The Tsunami dogged the competition again.
Renowned hot dog eater Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi breezed through five rounds–and many more plates of cheese fries, spaghetti bolognese and potato skins–to win the inaugural U.S. Open of Competitive Eating in Las Vegas, which aired on ESPN over the weekend.
The world’s top-ranked nosher devoured a tray of appetizers to best second-ranked Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas of Virginia in the head-to-head finale and earn $10,000 and the first crystal Alka-Seltzer Cup.
Kobayashi asserted his dominance from the onset, using a pair of forks as utensils to shovel several pounds of oozing cheese fries down his gullet.
Fortune–or was it grease?–didn’t shine as brightly on Chicago native Frank Wach, who was eliminated in the first round.
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Edited by RedEye staff (ritaredeye@tribune.com)
