Kobayashi seriously injures jaw

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Too bad the props I see specify he and Chestnut have to start...maybe he will start for pride?

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article...p;in_page_id=2

Japan's former record-breaking hot dog eater has suffered a serious injury to his jaw.

Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi had been putting himself through rigorous training after losing his world record to American chomp-meister Joey Chestnut earlier this year.

The injury means he can only open his mouth to make a gap the size of a fingertip, and means it is unlikely that 29-year-old Kobayashi will compete in the July 4 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating event on New York's Coney Island, where he has won the title five years in a row.

In an entry on his myspace page, Kobayashi, described the injury as an "occupational hazard". Doctors diagnosed his condition as has jaw arthritis.

"I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body. But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn't stop my training," he said. "I was continuing my training and bearing with the pain but finally I destroyed my jaw."

Last year Kobayashi broke the hot dog eating world record by eating 53 and a quarter hot dogs in 12 minutes.

But his record was broken three weeks ago by 22-year-old American Joey Chestnut, who toppled him with a stomach busting total of 59.