Takeru Kobayashi, 6-time Nathan’s hot dog champ, retires from competitive eating over health concerns

Japanese competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, the six-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner, said he is retiring.

Kobayashi, 46, revealed the news in the recent Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut” as he embarked on a journey to address health concerns.

“I hear people say they’re hungry, and they look very happy after they’ve eaten,” he said. “I’m jealous of those people because I no longer feel hunger.”

Kobayashi’s wife, Maggie James, said in the film that he can go days without eating food.

“[He] thinks he might be broken,” she said. “He doesn’t feel hungry or full. He doesn’t feel those things at all.”

Takeru Kobayashi on Feb. 3, 2012 in Philadelphia.Gilbert Carrasquillo / Getty Images file

Kobayashi began his competitive eating career in 2000 when he scarfed down 16 bowls of ramen in one hour on the Japanese variety show “TV Champion,” according to USA Today. The following year he set a world record at the 2001 Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest by consuming 50 franks in 12 minutes, the outlet reported.

He went on to win the Mustard Yellow Belt consecutively from 2002 to 2006 at the hot dog eating contest, held annually on July 4. Joey Chestnut, the reigning champion, held the title from 2007 to 2014, and 2016 to 2023. Chestnut was dethroned in 2015 by competitive eater Matthew Stonie.

Kobayashi said in the documentary that he believes he has eaten 10,000 hot dogs over his career and has often wondered “what damage I’ve done to my body.”

At one point, he said he used to crave foods like curry and cake but doesn’t “feel that joy about eating anymore.”

Kobayashi admitted that he’s anxious about stepping away from competitive eating.

“It’s all I have done for the last 20 years,” he said. “I am worried about what my next step will bring, but I’m also excited about my future. I have mixed feelings.”

Minyvonne Burke

Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.

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