the end, it seemed Kobayashi had come out on top but a two burger deduction by officials put him one behind Bertoletti and into third place overall.

Watch the action unfold in the video below or on YouTube here.

Photo Gallery from Krystal Square Off V

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American eating sensation Joey Chestnut retained his hamburger eating title today at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif. downed 93 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes, ten shy of his world record mark set at last year’s championship.

Billed as the highly anticipated rematch between Chestnut, the No.1-ranked eater in the world, and Japan’s speed-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, the contest quickly became a one-man show as Chestnut jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as a crowd of 10,000 cheered him on in downtown Chattanooga.

Kobayashi, a three-time Krystal Square Off winner who missed last year’s championship due to a jaw injury, finished in a disappointing third place, eating just 84 Krystals, 13 less than he ate when he won Krystal Square Off III in 2006. Twenty-three-year-old rising star Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti was the second-place spoiler, out-eating Kobayashi by just one Krystal.

“Chestnut’s win today at Krystal Square Off V proves once again that he is competitive eating’s new superstar and the undisputed number one ranked eater in the world,” said Brad Wahl, vice president of marketing, The Krystal Company.

Chestnut pockets $20,000 for his win, along with the coveted Krystal Square Off Champion’s Belt and Trophy made out of crystal. Bertoletti earns $10,00 for his second place finish while Kobayashi takes away $5,000. The remaining top eleven finalists receive payouts ranging from $3,000 to $500. The $50,000 total cash purse is the largest in competitive eating history.

Presented by The Krystal Company and featuring the iconic fresh, hot, small, square Krystal hamburger, the Krystal Square Off is one of the two majors in the sport of competitive eating and the only world hamburger eating championship sanctioned by Major League Eating, the governing body of all stomach-centric sports.

“There are precious few moments in professional sports when you can watch as a competitor affirms his place in the history books. With this win today, Joey Chestnut just said to the world: I am Krystal King hear me growl,” said Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating. “In today’s economy anybody can be negatively impacted by unforeseen circumstances. Kobayashi is feeling that impact, but if I know him he’ll be back.”

Today’s victory was Chestnut’s first win over Kobayashi in a Krystal-eating contest, and further cements his dominance over the 30-year-old Japanese eating star. Kobayashi is responsible for first bringing the sport of competitive eating into the American mainstream more than seven years ago, only to see his star fall lately after several high-profile losses.

The official results are as follows:

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, San Jose, Calif. – 93 Krystals
2. Pat “”Deep Dish”” Bertoletti, Chicago, Ill. – 85 Krystals
3. Takeru Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan – 84 Krystals
4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt, Philadelphia, Pa. – 76 Krystals
5. Tim “”Eater X”” Janus, New York, N.Y. – 64 Krystals
6. Hall “Hoover” Hunt, Jacksonville, Fla. – 63 Krystals
7. Juliet “The Lovely” Lee, Germantown, Md. – 55 Krystals
8. Crazy Legs Conti, New York, N.Y. – 49 Krystals
9. Rich “”The Locust”” LeFevre, Henderson, Nev. – 47 Krystals
10. Juris “Dr. Bigtime” Shibayama, Murfreesboro, Tenn. – 43 Krystals
11. Eric “Badlands” Booker, Long Island, N.Y. – 41 Krystals
12. Kyle “12th Eater” Brogdon, Hixson, Tenn. – 10 Krystals

UPDATE: Click here for hundreds of photos from today’s Krystal Square Off V in Chattanooga, including the tailgating party, The Marshall Tucker Band concert, arrival of eaters by boat, autograph alley, crowd shots, Sackful Challenge and the 8-minute championship.

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When we ran into Joey Chestnut this morning at the Sheraton Read House Hotel, he told us that his world record will be broken this year by both him and Takeru Kobayashi, and now we know why he’s so confident.

In an interview with TheStreet.com, the No. 1-ranked speed eater in the world and reigning hamburger champ said he’s done up to 114 in practice, 11 more than he did officially at last year’s Krystal Square Off IV.

To be exact that’s not 114 of the famous Krystal, the official competition hamburger of the world championship, but instead a modified, shipped-frozen, cheese-covered version of a less tastier, slightly smaller, microwaved morsel of beef and bun. But still. 114? Wow.

Chestnut also reveals he’s been training for over a month and compares his technique to Kobayashi’s method of speed-eating. Read the full interview here.

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The fact that Joey Chestnut is the current hamburger-eating world record holder and reigning champ doesn’t seem to carry much weight with readers of the popular competitive eating site EatFeats.com. Consisting mostly of dedicated speed-eating aficionados and pro gurgitators, the site’s readerbase has so far picked Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi over Chestnut by more than 2-to-1 in its latest poll to win Sunday’s Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship. Three-time Krystal Square Off king Kobayashi has received 23 votes to Chestnut’s 10 the last we checked.

