World eating champion from Japan who once devoured 65 hot dogs in single sitting retires because he is no longer hungry
- Takeru Kobayashi appears on TV show at 23, later earns US$650,000 a year
- Now cannot smell food, has health concerns, appears in Netflix show
Japan’s King of Competitive Eating has announced his retirement because he is no longer able to feel hungry.
Takeru Kobayashi, 46, won six consecutive titles at the internationally famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York, and even swallowed 64.5 hot dogs in one sitting.
At the age of 23, he made a name for himself by taking part in a Japanese competitive eating show, where he consumed 60 plates of sushi, 2.7kg of potatoes, and 16 bowls of ramen, also in one sitting.
In Taiwan, he claimed victory by devouring 5,500g of lamb stew within 24 minutes. In Hong Kong, he emerged as the champion after consuming 100 char siu baos (steamed barbecue pork buns) in just 12 minutes.
Kobayashi reportedly had an annual income exceeding 100 million yen (US$650,000) through his competitive eating, more than enough to support his family.
Recently, he appeared in a Netflix documentary Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, where he announced his retirement plan.