Hot dog-eating king Chestnut dishes on competitive eating — and his former rival
ESPN’s ‘30 for 30’ documentary pits San Jose native against Kobayashi
Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert.
They made for some of the greatest one-on-one rivalries in sports history. But let’s not forget that San Jose’s hot dog-devouring titan Joey Chestnut used to go gut-to-gut with Takeru Kobayashi. And now the bizarre world of competitive eating gets its due when ESPN’s highly acclaimed “30 for 30” documentary series debuts “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” at 8 p.m. today.
The engrossing — and occasionally just plain
gross — film, which serves as a prelude to the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at New York’s Coney Island, tells the compelling tale of Kobayashi, the Japanese native who won the chew off six straight times, and Chestnut, the American who dethroned him in 2007.
Chestnut has since become the face of the sport, while his chief nemesis no longer competes in the gastro throwdown. (Chestnut holds the all-time record with 74 hot dogs downed in 10 minutes.)
Why competitive eating? Director Nicole Lucas Haimes says she realized that, beyond the Chestnut Kobayashi rival ry ,“there were greater themes at play than just who could eat the most hot dogs.
“The film ultimately became a classic American tale exploring the notion of
personal fulfillment, as well as touching on greater ideas around nationalism, truth and power.”
With that in mind, we checked in with Chestnut to get his take on things:
QWhat do you think of the film now that you’ve seen it?
AI think it does a pretty good job of showing the world of competitive eating, although it’s somewhat sympathetic toward Kobayashi. He makes excuses every time he loses. Anyone who watches the documentary will see that. … But it is what it is.
QWhat was your reaction when this acclaimed series wanted to delve into the world of competitive eating?
AI was shocked, to be honest. But also honored. I’ve watched several of them, and they always do very compelling stories that are about more than
just sports. And I think this one will show to viewers that we’re not just gluttons. We’re very competitive. We train like athletes. And we’re very determined to get better at what we do.
QWhat was your relationship like with Kobayashi away from the contests?
AIn one scene of the film they quote me saying, “I hate him.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but, really, he made it easy to hate him. He always carried himself very separately and was never outwardly nice, which is fine. But he saw himself as THE competitive eater. He didn’t want to work together (to promote the sport). He saw the contests as being about him. If I have a complaint about the film it’s that he really is a diva, and that isn’t really shown.
QBut great rivals often talk about how
they made each other better. Can you say that about him?
AOh, absolutely. I hated losing to him, but I admired the way he ate. He was much more graceful. I was more like a lumberjack in those early years. He made me change my approach.
QSo should we view competitive eaters as athletes?
AThat’s a tough one. I definitely have to look at myself as one. I put so much time and energy into it, and I have a whole training regime. It’s like being a boxer or a runner. As the contest approaches, you’ve got to ramp up and get your body in tune. … I can see how some people wouldn’t think it’s a sport. And it’s easy to be dismissive. Maybe the film will change some minds.
QThe training scenes are quite interesting.
AThat’s what worried me the most. I thought, “Oh no, now everyone’s going to know how crazy I am.” (One scene shows Chestnut doing jaw exercises by chewing on a rubber ball.) It’s difficult because there are no instructional books about this stuff. No real trainers. There’s a lot of trial and error. Everything I’ve done, I’ve kept close to me. It took a lot of time and effort to figure out my body. You don’t just wake up and eat.
QIs there a rival out there we need to look out for — someone who can push you?
AI don’t know. Maybe. (In 2015), I lost to (fellow San Jose resident) Matt Stonie. As far as this year goes, if my body works for me and I don’t get lazy, I can’t see anyone beating me. Of course, I’ve had bad days before, but practice is going well. I’ve been running and doing a little yoga. I feel like a machine right now. … And
the Nathan’s contest is the easiest to get up for. I get fan mail from everywhere, and people there stop me in the street to talk and take photos.
It’s weird how eating hot dogs on the Fourth of July can make so many people happy.
QAfter that contest, I would think you wouldn’t eat another hot dog the rest of the year, right?
AOh, no. I still love hot dogs. It’s very rare not to find them in my refrigerator. And when I go to a Sharks or A’s game, I still eat them. I love them.
QOK. But how many will you eat at a game?
AOh, it depends. If I have to wait in line a while, it’s usually two — with a beer.