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And the Wiener Is…

Left to right: Kazutoyo Arai of Saitama, Japan, Eric Booker of Long Island, N.Y., and Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan, compete during the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Contest Wednesday, July 4, at New York’s Coney Island. Photo by Associated Press.

By Heather Harlan

Takeru Kobayashi devoured the competition at the annual Nathan’s Fourth of July frankfurter eating contest — in 12 minutes the 5-foot-seven, 131-pound Kobayashi downed 50 hot dogs.

The previous record was 25 1/8, eaten last year by Kazutoyo Arai. This year Arai had to settle for a distant second place. He ate 31 wieners and buns.

Kobayashi, 23, from Nagano, shook his shoulders to the beat of rock music pumping in the background, while splitting each sausage in two — a technique known as the “Solomon method” — before stuffing both halves into his mouth.

His extraordinary eating prowess inspired several other contestants to throw in the towel early at this annual Coney Island event.

“I thought I was doing pretty well after doing 16 at the eight minute mark, but when I saw his score of 38 I just stopped and watched,” said Dave “Coon Dog” Karma, a champion donut eater from Akron, Ohio. “It was like watching my dog eat.”

In total, 20 competitors came from as far away as Germany and England to battle for the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt trophy, a construction worker’s belt painted yellow and gaudily studded with silver and green rhinestones.

Charles “Hungry” Hardy, a 320-pound corrections officer from Brooklyn, came in third and set a new American record with 23 franks and buns. But after watching Kobayashi, he vowed to retire. “He’s just incredible,” said Hardy, shaking his head.

Later, clearly relishing his victory, Kobayashi, wearing a rising-sun flag draped around his shoulders like a super hero’s, held the Mustard Yellow Belt high above his head as throngs of Japanese local and international media clamored around him taking his picture and firing questions.

The recent Kokaichi University graduate showed off his flat stomach to reporters and boasted of his desire to eat Korean barbecue for dinner.

“It was the best!” Kobayashi said with a big smile when asked how it felt to win. A first time participant in the contest, he said he began training with onigiri (rice balls) for eight months. A friend noticed his ability to consume large amounts of food quickly, and entered his name in an eating contest in Japan.

Arai, 33, said that although he lost the title of top dog this year, he was still pleased by his own performance. ”I ate six more than last year, so for me that was a new record,” said the 101-pound mattress salesman from Saitama, Japan.

Nathan’s contest is a local New York Fourth of July tradition that dates back to 1916. It begins at high noon on the boardwalk outside of the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand on Surf Avenue. About 10 years ago, Japanese arrived on the scene and have since dominated the competition. Last year there was a complete sweep, with Japanese taking first, second and third places.

But even that didn’t compare to the surprising results of this year, said contest organizers. The score cards used for the event only went up to 30, so officials were forced to hastily make new cards in the middle of the contest.

“We were totally unprepared,” said Wayne Norbitz, president and CEO of the Nathan’s Famous chain. “When I first saw the numbers, I thought it must have been a mistake, so I asked the judges and they said it wasn’t.”