Currently Pat Bertoletti has received the third most votes (5) followed by Humble Bob Shoudt (4).

All but three eaters–Crazy Legs Conti, Tim Janus and Rich LeFevre–have received at least one vote so far. Even the yet-to-be-picked 12th Eater received a vote, proving that the scientific validity of an open web-based poll may be somewhat questionable.

Click here to cast a vote for who you think will take down the biggest Major League Eating event of the year this Sunday in Chattanooga.

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Being the defending Krystal Square Off champ has it disadvantages.

In an interview with The University Echo, the 2007 Krystal Square Off winner Joey Chestnut said that by not having to qualify for this year’s final he doesn’t know exactly what to expect this Sunday in Chattanooga when he defends his title against three-time KSO champion Takeru Kobayashi and nine other eaters, including the No. 2-ranked gurgitator in the world Pat Bertoletti and last year’s runner-up Humble Bob Shoudt.

When asked if he will break his record of 103 Krystals in eight minutes, Chestnut said:

“It’s possible. Quite possible. I don’t know because I didn’t have to qualify, so I haven’t eaten real Krystals in a while. It’s tough when you don’t have to qualify for a contest as big as the Krystal Square Off Finals, because there’s a lingering doubt that you’re not fully prepared.”

A confident Kobayashi told the same reporter, “I definitely can break the record, and I could have done it two years ago.” In 2006, Kobayashi defeated Chestnut by downing 97 Krystals. It was the Japanese eater’s third consecutive win in Chattanooga.

While Chestnut has not had his legendary jaws chomp down on a Krystal since 2007, Kobayashi has had the advantage of being in Krystal country for a full week now and rumor is he’s been ordering 100 Krystals at a time in Atlanta-area Krystal restaurants. Last week, just 24 hours before eating 89 Krystals at the Birmingham qualifier, Kobayashi had consumed 100 Krystals in under eight minutes in his hotel room.

So tell us what you think: Will Chestnut’s year-long hiatus from the small, square hamburger hurt his chances this Sunday or will the defending champ rise to the occasion and extend his reign over Kobayashi?

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It won’t be 120.

It won’t even be 100.

No, Humble Bob Shoudt has changed his prediction on how many Krystal hamburgers the winner of Krystal Square Off V will put down on September 28, and it’s far less than the number he threw out during our podcast interview with him two weeks ago, just ahead of the Chattanooga Qualifier.

Calling last year’s World Championship a “perfect storm” and expecting much hotter conditions at this year’s final, Shoudt states on his website that his prediction of 120 Krystals was grossly inaccurate and that he thinks the winner will eat no more than 92 Krystals, 11 shy of Joey Chestnut’s world record performance last October, which Shoudt calls “Beamonesque,” a reference to Bob Beamon’s long jump record that stood for nearly 23 years. And it’s even less than the 97 Krystals Takeru Kobayashi gobbled up to win Krystal Square Off III in 2006.

“No one will be anywhere near 100. The perfect storm of Krystal IV will not be repeated,” declares Shoudt, who ate 58 Krystals at the Chattanooga Qualifier two weeks ago. His personal best is 95, which he did at last year’s final.

In reaching his new prediction, Shoudt says he’s thoroughly studied video from the past two year’s finals.

“Using this footage and a lot of time, I now have a very accurate count of the five times that people have eaten 90 + Krystal burgers in 8 minutes,” states Shoudt. “[W]hen I look at the footage and my records, it finally dawned on me. Last years Final may never be repeated. Do to the later, cooler, quicker environment that the contest was held and the fact that Joey, Pat and I peaked at the same time, we were able to do something that I do not think will be repeated.”

Read all Humble Bob has to say about his predictions for this year’s Krystal Square Off and get his personal take on his disappointing qualifier performance at the Chattanooga Qualifier on Aug. 28 here.

Hat Tip to EatFeats.com.

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Joey Chestnut, the reigning Krystal Square Off champion and world record holder, recently spoke with the Times Free Press about the upcoming KSO V. In the interview, Chestnut says he competes purely for the “thrill of the competition”. He also has some pretty stinging words about his competitor Takeru Kobayashi, the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Krystal Square Off champion, saying, “I guess, if his pride is located in his jaw, it was hurting pretty bad,” referring to Kobayashi’s withdrawal from the 2007 KSO due to a jaw injury.

Joey Chestnut also discusses his strict training regimen, which you can hear him discuss by clicking here.

The Times Free Press also spoke with “Humble” Bob Shoudt about his predicitions for this year’s KSO and how he thinks ameatuers will fair in the compeition. Click here to listen to the “Humble” Bob audio.

And don’t forget to check back for the latest Krystal Square Off news and information.

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