Joey Chestnut defeated Takeru Kobayashi in a rare “overtime victory” in the 2008 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest today. In fact, this was the first ever overtime for the contest! Both Chestnut and Kobayashi had eaten 59 hot dogs by the end of the 10 minute “regulation time”. A “sudden death” was then declared, where each contestant was given 5 hot dogs to eat in the shortest amount of time. Chestnut, of San Jose, California, squeaked by the former 6-time champion to retain the crown for the United States.
“USA! USA! USA! USA!”