Look Out Joey Chestnut! Takeru Kobayashi Serves Notice In Birmingham
If anyone had any doubts about Takeru Kobayashi’s chances to reclaim his Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship title next Sunday in Chattanooga, the legendary gurgitator put them to rest Saturday.
In front of a massive Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham crowd covered in a sea of Blazer green, Kobayashi showed why he’s the sport’s legendary master of mastication as he won his seat at the finals in Chattanooga by devouring 89 Krystals in eight-minutes. His closest competitor, Steve Ramirez of Aurora, Mo., ate just 24 Krystals, about what Kobayashi gulped in the first 70 seconds of the contest.
Kobayashi’s mark is an all-time Krystal Square Off qualifier record, besting Joey Chestnut’s 87 Krystals at last year’s trials in Tuscaloosa, and it sets up a competitive eating battle for the ages when the two gustatory giants face off for the sport’s top title and its unprecedented $20,000 first place prize at Krystal Square Off V on Sunday, Sept. 28.
It’s worth noting that this was the first time Kobayashi has competed in a Krystal Square Off event since he won the championship in 2006, and he made 89 Krystals looked ridiculously easy, experimenting with technique along the way and slowing at the finish, reminiscent of Usain Bolt’s 100-meter Olympic gold medal performance in Beijing a month ago, but without the showboating. And sans the gold Pumas spikes. Kobayashi opted for some camo-colored high top Chucks instead.
And while Kobayashi’s 89 on Saturday was impressive, even more so is what he did the day before. After making the rounds with the local media on Friday, Kobayashi walked from his Birmingham hotel to the nearby Krystal restaurant and ordered up 100 Krystals, which he then gobbled down in under eight minutes. Yes, 100 Krystals. With plenty of time to spare. Considering Kobayashi will be in Krystal country all week, with lots of time to practice with the small, square hamburger that will decide it all, it’s all but certain the century mark will be broken once again–perhaps shattered, and Humble Bob Shoudt, who a few weeks ago said that no one will be near 100 Krystals this year and called Chestnut’s world record of 103 Krystals “unbeatable”, might just be eating some humble pie along with his Krystals next Sunday in Chattanooga.
For more than 250 photos from the Birmingham qualifier on Saturday, click here.
Look for a full video of the event on the blog soon. In the meantime, check out a 3-minute video of the contest on AL.com here.
September 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
[...] #4 The Krystal Square Off blog has a contest report which says that Kobayashi ate 100 burgers in 8 minutes the day before the contest. There is also a [...]
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
[...] the top qualifying number this year, easily winning the Birmingham qualifier last Saturday by devouring 89 Krystals in eight-minutes. His mark betters Chestnut’s all-time qualifier record of 87 Krystals set at the trials in [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
[...] range. Considering Joey Chestnut did 103 last year and Takeru Kobayashi is reportedly putting away 100 in under eight minutes during his practices this week, she may be spot [...]
September 25th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
[...] 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 [...]